Eating Crickets Can Keep Your Gut Healthy, Study Finds

It turns out that you don’t really have to search farther if you want to have a healthy gut. The truth is that you can find the main ingredient in your own backyard. New research shows you can skip the probiotic pills, and instead, chow down on some crickets if you want a healthy gut.

Many people couldn’t handle being around bugs, let alone eating them. Shockingly, munching on the protein-rich insects increases healthy gut bacteria – and may reduce inflammation in the body.

If you want a healthy gut, crickets might just be the best thing for your menu.

Valerie Stull is a recent doctoral graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and also the lead author of the study. She was inspired to further know about the benefits of icorporating insects into the diet after being introduced to the idea.

She said:

“I was on a trip with my parents in Central America, and we were served fried ants … I remember being so grossed out initially, but when I put the ant in my mouth, I was really surprised because it tasted like food — and it was good!”

A study published earlier this year found that insects are no harder to digest than any other foods in our day-to-day diets.

Stull said:

“There is a lot of interest right now in edible insects … It’s gaining traction in Europe and in the U.S. as a sustainable, environmentally friendly protein source compared to traditional livestock.”

If the idea of biting into a bug still causes you to squirm, Stull suggests testing the waters with cricket powder.

Stull and her team examined 20 healthy adults, aged 18 and 48, for about six weeks. The results of her experiment proved that crickets promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. And here’s a bonus: there is no harm in eating a lot of crickets every day. Meaning, you can add as much as you want in your daily meals.