The world is turning into a place full of weird people and their even more weird choices, either that or they have always been the same and it is us who run into them one fine day. Thanks to the internet for making the world so small. Anyway, coming to the point- are you looking for awesome recipes and dishes for your adventurous palate?
This might sound strange, but cricket flour is quickly gaining popularity as a healthy protein source without the environmental, economic, and health concerns that come with meats. Cricket flour, for real, is now the new health food that can be conveniently hidden into delicious cupcakes. It is like a one on one challenge to the meat-protein.
If you don’t know what a cricket is then let me tell you, a cricket is a grasshopper-like insect that is also known for its nighttime chirping. It is farmed in Thailand for human consumption because it has superior taste to other insect species. In fact, more than two billion people now regularly chow down on insects worldwide. Hmm!
Insects have been part of the human diet for thousands of years now, especially in hotter climates where bugs can be harvested year-round. Nowadays, over 80% of nations consume insects as part of their diets. In some cultures, it is considered a delicacy and used in most of their dishes. Wow! Insects are in demand.
Health benefits:
The cricket powder (available in markets as cricket flour), is packed with a protein punch, and if used in the muffins- infuses it with B12, iron, calcium, and pre-biotic fibre as well as many other amazing vitamins and minerals. And not only are they packed with environmentally-friendly protein, vitamins and minerals, researchers at the University of Madison-Wisconsin in the US say they’re also full of gut-boosting fibre. The scientists found that when people noshed on cricket meal-based muffins and smoothies (each containing 25g of cricket meal) every day for two weeks, the number of beneficial bacteria in their gut significantly increased. The fibre-rich crickets were also shown to reduce inflammatory proteins found in the blood, which means they may also help prevent cancer and depression. Okay! Now doctors are soon going to recommend this.
The flour has a mild nutty taste that is loved by many people. With 2/3 of the content being pure protein, many people use it as a protein powder as it definitely makes for a good post-workout protein source. A study came forward to show that the minerals from crickets are in fact more bio-available than minerals from beef. Weight for weight, cricket flour has three times more protein than beef. Guess we have the winner here.
In 2013, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations proposed that insects are the food of the future because they require much less growing that meat, yet packed with the nutrient punch of meats. If you have eaten fruits, vegetables, and spices, you have definitely eaten insects. Take an average gluten-free cricket carrot cake in which you will find a whopping 24% of your daily protein, 32% of your daily fibre, and 133% of your daily vitamin A in just one cupcake! My body has already started feeling the deficiency of protein.
So if you still haven’t given this creepy crawlies a chance, now’s the time to start. Although crickets are safe to eat, refrain yourself from catching and eating crickets that are found in the house. Grab your packs from the markets and have happy insects in the tummy.
