Eating "true Bugs" As High Quality Protein

[Thomas]

Hi guys,
20 years ago I enjoyed a hobby which was called wilderness surival. Today the TV is full with these kind of shows and presentations like Bear Grylls or other Survival shows. Long story short I suddenly remembered today while thinking about nutrition, energy and proteins, that my teachers told us not to hunt big game wasting engery but to collect easily collected small bugs, how to dry them and to make a pulver out of them.
This pulver then one would put into the soup of greens one has collected from the wild.

I remember destinctly that they talked about the proteins being of high quality and wonder if they are in the quality of scrimps etc.

Would be intersting to really check out scientificly what kind of proteins and how good the quality is in these bugs. Could be a answer for people with multiple sensitivities and allergies to all kinds of normal proteins we normally eat. ;-)

cheers
Thomas

BTW the diet and cynoplus works wonders. I am nearly 100 percent symptomfree!!! Yeah!

 

[Mittir]

United Nations recently published a report suggesting bugs as a good
protein source. Then i checked nutrition content of few bugs and
found they are very high in iron. May be there are bugs with low iron.

 

[Blossom]

This got me thinking about an article I read earlier this year. I believe one of the supposed benefits was the O6 PUFA. When I looked up "true bug nutrition" none of the bugs contained saturated fat. Maybe they are high in PUFA or it could be mostly monounsaturated fat. I guess if I get to the point of eating true bugs I probably won't be worried about PUFA!

 

[jyb]

This got me thinking about an article I read earlier this year. I believe one of the supposed benefits was the O6 PUFA. When I looked up "true bug nutrition" none of the bugs contained saturated fat. Maybe they are high in PUFA or it could be mostly monounsaturated fat. I guess if I get to the point of eating true bugs I probably won't be worried about PUFA!

Just like fish, it would make sense if their fat was PUFA, because it needs to be liquid at cold temperatures since those insects don't seem very insulated. However, I'm not sure how much fat they really have.

 

[4peatssake]

Dung beetle!!

The Best Ways to Eat a Bug

For people brave enough to have tried eating insects, most have found them to work well in muffins, breads, dips and cookies. They're often served candied or covered in chocolate. Restaurants are hopping on the entomophagy train, too. Grasshopper tacos are being served up at a local Mexican restaurant in St. Louis, Mo. I've tried them and must say, they're pretty tasty. Perhaps you need a celebrity chef to whip up something scrumptious with insects in it to convince you. Luckily, several celebrity chefs are now including such options on their menus.

The Nutritional Value

Here's a breakdown of some of the nutrients that insects can provide (values are for a serving size of 100 grams):

Caterpillar: 28.2 grams protein

Cricket: 12.9 grams protein, 5.5 grams fat, 5.1 grams carbohydrate

[glow=blue]Dung beetle: 17.2 grams protein, 4.3 grams fat, 0.2 grams carbohydrate[/glow]

Read more

 

[Philomath]

I was thinking the same thing a while back. (Heaven help me, what have I become! - I'm researching bug nutrition)
I found this nutritional breakdown of commonly eaten bugs:
http://www.organicvaluerecovery.com/stu ... nsects.htm

Most were over 50% protein , larvae had almost as much fat, all had high phosphorus and low calcium...unless you ate them with the "hair" intact or fed them calcium rich diets
Overall, better than plant protein but meat is still better
I think I'll stick to milk for now.

 

[SQu]

I prefer my bugs recycled through a chicken.

 

[Blossom]

I prefer my bugs recycled through a chicken.

Me too! I wonder if tropical bugs have more saturated fat?

 

[Philomath]

I prefer my bugs recycled through a chicken.

It was this quote that made me think about what to call "Peatism". I now refer to myself as a lazy vegetarian... I let the cow do the heavy lifting.

Thanks sueq!

 

[LucyL]

 

[SQu]

Exactly! Before industrialized farming, compost was the way we found to eat soil, inedible plants, bugs, animal waste and bacteria, allowing us to live almost anywhere as animals and bacteria predigested whatever was available and turned it into food directly or indirectly. Really rather elegant, practically no real waste either.
Whenever I read one of those articles that says we MUST learn to eat bugs to end world hunger I wonder if that lecturing tone means they're softening us up for something new and horrid from the GM people. Creating a new market perhaps. For a 'mystery ingredient'? A 'natural iron source' to fortify our breakfast cereal? :?

 

[burtlancast]

I believe in Asia it's common thing.

But i suspect bugs do contain poisons that none talks about.

 

[fyo]

Bugs are high in PUFA. They often live underground, where its cold. Cold lifeforms can't coexist with saturated fat, else they'd turn solid like cool butter.

 

[Spokey]

I think depends on the nature the bug and its environment. Bees and other communal insects often temperature control their nests and hives frequently keeping them quite warm as this confers a few advantages. Things that live in decomposing materials probably have to tolerate quite high temperatures (as would some parasites but I doubt anyone wants to eat those, unless they can get the lodger to pay rent).

Whenever I read one of those articles that says we MUST learn to eat bugs to end world hunger I wonder if that lecturing tone means they're softening us up for something new and horrid from the GM people.

We already probably eat more bugs than we know, I mean cochineal is just squished beetles. I am looking forwards to seeing giant GMO 'waspdogs' though.
20% more sting than non GMO 'waspdogs'!

And the later controversy in the press 'Waspdogs linked with autism.', "I even feed my 4yo daughter nutritious waspdogs!" claims rich Monsanto representative, attended by an ominous buzzing sound emanating from the boot of his car. "It sounded like a giant bug saying 'I love you daddy.' in a hideous drone." Notes one passer by.