The rarely known health benefits of squid ink

Various health benefits of squid ink

Squids, like octopuses and cuttlefish, emit ink as a form of self-defense against predators. Squid generally has a blue-black ink color, while octopus and cuttlefish have a deep black and brownish black ink.

The blue-black color in squid ink is caused by melanin, a natural pigment derived from amino acid derivative compounds. Melanin is produced from glands in the sac cells which are secreted together with proteins, fats, minerals, other important chemical compounds. For example tyrosine and dopamine.

Some of the substances in squid ink are beneficial for health, such as:

Antioxidants that play a role in preventing cancer

Benefits of squid ink can act as an anticancer agent, due to the content of melanin and peptidoglycan. Melanin is a dark dye derived from an amino acid that is used as a weapon to protect itself from predators.

The mechanism of squid in producing melanin turns out to also produce various chemicals and enzymes that act as antioxidants, such as tyrosine, catecholamines, and dopamine.

Meanwhile, peptidoglycan is a compound resulting from polysaccharides and oligopeptides that have been shown to have anticancer activity, such as encouraging the death of cancer cells or apotosis and suppressing the growth and spread of carcinoma cells in the body.

Amino acids to maintain healthy brain and nerve cells

Squid ink contains a fairly high amount of free amino acids, namely taurine, followed by glutamate and tyrosine.

The high levels of amino acids possessed by squid ink actually function in activity phagomimetic or the ability to "eat" foreign substances as a form of defense against predators.

However, it turns out that the amino acids from squid ink also have good benefits for the health of body cells, such as taurine, which is important for the health of brain and nerve cells.

In addition, amino acids are also able to reduce the risk of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Glutamate is an amino acid that has a unique savory or "umami" effect in squid ink.

Unsaturated fatty acids can act as antibacterial

The benefits of squid ink are also referred to as natural antibiotics because they contain unsaturated fatty acids such as DHA, oleic acid, and EPA which have antibacterial properties.

In addition, several studies have also shown that squid ink is able to respond to bacteria that cause diarrhea and typhus such as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp and Escherichia coli.

Although squid ink has a number of health benefits for the body, it is still squid seafood which has a high cholesterol content which, if eaten in excess, will actually be bad for health, especially the heart and blood vessels.

You should only eat squid in moderation. Then, choose the right cooking menu to minimize the intake of saturated fat into the body.