Shrimp is a nutritious shellfish and is a common delicacy in the United States. It is by far the most consumed food in the US.
Interestingly, shrimps look quite similar to roaches. Their bodies are segmented thrice into the head, thorax, and abdomen.
Additionally, both of them have jointed legs. People sometimes call large shrimps prawns and vice versa.
Furthermore, they both have an exoskeleton. Some schools of thought refer to shrimps as the roaches of the sea. So are shrimps and roaches related? Read along to learn astounding facts about shrimps.
Are Roaches And Shrimps Related?
Both of them belong to the phylum Arthropoda under different classes. Shrimps are crustaceans, while roaches are in the insect class. These two animals have striking similarities.
Organisms in the phylum Arthropoda have exoskeletons, jointed legs, and segmented appendages. Therefore, shrimps and roaches share the same ancestry and thus are related.
Benefits Of Consuming Shrimps
Shrimps are highly nutritious. They are composed of minerals, proteins, and fatty acids. For this reason, adding any shrimp to your diet should provide you with similar health benefits. Selenium, choline, and a range of vitamins are some nutritional benefits offered by shrimps.
This food greatly favors individuals following the keto diet since it is low on carbohydrates. Moreover, a keto diet comprises plenty of proteins and fats and shrimp. Below are some incredible health benefits of eating shrimps:
1. Shrimps Aid In Cognition
Iron, astaxanthin, and iodine are abundant in shrimps. These nutritional minerals play a vital role in enhancing an individual’s cognitive abilities. Studies indicate that our bodies perform the best when cognition is enhanced.
Firstly, iron accelerates the process of bonding between oxygen and hemoglobin to form oxyhemoglobin.
It is a compound that circulates oxygen from the lungs to tissues. Consuming shrimps add iron to your system, increasing oxygen flow to vital organs like the brain.
In addition, eating shrimps will provide you with strength and endurance and enhanced oxygen flow to the brain tissue.
Thus your brain’s memory, concentration, and comprehension soar with the addition of shrimps to the diet.
Shrimps also have astaxanthin minerals which add tons of benefits to the cognitive aspects of a person.
It enhances your memory and performance besides increasing the chances of survival of your brain cells. Furthermore, astaxanthin reduces the chances of getting brain inflammation.
Lastly, shrimps supply the body with iodine. The body utilizes iodine to synthesize thyroid hormones. These hormones are necessary for the development of the brain during the infancy stage and pregnancy.
Basically, including shrimp in your diet will increase your aptitude for physical exercises or test scores.
Regular intake of shrimps will surely shoot up your overall performance. Enhanced cognition ultimately amplifies an individual’s performance.
2. Shrimps Will Help You Lose Weight
Trying out a shrimp regimen will result in remarkable body transformation for those determined to lose weight.
This seafood is rich in protein and fats and has very few carbs. Due to its low calories, your body will burn fats stored in your body for energy demands.
Like the keto diet, consuming shrimps will place your body into ketosis. In this state, the body relies on ketones to supply energy to the tissues. Consequently, the body will rapidly torch down fats, helping you lose weight.
Zinc is also present in shrimp meals. This mineral increases the leptin hormone levels in your body.
This hormone aids the body in regulating fat storage, energy usage, and appetite. You, therefore, won’t find yourself having insatiable cravings.
High leptin levels also curb overeating. You basically won’t eat more than you need to after consuming shrimp. This information shows that shrimps will save you some bucks in addition to keeping you in shape.
3. Delays The Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is a health condition that results in the impairment of vision. It is a common phenomenon that older generations struggle with. I bet you won’t want to have problems with your vision when you become a senior citizen.
Studies indicate that shrimp contains a compound that behaves similar to heparin. Heparin is integral in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. It prevents harmful clots inside your blood vessels.
Remember the astaxanthin? It turns out that astaxanthin relives the eye fatigue associated with prolonged usage of computing devices.
With smartphone technology influencing much of our lives, the eye needs the soothing effects of astaxanthin.
4. Keeps Your Heart Healthy
Fibrinolytic enzyme present in shrimps is critical for thrombolytic treatment. The thrombolytic treatment destroys detrimental blood clots inside your blood vessels. It also catalyzes the heparin’s neutralization properties.
A fibrinolytic enzyme is a powerful tool for maintaining a healthy heart. This enzyme is important in combating cardiovascular diseases that afflict many people globally. Who doesn’t mind having a healthy heart?
Moreover, there is a high accumulation of Omega-3 fatty acids in the shrimp diet. These fatty acids destroy harmful cholesterol in the bloodstream, thus keeping your heart healthy. Therefore, consuming shrimps reduces your risk of getting a stroke or a heart attack.
5. Nourishes Your Organs
Minerals present in shrimp contribute to the wellbeing of your hair and skin. Inadequate zinc in your system results in hair loss.
Luckily, this seafood provides you with the zinc mineral one bite at a time. Zinc encourages the spawning of new cells to repair your skin and hair.
If you notice reduced hair growth or are experiencing hair loss, you should know that you are low on zinc minerals.
Give shrimps a shot the next time you start losing your hair. Zinc will help you battle off this uncomfortable reality keeping you younger and healthier.
Shrimp also contains anti-aging properties. These properties slow down your aging process. Therefore, regular consumption of shrimps will beautify your skin, making it radiant young. You don’t have to stick to shrimps only for zinc. There are diverse foods rich in zinc as well.
The astaxanthin present in shrimps is a powerful antioxidant. It combines with zinc to slow down the aging process, especially from harmful UV rays. Consuming shrimps several times a week should reduce the severity of spots and wrinkle on your skin.
Amazing Facts About Shrimps
Shrimp is the most popular marine animal belonging to the crustacean class. Its species vary in size, shape, and colors. Studies suggest over 2000 shrimp species in all ocean waters of the world except Antarctica.
These small aquatic lives inhabit ocean bottoms with one critical mission: maintaining the ecological balance in the water.
They sweep and clean the ocean floors when feeding. That is why water appears fresh with concentrations of troupes of shrimps.
The sizes of shrimp also vary greatly. The difference arises due to a shrimp species’ disparate environmental conditions and genetics.
Typical shrimps can be as small as half an inch. The invasive shrimp tiger species present at the gulf can be huge, like an adult’s arm.
They are amazing swimmers adept at crawling. A simple flex in their abdominal muscles propels them backward swiftly.
Moreover, they can swim forward using the appendages on the flanks of their tails. You should note that their forward swim is slower.
Shrimps occasionally snap their pincers, and some may be louder. Several shrimps snapping at the ocean floor may produce noise even in a peaceful ocean.
They hit their large and small pincers together, producing sounds louder than most marine noises.
They don’t just do this for fun. Snapping is one of their modes of communication. Shrimps, furthermore, produce the sound to dazzle the prey.
Did you know that shrimps are omnivorous? They feed on microscopic aquatic plants and animal matter.
They perform this by filtering water around them or sifting at the ocean floor. Some shrimp species capture and consume tiny fish.
Like in the jungle, shrimps are vital in their ecosystem. Whales, crabs, fish, sea urchins, and other marine life consume shrimps just like we do. Furthermore, they have a symbiotic relationship with some fish and clean parasites.
Shrimp contains selenium minerals which aid in detoxifying the body. This mineral also fights noxious cells.
Research shows that selenium effectively tackles carcinogenic cells hence reducing chances of contracting cancer.
Decapods are a specific order where shrimp and their cousins, lobsters, and crabs belong. A common characteristic to all decapod members is the number of legs. All of them have ten disjointed legs.
Conclusion
Shrimps share some fundamental characteristics with roaches. Both of their bodies have an exoskeleton. Additionally, they have the same appendages and joint legs. They belong to the same species, and these similarities come from.
The shrimp seafood is highly nutritious. It comes packed with minerals, proteins, and very few carbohydrates. The minerals have anti-oxidation and anti-aging properties. Regular intake of shrimps thus nourishes your organs.
Its nutritional composition is similar to that of the keto diet. Also, this seafood does a great job of keeping your heart healthy.