{"id":34286,"date":"2014-11-18T07:15:27","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T12:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=34286"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:05:05","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:05:05","slug":"cricket-flour-protein-powder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/cricket-flour-protein-powder\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Cricket Flour the New Protein Powder?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cricket
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What if we told you the best way to get more muscle-building protein into your diet wasn\u2019t to whip up more omelets<\/a> or drink more shakes<\/a> \u2014\u00a0but to eat bugs<\/i>?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, protein derived from creepy, crawly, and even winged creatures is generating buzz among the health obsessed as the new go-to food for fueling your workouts<\/a> and staying fit and lean.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to bugs, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization has identified almost 2,000 types of edible insect species,\u201d says Vandana Sheth, RDN, CDE, and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In fact, in 2013 the UN released a report<\/a> arguing that insects are a viable \u2014 and highly nutritious food source, rich in protein, fiber, vitamins<\/a>, minerals and healthy fats.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, eating insects might be good for the environment, offering an easy, cheap way to feed people worldwide as the planet\u2019s population steadily climbs towards the nine billion mark. And now, entrepreneurs are catching on, making a splash in the bugs-for-food marketplace with innovative edible insect powders, flours, protein bars and more.<\/p>\n

But is bug protein really any better than traditional protein sources, like chicken, or your go-to protein powder<\/a>? Read on to find out what you need to know before whipping up bug-infused banana bread<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Cricket
Photo: ExoProtein.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cricket Flour: The New \u2018It\u2019 Health Food?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t worry: If you want to jump on the bug-eating bandwagon, you won\u2019t be expected to dig up your own ingredients. In fact, Fast Company<\/a> predicts that edible insects are already a $20 million industry in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cInsects can have approximately 60 to 70 percent protein and they\u2019re also fairly low in carbs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Black Ant, a restaurant in New York City, offers a menu featuring saut\u00e9ed grasshoppers<\/a>, while the company Chapul<\/a> recently won a $50,000 investment from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank<\/i> for their gourmet cricket bars (on sale now, in flavors like coconut-ginger-lime). And more products are emerging in the startup space: A business called Six Foods<\/a> has plans to begin selling chirps \u2014\u00a0<\/i>cricket flour tortilla chips \u2014 after raising funding on KickStarter.<\/p>\n

Exo Protein, which sells Cricket Flour Protein Bars online<\/a> at $36 for a 12-pack in flavors ranging from Apple Cinnamon to Cacao Nut, is one company that\u2019s gaining momentum in the marketplace. \u00a0Each bar boasts 10 grams of protein \u2014\u00a0and from the packaging you\u2019d never guess they\u2019re chock full of ground up crickets. \u201cI started Exo with the mission to normalize consumption of bugs\u201d says Gabi Lewis, co-founder of Exo Protein.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lewis wasn\u2019t always a bug eater. But as a nutrition-obsessed senior at Brown University, he struggled to find a protein bar<\/a> he actually liked. \u201cThey\u2019re mostly about as healthy as candy bars or if they\u2019re good they taste terrible,\u201d Lewis says. One day, his roommate Greg Sweitz (now co-CEO of Exo) came back<\/a> from an on-campus conference raving about the benefits of bug protein. \u201cLike anyone else, I thought it was ridiculous,\u201d Lewis says. But soon, Lewis was sold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two thousand live crickets later, the roommates had concocted their own cricket flour and developed a recipe for what they considered to be the perfect protein bar. \u201cBecause cricket flour is not an isolated protein source, it\u2019s not highly processed,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cSo we don\u2019t have to mask that processed flavor with syrups and artificial sweeteners<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

They brought the bars to a local CrossFit gym<\/a> and it didn\u2019t take long for the initial testers to see past the initial gross-out factor inherent in eating a snack made of bugs. \u201cOnce they can take a bite of our bars and realize there are no legs or antennae\u2026 and they realize it\u2019s delicious, they\u2019re convinced,\u201d Lewis says. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearly two years later, Exo Protein has sold hundreds of thousands of bars. The popular snack has also struck a cord with Paleo dieters<\/a>, according to Lewis. \u201cMost research suggests our earliest ancestors were eating insets and berries, not meat with every meal. So crickets and other insects are among the most truly Paleo forms of protein you can imagine,\u201d Lewis says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cricket
Graphic: ExoProtein.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Good, Bad and Gross Things About Eating Bugs<\/b><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not just hype: Bugs really are <\/i>a great source of protein. You\u2019ll find about 12.9 grams of protein per 100 grams of cricket \u2014 compared to the seven grams of protein you\u2019d find in one egg<\/a>, according to Sheth. \u201cInsects can have approximately 60 to 70 percent protein and they\u2019re also fairly low in carbohydrates<\/a>,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

\n

“Make sure you\u2019re getting your insect flour or insects from a reputable source.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Exo says through their own research, they\u2019ve determined that cricket flour is 69 percent protein by dry weight, compared to 29 percent for sirloin, or 31 percent for chicken.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus, if more of the population started eating bugs on the regular, it might be good for the environment. \u201cWhen talking about carbon footprint<\/a>, that might be why people are looking at insects as a source of nutrition as well, there would obviously be a smaller carbon footprint to cultivate insects than chicken, beef, pork or fish,\u201d Sheth points out.<\/p>\n

Yet, before you become a full-time insect-arian, here are a few things to consider:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t DIY it.\u00a0 <\/b>Tempted to harvest from your local dirt pile? Don\u2019t do it, says Sheth. \u201cYou can\u2019t go pick an insect from the wild, you don\u2019t know if there are traces of pesticide, and it could be poisonous.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means eating bugs produced by establishments that have a proven track record of safety \u2014\u00a0like a well-known restaurant, or food company.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/b>There\u2019s not any kind of group that\u2019s providing guidelines, so if you are adventurous and want to try some, make sure you\u2019re getting your insect flour or insects from a reputable source,\u201d Sheth says.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Lewis says they\u2019ve taken plenty of precautions with the crickets in their bars. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to run a variety of tests on heavy metals, microbials, and do in depth nutritional analyses,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cIt\u2019s been a process but hopefully it will be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start small.<\/b> As with any dietary change, it\u2019s best to go slowly to make sure a new food doesn\u2019t harm your health instead of helping it. \u201cEverything in moderation,\u201d Sheth says. \u201cAdd it to your diet in a small portion and see how you\u2019re doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also wise to start simple when it comes to insect meal prep. In other words, don\u2019t attempt to serve gourmet ants<\/a> if you have no clue how to cook with creepy crawlies. \u201cFlour, like cricket flour, would be good way to start, because you can add it to something you\u2019re already making,\u201d Sheth notes.<\/p>\n

While Lewis says Exo\u2019s chef is working on innovative ways to incorporate cricket flour into everyday food items, we\u2019ll leave the cricket flour pizza dough to the experts.<\/p>\n

Would you consider adding insects to your diet? Tell us in the comments section!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Would you buy a protein bar made of bugs? Believe it or not, it turns out cricket flour might have some surprising nutritional benefits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":34305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[51,71,80,341,371],"class_list":["post-34286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","tag-food-choices","tag-nutrition","tag-protein","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2mens-health"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}