Restrictions on eating shrimp and crab so that cholesterol does not rise

The delicious taste of shrimp and crab and the soft texture of the meat makes people forget themselves when eating. Well, shrimp and crab are predicted to have high cholesterol content that needs to be watched out for. However, is this true? Then how many restrictions are eating shrimp and crab so that blood cholesterol levels remain stable? Here comes the review.

What is the safe limit for cholesterol intake?

Cholesterol is not completely bad, it works for the body. However, the American Hearth Association states that dietary cholesterol intake should be limited per day. Limit cholesterol to no more than 300 mg per day.

Uncontrolled cholesterol levels can cause various health problems. First, too much cholesterol in the body can cause atherosclerosis, which is a buildup of cholesterol levels in the arteries. Furthermore, this cholesterol pile called plaque will interfere with blood flow. Clogged blood vessels can cause problems ranging from angina (chest pain), heart attacks, to strokes.

How high is the cholesterol in shrimp and crab?

Shrimp

In 100 grams of raw shrimp, you get 166 mg of cholesterol. Shrimp does have 85 percent cholesterol content which is higher than the type seafood others such as tuna. Imagine if you fry shrimp, the cholesterol will certainly go up even higher.

Eating just 100 grams of shrimp meets more than half of your daily cholesterol needs. In fact, in a day you can find cholesterol intake from anywhere, not just from eating shrimp. Not to mention if you eat more than 100 grams of shrimp.

This high cholesterol level is the reason health workers advise you not to eat too much shrimp.

Even though it is high in cholesterol, it does not mean that shrimp increases levels of bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) in the body. Reporting from Medical News Today, shrimp can also increase good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol) which is important for heart and blood vessel health.

That is why you can of course eat shrimp, but pay attention to the portions so that they are not too excessive and cause cholesterol to spike.

Crab

Compared to eating shrimp, crab meat contains lower cholesterol levels.

In 100 grams of crab you get 55-59 mg of cholesterol. However, there are also blue crab types which can contain 97 mg of cholesterol. Crab meat is similar to shrimp and has a high protein content but is low in fat and calories. Moreover, the cholesterol content is much less than shrimp.

Because the cholesterol level is lower, crab is arguably safer to eat to keep blood cholesterol rise. However, unlike shrimp, there are other drawbacks to crabs. Crab is naturally high in sodium levels, so some people who have hypertension (high blood pressure) are still advised to limit eating crab, no need to overdo it.

Restrictions on eating shrimp and crab to keep cholesterol stable

USDA, namely the United States ministry of agriculture on the Choose My Plate page recommends consuming seafood type of fish or shellfish as a safe daily source of protein is about 8 ounces per week or about 226 grams a week.

From this reference, you can estimate your desired shrimp and crab intake for the next week or month.

For example, a serving of shrimp is usually only about 3 ounces or 85 grams. From 85 grams of shrimp per day, you can meet almost half of the cholesterol intake needed in a day. If in a day you follow these guidelines, then you can eat shrimp 2-3 times per week so that blood cholesterol levels remain stable.

For crab meat, you can still eat it up to 3-4 times a week. One 85 gram serving of crab contributes about 97 mg of cholesterol a day. Even though it can be consumed more than shrimp, be careful with the higher sodium content than shrimp.

In addition, to balance the cholesterol intake that comes from crab or shrimp, you need to eat low cholesterol foods such as nonfat milk, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. And you should also do regular exercise for 30 minutes per day, reduce smoking and take cholesterol-lowering drugs if your cholesterol levels are high.