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The Health of It All...
Shellfish and Fat and Cholesterol
For some reason, shellfish has gotten a bad rap as being too high in cholesterol for a healthy diet.
The cholesterol in foods you eat is important, and you should be careful, but it is so much less important than total fat, saturated fat, sodium, total calories, etc. Basically, cholesterol is at the bottom of the list of things to worry about.
Shellfish, for the most part, has very little cholesterol. Crabs, mussels, oysters, clams, scallops and lobster are very low in cholesterol – usually less than 50 mg in a serving. Best of all, there's almost no fat in these guys. It may be that cooking methods led dieticians to declare shellfish off limits. Fried clams are a problem, not because of the clams but because of the cooking method. Lobster is a great food but the butter it is drenched in is pure fat.
It could also be shrimp that gave shellfish a bad name. They have a fair amount of cholesterol – 200 mg in about 4 ounces. While this is more than other meats, shrimp has very little fat and almost no saturated fat. As with any food that is higher in cholesterol, using less fat when cooking results in a great dish that is great for you.
