This isn’t a trick question. The cleanest protein is whatever hasn’t been run through man-made processing, the kind designed to make it tastier, make it last longer, or concentrate it into something extreme. By that measure, the grub worm, the rat and even roadkill are safe but disgusting. An animal that lived its own life and never saw death coming probably had normal, natural chemistry right up to the end. It lived free, and then, boom, it was over.

Compare that to animals raised in giant warehouses, crammed on top of each other in tiny stalls and suffering every day. They are cut off from the most basic needs of any living creature: to move freely, to live in peace with their own kind, and to do what comes naturally. That kind of life floods an animal with stress chemistry like adrenaline and cortisol, and it changes the meat itself.

Why should you care? Because you are what what you eat eats. On some level, in ways science is still sorting out, you take in the life that creature lived.

Most of us need far less protein than the marketing says, and the plant world is full of it. If your goal is to be gigantic, or you have bought the hype around creatine, peptides and the rest of the supplement aisle, you can chase it forever and throw a lot of money out the window.

The key to living a long time is to stop obsessing and eat a clean diet with no processed food. Don’t overdo the protein. I can’t tell you your exact number here, but too much is a problem, the same way too much refined sugar, too much fat or too many calories is a problem. Too much or too little of anything usually is.

When you cut out processed food first, you give yourself a lot of room for the smaller mistakes, like a little too much protein or a little too much fruit. Then eat for your age and how active you are. If you sit most of the day, eat less or you will gain weight. Carrying extra weight raises your health risks, can make you uncomfortable in your own body, and can wear on how you feel about yourself, which puts more pressure on your nervous system. Take some time to think this through.

(And no, please don’t actually eat the rat. Wild animals and roadkill can carry serious diseases. It’s the principle that counts.)