Eat at an Italian restaurant, and you're likely to see some variety of mussels on the menu -- this small mollusc in a blue-black shell is popular in Italian cooking, often served covered in marinara sauce or white wine and butter sauce. Other cuisines make use of this tasty and tender shellfish as well. Mussels are a nutritious option for your diet, serving up a range of vitamins and minerals with high quality protein and relatively few calories.
Basic Nutrition
A 3-oz. serving of cooked mussels adds 146 calories to your daily diet. Depending on your calorie needs, you likely need more calories than this for a healthy meal, though; consider serving mussels with a slice of whole grain bread or a portion of steamed vegetables, such a spinach or green beans. This portion of mussels also contains 3.8 g of fat, little of which is saturated, or the unhealthy type of fat. You won't get many carbohydrates from this seafood -- there are 6.3 g per serving -- but mussels do provide 20.2 g of complete protein, helping you to get all the amino acids your body requires.
Vitamins
Including mussels in your diet gives you access to an excellent source of vitamin B-12, a vitamin that keeps your nerves working as they should. Each serving of this shellfish provides 340 percent of your daily need, and although this is not true of other water-soluble vitamins, your body can store the extra vitamin B-12 you consume. A serving of mussels also provides 21 percent of the riboflavin, 19 percent of the vitamin C and 17 percent of the thiamin you should consume each day. You also take in lesser amounts of vitamin A, vitamin B-6, niacin and pantothenic acid.
Minerals
Mussels contain a good supply of phosphorus, with 24 percent of the daily recommended intake per serving. You also get 32 percent of your body's iron requirements, which can help you get proper oxygen levels in your bloodstream. Each serving of mussels provides 15 percent of the zinc you need every day and less than 10 percent of the potassium, calcium, magnesium and copper.
Health Considerations
All fish and shellfish, including mussels, contain contaminants that may be harmful, particularly to pregnant women. Despite this, the Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration give the okay to eat mussels as long as they are properly cooked. Eating mussels may still present a risk, though -- research published in the October 2007 issue of "Environmental Health" indicates that women who eat a high quantity of shellfish during pregnancy increased their chances of giving birth to babies small for their gestational age. Consult your physician about the potential risk of consuming mussels if you are pregnant.
References
- McKinley Health Center; Macronutrients: the Importance of Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat; Mar. 26, 2008
- Fitbit: Mussels, Blue, Cooked
- MedlinePlus: Protein in Diet
- MayoClinic.com; Vitamin B12; Dec. 1, 2010
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Iron; Jun. 4, 2009
- MayoClinic.com; Pregnancy Nutrition: Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy; May 30, 2009
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