The autumn wind blows and crabs are fat.
In this country, every autumnal equinox season, the double-claw eight-legged shelled monster does not know how many greedy insects in upright walking animals will stir up. It is not enough to comfort one’s heart without eating. This kind of turmoil, like the spring tide in Qiantang, has almost become an annual natural phenomenon.
Speaking, eating crabs is a technical job, which is complicated and time-consuming and requires many studies and drills. While eating, it is inevitable that one’s fingers will touch fishy smell. When doing crab eating on TV, foreign friends do not understand why the Chinese are so persistent in eating crabs.
Some dietary researchers even speculate that because China has been short of food since ancient times and large pieces of meat are difficult to obtain, people have to use these corners in crab legs to eat difficult minced meat.
From an ecological point of view, this possibility does exist, because for the Chinese, there is really no what animal that dare not eat, cannot eat or is not good at eating.
[We are really the only animals on earth that eat everything …] (Lin Yutang) But this statement has always been despised by Chinese scholars. Because in our country of delicious food, The pleasure of eating crabs, drinking, enjoying chrysanthemum and fighting poems, and the delicacy of elaborately making [eight pieces of crabs] for eating crabs are not the pursuit of the poor who are half hungry, but only those who have plenty of food.
However, after all, how high is the nutritional value of crabs? Most people have only heard the legend of [high protein], and the rest are probably vague.
How high is the nutritional value of crabs?
Crab protein, is it really that high?
According to the data of various food composition tables, crab is indeed a kind of high protein food. According to the fresh weight, the protein content in 100 grams of crab meat is about 15% ~ 18%. This value seems not as high as 20% of chicken and beef, but it is not.
Because crab meat has a particularly high water content and a particularly low fat content, if calculated by dry weight, its protein content is quite considerable, accounting for 70% ~ 90% of dry weight. This height is difficult for other foods to reach.
Soybean said it was high in protein, and chicken laughed. The protein in soybean accounts for about 40% of dry weight, while the protein in skinned chicken can reach up to 70% of dry weight. Chicken breast meat, for example, is a model of daily high protein food.
Chicken said it was high in protein, and the crab laughed. According to the US Food Composition Database, the protein content of sea crab meat is about 18%, while the water content is about 80%. By dry weight, the protein content of crab meat is as high as 90%. Even if crab roe and other parts are included, the proportion of protein to dry weight is as high as more than 70%.
Therefore, if you eat crab meat in large quantities, the demand for protease in the digestive tract will be very large. If you eat less protein food on weekdays, the protease will not work very well, and if you suddenly eat a large amount of crab meat, it will be a considerable challenge for the digestive system.
Rich in minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium and iodine
Crab meat is rich in magnesium and calcium. For example, the calcium content in river crabs exceeds that in milk, and some varieties can reach more than 200 mg/100 g.
In addition, the content of zinc, selenium, iodine and other trace elements in crabs is also quite high. In particular, selenium is far higher than that of ordinary meat.
Vitamin A is commendable
From the perspective of vitamins, the vitamin A content of crabs is commendable, reaching 1.5 ~ 2 times that of eggs, but almost all of them exist in the roe of crabs, while the content in white crab meat is almost negligible.
The level of vitamin B is not much different from that of most fishes. The content of vitamin B1 is lower than that of meat products, and the content of vitamin B2 is slightly higher, but it also mainly exists in crab roe, and the content of white meat is lower.
High cholesterol levels
The cholesterol content in crab meat is higher than that in meat, which is close to the level of animal viscera such as liver. The cholesterol content of crab roe is higher than that of crab meat.
Although people always have great scruples about cholesterol when eating eggs, there are few such worries when eating crabs, and few people are willing to give up the delicious crab roe, perhaps because food is fearless at present.
Speaking of which, you may have a general understanding of the overall nutritional characteristics of crabs:
High protein, low fat, no starch; High cholesterol, rich vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, selenium and iodine, less vitamin B1 and no dietary fiber.
If crabs are used as food, will they how?
Some friends may say: Who will eat fresh river seafood such as crabs?
Don’t say, there are such people. It is not uncommon for coastal residents to eat fish, shrimp, crab and shellfish, add some vegetables and drink some wine for dinner.
Even if inland residents occasionally have a chance to eat seafood and fresh rivers, they must not miss it. They always hold the mentality of “let me eat enough at a time” and wish to help the wall in and out. Where can they eat a bowl of rice first and then greet crabs, shrimps and shellfish slowly?
As a result of eating like this, one is often hungry ahead of time and becomes thinner.
Reason 1: High protein content but low calorie
This is because aquatic products such as crabs and shrimps have relatively low energy content and relatively strong satiety in a short period of time.
Even if you eat 2 kg of crabs, the pure meat after shelling is only more than 8 taels, about 400 grams, containing 60-70 grams of protein, which can meet the daily needs of an adult man, but contains only about 400 kilocalories of energy, which is far from the usual food intake (more than 800 kilocalories) for a man’s dinner.
Reason 2: Vegetables are also low in calories,
With a little vegetables, they are also low-energy foods.
Reason 3: Protein has a strong [food heat effect]
In addition, protein has a strong [food thermal effect], of which 30% of the energy will be converted into heat and dissipated, and even less will be actually used by the body.
Therefore, we can understand that many people eat seafood instead of eating. They felt quite full at that time and hungry after two or three hours.
The last time I went to Shenzhen, a middle-aged man asked me, how can I gain weight? I eat a lot, but I am always so thin. Apart from his hard work, I personally speculate that to a large extent, it has something to do with his eating habits. He loves seafood and fish and basically does not eat staple food at night. He uses aquatic products as food. Because he is worried that drinking beer with seafood or fruit is harmful to his health, he only drinks a few sips of white wine and eats a few mouthfuls of vegetables.
According to this way of eating, it is naturally unlikely to gain weight.
How to eat crabs and how much to eat?
If you eat seafood and fresh river with some rice or porridge, it is not easy to have excessive protein and you will not feel hungry after eating.
Because of the [dilution] of starch, protein will not enter the gastrointestinal tract so densely, nor will it be wasted too much as energy. At the same time, it will reduce the burden on the digestive tract, liver and kidney, making the body feel more comfortable and relaxed.
Therefore, crabs, shrimps, shellfish, all kinds of delicious fish and lean meat are not suitable for eating.
According to the recommendation of China’s dietary guidelines, the appropriate amount of aquatic products per day is 75-100g, which is about 250g of river crabs in terms of crabs.
No matter how delicious crabs are, they cannot eat three or four hairy crabs at a time. It is wisest to treat them as one dish and enjoy them with other foods.
If you really pay attention to health preservation, you should still follow the principle of “five cereals are for nourishment”. Even if you eat half a bowl of staple food, it is better for your health than eating seafood and fresh river food alone.
Some people who need to lose weight may think happily: they can eat well and lose weight…
Is there such a good thing in the world? Of course, there will not be perfect things. Because there are many food safety problems for seafood and fresh water.