Tag: Insects

Over 200 pathogens can be harbored by a housefly, but the average person is usually just fine after accidentally eating one. So, should I be worried if I ate a fly? Most of the time, the answer is no, but it's important to understand the body's defense mechanisms and the context of the incident.

Despite persistent rumors and common confusion, the synthetic food dye Red 40 does not contain insects. This common misconception often arises because another red food color, known as carmine or cochineal extract, is indeed derived from crushed beetles. It is important to know the distinction between these two dyes to make informed choices about your food.

Did you know that roughly 2 billion people worldwide consume insects as a regular part of their diet? While entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, is a common practice in many cultures, it raises a question for those following certain diets: are bugs pescatarian?

Over 67,000 species make up the diverse group of crustaceans to which shrimp belong. This often-debated topic asks: is shrimp an insect or a fish? The simple biological answer is that they are neither, but are in fact, crustaceans.

According to the National Institutes of Health, earthworms are a traditional medicine in China and can have a protein content up to 70% of their dry weight. So, is a worm considered meat? The answer depends heavily on whether you are approaching the question from a biological, cultural, or dietary perspective.

While chitin was long thought to be indigestible, recent research reveals that humans possess enzymes capable of breaking it down to some extent. This fibrous polysaccharide, found in the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans and the cell walls of fungi, offers significant health benefits, primarily through its prebiotic and immunomodulatory properties, rather than as a direct energy source.

As the second most abundant natural polysaccharide on Earth after cellulose, chitin is a critical biopolymer found across various biological kingdoms. So, what is the source of chitin and which organisms produce this resilient substance? It originates primarily from the hard outer structures of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi.

While many believe certain foods can ward off insects, scientific evidence proves there is no single food-based solution. We explore what diet is best to repel mosquitoes, examining popular myths versus the scientific facts about insect attraction.

For every person on Earth, there are an estimated 1.4 billion insects, a figure that powerfully illustrates the planet's dominant insect population. While that number refers to the vast ecological ratio, a more personal answer to "how many bugs for one person?" involves the surprising, and often unintentional, consumption and cohabitation that occurs every day.

Trehalose was first isolated from an ergot fungus in 1832 and later from an insect secretion known as Trehala manna in 1859, showing its widespread natural occurrence. Today, people wonder where to find trehalose, a versatile and multi-functional sugar found in many surprising places and crucial for the survival of numerous organisms.