Last Updated on December 15, 2020 by Eat Better Move More

How Much Cholesterol is in Shrimp

Shrimps are small animals that belong to the crustaceous family. There are around two thousand species of shrimps all over the world, living in oceans, lakes, and rivers. Shrimps play a huge role in the food chain, serving as a food source to animals ranging from fish to whales, as well as, to humans.

The shrimp industry moves approximately fifty billion dollars a year. The majority of shrimps for human consumption comes from shrimp farms, also known as aquaculture, these farms are specifically designed to produce shrimps. In the supermarket, most shrimps are sold frozen, separated according to factors such as size, color, grading, and uniformity.

In terms of cooking, shrimp is a very delicious seafood, vastly used worldwide in many recipes, and easy to incorporate into many diets.

However, is shrimp a healthy food? For instance, do you know how much cholesterol is in shrimp? Follow me in this article to discover all the health aspects of this common seafood.

How Much Cholesterol is in Shrimp – Nutrition Data

To start with, let’s take a closer look at the shrimp nutrition facts. According to the USDA database, in every 100 grams (3.5 ounce) of cooked shrimp there are:

It is important to mention that these numbers can be altered depending on the cooking method, nonetheless, they can give you a general idea about cooked shrimp’s nutritional aspects.

By analyzing the table, you can see that cooked shrimp are extremely low in calories. In addition, they have virtually no significant amount of carbohydrates, they are a great source of protein and iron, and they have low quantities of lipids.

Is Shrimp High in Cholesterol?

One thing that might have caught your attention after checking the shrimp nutrition data is their surprisingly high cholesterol level.

In 100 grams (or 3.5 ounces) of cooked shrimp, there are around 189 mg of cholesterol and this number might be even higher depending on how the shrimp was prepared.

Yes, you read that right, shrimps are considered high in cholesterol, so high in fact that their cholesterol quantity is similar to butter and heavy whipping cream, foods that are commonly known for their high levels of cholesterol.

However, this is not something that should scare you off, keep reading this article to understand why.

Shrimp Cholesterol Myth

By now I believe you might be wondering, does shrimp raise blood cholesterol levels? The short answer is no, shrimp doesn’t make a difference in your blood cholesterol levels. Keep on reading to understand why.

The recommended daily intake of dietary cholesterol for a healthy adult is around 300 mg, with less than 7% of calories coming from saturated fat. If you go back to the chart, you can check that despite having a relatively high cholesterol count, shrimp is exceptionally low in saturated fats.

It is worth mentioning that is much more important to cut down foods that contain high levels of saturated fatty acids than cholesterol, the reason is that saturated fatty acids can affect how the liver handles cholesterol.

In other words, eating too much saturated fatty acids can increase your blood cholesterol levels.

Should I Include Shrimp in my diet?

The answer is yes, absolutely. Shrimps are easy to prepare and very versatile, meaning that you can incorporate them in many ways in your diet.

Needing more references? According to an interesting study called “ Effects of Shrimp Consumption on Plasma Lipoproteins” scientists provided subjects with a very high shrimp diet, around 300 grams of shrimp, totaling approximately 590 mg of cholesterol. Results have shown that a shrimp-based diet tended to increase HDL (“good” cholesterol) more than LDL (“bad” cholesterol), arriving at the conclusion that shrimps consumption did not alter blood lipoproteins profile, and thus offer no major risk for the overall cardiovascular health.

Shrimp Recipe 

Wanting to include shrimp in your diet? Below you will find a delicious and easy recipe to try out.

Honey and Garlic Shrimp Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons of fresh minced garlic
• 13 cup of honey
• 14 cup of soy sauce
• 400 grams (or 1 pound) of fresh peeled shrimp
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil

How to Prepare:

Combine the garlic, honey, and soy sauce in a medium bowl. Then, combine the fresh shrimps with half of the marinade mixture and leave in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

Once ready, heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Cook each side of the shrimp for about 45 seconds. Pour the remaining marinade mixture and cook for one more minute. Serve it hot.

How Much Cholesterol is in Shrimp Conclusion

Shrimps are nourishing seafood, surprisingly low in calories and filled with essential nutrients such as omega 3, iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and much more. Despite your surprise about how much cholesterol is in a shrimp, you should not right off this seafood from your diet.

Just try to be careful when buying shrimps and make sure that you are buying them as fresh as possible in order to prevent the consumption of undesired substances and toxins.

Here are some tips to help you tell if the shrimp is fresh, pay attention to the smell, it should have a clean smell just like the ocean; it is also important to pay attention to the color, it should range from white to shades of gray, pink is also acceptable.

Regarding the body, if the head is on it means that is fresh, the eyes should be tight and firm and the legs should be able to bounce back and not decompose.

Including fresh shrimps, three times a week in your diet won’t affect your cholesterol blood levels and you will be benefitted from the various advantages of this flavorful seafood.