BANGKOK – Seorang lelaki warga Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang kini menetap di Thailand mendakwa, dia berjaya mengurangkan berat badannya selepas mengamalkan memakan serangga.
Lelaki itu, Jason Brink, 29, berkata, dia mengamalkan makan serangga selepas secara tidak sengaja memakan haiwan berkenaan di sebuah kelab malam di sini beberapa bulan lalu.
Sejak kejadian itu, Brink terus menjadikan serangga termasuk tebuan dan semut sebagai antara menu dalam dietnya selepas mendapati makanan itu mempunyai kandungan protein yang tinggi serta sihat.
“Saya tidak makan makanan yang mempunyai lemak yang tinggi sebaliknya memakan makanan yang dicampur dengan pelbagai jenis serangga.
“Sejak beberapa bulan lalu saya berjaya mengurangkan berat badan saya sebanyak beberapa kilogram dan berasa semakin sihat,” katanya.
Menurutnya, serangga seperti belalang dan cengkerik mempunyai kandungan kalori yang rendah sekali gus membantu seseorang itu mengurangkan berat badan. – Agensi
Eating Insects Is the Simplest Way to Lose Weight
29-year-old Jason Brink, born and raised in the US, moved to Thailand quite a while ago. Apparently, his stay in this part of the world has worked wonders for his waistline. Simply put, the once obese man is now love handles-free.
As surprising as this may sound, it's insects that the 29-year-old has to thank for his success getting back in shape. Dead, fried insects seasoned with chili, salt and all sorts of other spices, to be more precise.
That's right, Jason Brink maintains that it was his taking up the habit of eating insects that helped him lose weight.
In a post on Daily Mail, Jason Brink explains that folks in Thailand have been eating all sorts of insects, crickets, locusts, wasps, ants and termites included, for decades now. They've even perfected several recipes that the 29-year-old argues are downright delicious.
“Recently, I was introduced to an excellent Thai delicacy from Northern Thailand that is essentially young wasps and termites with a few giant ants, cooked with lemongrass and chilli peppers and served over rice, you can see that particular dish below.”
“In addition to being delicious, it was far and away healthier than the alternative stir-fried chicken or beef. Available seasonally, this delicacy is something I would happily eat any day of the year,” the young man writes in his post.
As far as crickets are concerned, Jason Brink says that, when he first put one in his mouth, he assumed that he was chewing on a peanut. It was only when he realized that the treat was too soft and had too metallic a taste that he figured out that he was in fact eating one such insect.
Truth be told, odds are that many of you find the idea of eating insects nothing short of appalling. Still, Jason Brink is quite right when saying that crickets, termites and all sorts of other creepy crawlers are a great source of nutrients and can help people lost weight.
Thus, first off, insects pack very few calories, especially when compared to the foods people usually eat. Just to put things into perspective, it need be said that 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of crickets have a calorie count of just 121 while at the same time containing all sorts of healthy compounds.
Specifically, experts with the World Health Organization say that, as shown by several investigations, insects are a great source of proteins. Besides, they contain loads of zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, iron and the like, and even fibers.
“While eating insects is seen by us as a strange thing to do, they are, gram for gram, some of the best protein available,” Jason Brink says. “It is up to us to make decisions about the future of our waistlines and our planet, and the best option might be a little more creepy-crawly than we initially suspected,” he adds.