Prawns, or shrimp as they're more commonly know, often get listed as a high cholesterol food. However, although prawns contain relatively high amounts of cholesterol, their overall fat content remains low. This means that prawns may not have the negative health effects of foods with similarly high levels of cholesterol, but higher overall fats. You can eat prawns in moderation as part of a healthy, low-cholesterol diet.
Prawns
Prawns often feature in stir fries, pasta dishes, stews and salads. Large prawns even make a great barbecue food. Fat makes up only 1.7 percent of a cooked prawn. That means that a 3-oz. serving contains only 1.45 g of fat, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database. In your 3-oz. serving you'll get 179 mg of cholesterol and only 163 mg of saturated fat. Most of the 101 calories in a serving of prawns comes from the 19 g of protein in the crustacean.
Cholesterol
Despite the bad reputation, cholesterol is vital for human health. It helps build cells and transport substances through blood. However, the Food and Drug Administration suggests a healthy amount to include in your diet each day -- known as the daily value or DV. The DV for cholesterol is 300 mg. That means that one 3-oz. serving of prawns contains over half of your daily value for cholesterol.
Blood Lipids
A prawn's high cholesterol content doesn't tell the whole story. In a 1996 study published in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," scientists measured the effect of eating prawns on blood plasma lipoprotein levels. Participants with normal fat levels ate 300 g of prawns, equaling 590 mg of cholesterol every day -- well over the suggested DV. While their overall plasma fat levels increased, the levels of harmful triglycerides decreased, as did the level of low density lipoproteins. On the other hand, high density lipoprotein levels increased. HDL is associated with improved heart health. Researchers concluded that prawn cholesterol doesn't have a negative effect on health.
Considerations
While steamed or lightly fried prawns contain low fat levels and manageable amounts of cholesterol, other methods of cooking may add more fat. For example, one popular way to cook prawns involves dipping them in an egg and flour batter before deep-frying them in hot oil. Both the batter and the oil add lots of fat and cholesterol to the prawns. Just 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil contains 1.8 g of saturated fat. If you're looking to maintain a healthy diet, avoid deep-frying your prawns.
