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!

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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