Shrimp

Betr Tip: Limit shrimp consumption to every other day.

We love shrimp because it’s a lean protein that is suitable for both level 1 and level 2. However, not all shrimp are created equal! In fact, there are differences between wild-caught vs. farm-raised and fresh vs. frozen. Already confused by these labels? Don’t worry, we got you covered! For more information about how to properly read nutrition labels, see our blog here.

Back to shrimp … Be aware of the total salt content of all these kinds of shrimp you can find in your local supermarket. In an experiment conducted by Cooking Light Magazine, 4 ounces of steamed shrimp were analyzed for their total sodium content. In the end, the results were astonishing!

While wild-caught fresh shrimp (never frozen) yielded only 97mg of sodium, farm-raised shrimp which was previously frozen contained almost twice as much (159mg to be exact)! It was also found that Winn-Dixie’s individually quick-frozen easy-to-peel wild-caught shrimp contained 245mg, Whole Foods’ individually quick-frozen easy-to-peel shrimp contained 483mg, and Publix’s fresh frozen easy-to-peel farm-raised shrimp consisted of the most sodium with a record content of 730mg! For only 4 ounces, that is 7.5 times as much as the wild-caught fresh shrimp!

Now why is that? The answer is simple: In order to freeze fresh shrimp as quickly as possible and to make them easy to peel, the shrimp is washed in a saline solution. THAT’s why there are major differences in sodium content. Remember: too much salt isn’t good for our health. Therefore, we at Betr recommend wild-caught, fresh shrimp over previously frozen shrimp. The more pure, the better!

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