{"id":5018,"date":"2022-11-28T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=5018"},"modified":"2022-11-28T11:00:16","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T17:00:16","slug":"ready-to-eat-insects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/ready-to-eat-insects\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready to Eat Insects?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you ready to eat insects? We\nused to sift the mealworms out of flour. Now, I guess we should release them\ninto a frying pan as an alternate source of protein. Whether we do, or don\u2019t, embrace\nthis trend will come down to whether we\u2019re ready to eat insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"grasshopper\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure why this idea seems foreign. We eat all sorts of things that are gross when you sit and think about them \u2013 hearts, livers, intestines, brains. We consume a tasty rind on cheese<\/a> without a second thought even though it may have live mites in it. We drink wine enhanced by the fungus Botrytis cinerea and serve it with salami dry-cured using penicillium. And yet when my sister noticed that the reason for the high protein content of the protein bar<\/a> she was eating was crickets, she put it down\u2026in the trash can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans are weird\ncreatures. We\u2019ll eat food full of harmful chemicals we can\u2019t pronounce but\navoid natural foods that are healthy because we can\u2019t get our mind around\neating bugs. Makes you wonder if our minds work right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the best introduction of a new protein is in something sweet like a brownie or cookie. Or how about a gummy? Biblical Protein sells strawberry gummies<\/a> made of locusts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insect protein doesn\u2019t have to stand on its own. It can be combined with traditional protein sources like beef or chicken. If grasshoppers truly have a nutty, mushroom flavor<\/a>, they probably won\u2019t stand out in many dishes as anything other than additional depth of flavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One concern for those of us with food allergies and sensitivities will be whether our system can tolerate these new proteins. In one study<\/a>, 94% of participants that reported having prior allergies, also reported symptoms indicative of an allergic reaction after consuming grasshoppers and water bugs seemed to be the most likely insect of those studied to cause an allergic reaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know whether food sensitivity also\nincreases the chance of an adverse reaction to adding insect protein to your\ndiet. There will continue to be studies and anecdotal reports to follow as our\nknowledge base increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you\u2019re not ready to consider alternate\nsources of protein right now, I believe there will be an increasing number of\nproducts containing them available. It will be interesting to see whether how\nthese products compare in taste, texture, and price to plant-based alternatives\nas well as to traditional protein sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re adventurous, adding a little ground\nfly larvae to the kid\u2019s cookies could be fun! And early introduction may be the\nbest way for the population to get ready to eat insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t really imagine moving to insect protein\nin 2023, but now is a great time to begin reviewing habits and determining the\nchanges we are willing to embrace. And insect protein is something to keep an\neye on, especially for us label readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am I ready to eat insects? Not today, but I\u2019m\nnot ruling it out in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Can My Family Get Enough Protein When Meat Shelves are Empty?<\/a><\/blockquote>