Crab meat is rich in protein, niacin, and vitamin B12, and also contains other nutrients such as vitamins A and C, fat, carbohydrates, iron, and phosphorus. Especially vitamin B12, just 100 grams of crab meat contains more than the recommended daily intake. Therefore, people who often feel depressed, fatigued, or experience numbness and pain in their peripheral nerves can consume it in moderation.
Although crab meat is nutritious, it has a high cholesterol content, and if you add the crab roe and crab paste, it becomes even more significant. Therefore, people with these concerns (such as those with gallstones, systemic lupus erythematosus, allergies, or gastrointestinal issues) should be moderate in their consumption to avoid affecting their health. Additionally, there is the issue of calories; crab meat is very high in calories, so if you want to control your weight, you need to pay attention to the portion size!
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, crabs have a salty and cold nature. People who often have cold hands and feet (especially women), or those with a cold or weak constitution, should not eat them in excess. Alternatively, you can add more hot spices like ginger, scallions, and garlic during cooking to balance the cool nature of the crab with the warming properties of these ingredients. Or, after eating crab, you can drink a cup of brown sugar ginger tea to warm the stomach, remove the fishy smell, and expel cold. Furthermore, folklore suggests that you should not eat cold-natured fruits like persimmons before or after eating crab, as this is to avoid consuming too many cold foods, which can lead to a cold constitution and cause discomfort.
In addition to the concerns mentioned above, there are other things to note when eating crab. Do not eat raw crab: The crabs we commonly eat are generally ocean crabs, and their shells, gills, and intestines are full of various bacteria. If you consume these bacteria or parasites, it can lead to illness at best, or poisoning and damage to internal organs at worst. Therefore, before eating, crabs should be thoroughly cleaned and then steamed or boiled thoroughly to ensure they are safe to eat. Don't eat dead crabs: After being captured, crabs often struggle, which increases lactic acid in their bodies. This causes bacteria to multiply rapidly and spread to the crab meat after death. Bacteria break down the amino acids in the crab, producing a harmful substance called "histamine," which can cause allergic food poisoning. Another substance that may be produced is "histamine-like," which can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, so be careful when selecting them.