Banana Prawn
Food · Protein · Food, Typed Supps
A very lean seafood that’s mostly protein, with barely any fat.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Chewing begins): Chewing breaks apart the prawn’s dense muscle protein.
- Stomach (Protein digestion starts): Stomach acid and enzymes begin unwinding the protein.
- Small intestine (Amino acids & minerals absorbed): Protein breaks down into amino acids; selenium, zinc, and B12 absorb alongside it.
- Tissues (Repair & antioxidant defence): Amino acids support tissue repair while selenium fuels the body’s antioxidant enzymes.
Timing
Works at any meal; it carries almost no fat, so absorption doesn’t depend on eating it alongside anything else.
Time to effect
- Weeks: Selenium and protein status build with regular intake rather than a single serve.
Allergens
Contains: Crustaceans. May contain: Sulphites. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Pescatarian, Keto, Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Halal.
Satiety
221 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — very high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Environmental footprint
26.9 kg CO2e and 3515 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Prawns (farmed)" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Pricey — roughly £28 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 59
- Protein: 13.2g
- Carbohydrate: 0g
- of which sugars: 0g
- Fat: 0.6g
- of which saturated: 0.1g
- Fibre: 0g
- Sodium: 509mg
Food vs. supplement
A 100g serve supplies around 34mcg of selenium — more than half a typical day’s requirement — plus 13g of protein and a day’s worth of B12, all from one lean food.
Kitchen tip
Cook quickly over high heat, 2 to 3 minutes — prawn protein toughens fast if overcooked.
Common myth
“Prawns are bad for your cholesterol.” In reality: Prawns are genuinely high in dietary cholesterol, but for most people saturated fat has a bigger impact on blood cholesterol — and prawns are naturally very low in saturated fat.
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