Table of contents:
- Benefits of eating insects
- 1. Insects fight obesity
- 2. Insects are effective against malnutrition
- 3. Insects are environmentally friendly
- Many people have eaten insects without knowing it
According to a 2013 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), about 2 billion people worldwide eat insects as part of a traditional diet known as entomophagy. Beetles are the most commonly consumed insects, followed by caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers and crickets. In total, there are more than 1,900 species of insects in the world that can be consumed. Entomophagy is common in various parts of the world, including China, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and several areas in central and southern America. To find out the benefits of eating insects for human health, let's look at the following in full!
Benefits of eating insects
1. Insects fight obesity
Insects are considered very nutritious, in fact, the majority of them are rich in protein, healthy fats, iron and calcium, and low in carbohydrates. Even the authors of the FAO report claim that insects are just as or even more nutritious than the meats we are used to eating, such as beef.
For example, 100 grams of crickets contain about 121 calories, 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 grams of fat, and 5.1 grams of carbohydrates. Meanwhile, 100 grams of beef contains more protein, which is about 23.5 grams, and it is also much higher in fat, which is around 21.2 grams.
The low-fat content of insects has led some researchers, such as those involved in the FAO report, to suggest that entophomagy may be an effective way of fighting obesity and related diseases. In 2014, the Daily Mail reported that one person originally from the United States changed her typical Western diet by eating insects. At first he mistook a bowl of crunchy crickets for nuts, and he claimed that eating insects helped him lose weight.
2. Insects are effective against malnutrition
The benefits of eating insects or entomophagy don't stop with weight loss. The United Nations says eating insects can help fight malnutrition that is widespread in developing countries. According to UNICEF, worldwide, nearly all deaths of children under five are the result of malnutrition, with the majority of deaths occurring in Asia and Africa.
Poor nutrition, which is usually caused by a lack of availability of food and an inability to digest food, can increase the risk of life-threatening diseases. What's more, malnutrition in the first 1000 days of a human will stunt growth and impair cognitive function. Apart from being an excellent source of healthy fats and protein, insects are also ubiquitous, which means this will be very beneficial, especially in low and middle income countries where malnutrition is very common.
FAO explains, “Because of their nutritional composition, accessibility, simple maintenance techniques, and fast growth rates, insects can offer a cheap and efficient opportunity to combat nutritional anxiety by providing emergency food, as well as improving the livelihoods and quality of traditional foods among people. a weak person."
3. Insects are environmentally friendly
Insects need very little water to grow, and because they are cold blooded, they are more efficient at converting food into protein. Insects also produce far fewer emissions than traditional livestock, and they don't need much soil to grow. Many insects can consume agricultural waste, which indirectly helps to clean the environment.
Many people have eaten insects without knowing it
The Defect Levels Handbook from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States shows that, when it comes to food, it doesn't hurt to add a little bit of insects. The organization stated that there were chocolate containing 100 grams of chocolate and 60 grams of insect fragments in six samples of chocolate, whereas in the jam, there were 30 grams of insect fragments in 100 grams of jam.
Researchers claim that eating insects is safer than eating meat. Insects have a much lower risk of infecting humans with zoonotic diseases from farm animals, although it has been recommended that insects should be cooked before consumption to destroy harmful pathogens in their bodies.
