Are Shrimp Bad For Cholesterol? Facts Checked!
Shrimps belong to the crustaceans family. They have jointed legs and their outer shell is considerably hard. Their abdomen is muscular and they are popularly known for their developed pleopods. Since their legs are tender they adapt to swimming rather than walking.
Shrimp is a famous food that everyone in the US is consuming at large. Shrimp is similar to prawn and is consumed worldwide as popular seafood.
Shrimp is popularly eaten by people owing to its non-fatty protein content and its mild texture. In the US, shrimp is available throughout the year and is a popular dinner.
Is Shrimp Raise High Cholesterol In The Body?
Shrimp is very much affordable. The only issue associated with shrimp is its high cholesterol content. The average consumption of twelve to thirteen shrimp increases your cholesterol levels by approximately 135 milligrams.
Still, doctors do not recommend complete avoidance id shrimp. from your food habit since shrinks serve as the epitome of multiple nutrients. Shrimps are enriched with all the B vitamins, zinc, and selenium which makes your body more healthy and improves your immunity.
Shrimp raises your HDL cholesterol level by increasing the levels of unsaturated fatty acids. Since it is also offering a wide range of nutritional benefits to your body it is advisable to include shrimp as part of your balanced diet.
Although they are bad for your HDL cholesterol, if shrimp is used as part of a balanced diet they help widely in improving your cardiovascular health. Your heart health gets improved substantially if you consume shrimp once a week.
Earlier, when news about how shrimp increased your cholesterol levels adversely broke out, doctors were against the consumption of shrimp as a part of your diet. But the medical field advances every day.
Recently researchers were working on the fundamental source of cholesterol accumulation in your body. They started understanding what causes cholesterol in the first place and how the levels of cholesterol fluctuated in a person with dietary and exercise habits. They understood the correlation between cholesterol accumulation and heart health.
HDL And LDL Cholesterol
While making a detailed analysis of the same, the researchers started listing out the advantages and disadvantages of consuming shrimp. This starts by understanding in depth the difference between High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL).
High-Density Lipoprotein is referred to as Good cholesterol while Low-Density Lipoprotein is referred to as Bad cholesterol.
Both HDL and LDL are accumulated in your body when you consume food. But When you consume more HDL, the good cholesterol helps in balancing the negative effects generated by bad cholesterol.
Adding to this a dietary guideline was issued in 2015, Which asked Americans to reduce the consumption of cholesterol-aiding food. These guidelines mentioned the range of cholesterol in your body should fall in the range of not less than 100mg and not more than 300 mg per day. It was concluded an average of approximately 90-290 mg of cholesterol will reflect a healthy balance of diet.
The presence of cholesterol content in shrimp was observed thereafter by the Department of Agriculture of the United States. This department stated an average of 180-190 milligrams of cholesterol is present in a shrimp that weighed 95-101 grams.
Final Thoughts
Since the level of cholesterol present in shrimp falls within the limits prescribed by the guidelines, the doctors concluded shrimp is not bad for cholesterol. The nutrients and vitamins present in shrimp will benefit your body more, than damage it further.
The fat present in shrimp is low saturated adding to the benefits. Shrimp was also found to not accelerate cardiovascular diseases. The American Health Association has reported, shrimp owing to its high nutritious content helps in lowering your cholesterol levels.
