Last Updated on November 9, 2023 by Fasting Planet
Can Vegans Eat Shrimp? You’re attending an upscale work party and the waiter comes by with a plate of shrimp cocktail. You’re new to veganism and you’re trying to keep it straight in your head what you’re supposed to eat versus what you’re not. Is shrimp banned from the vegan diet?
Vegans cannot eat shrimp as it counts as seafood, and that’s a food category that vegans wholly avoid. Prawn farming, which is how shrimp are caught, is a cruel practice that involves cutting off the female shrimp’s eyestalk. Vegetarians do not eat shrimp either nor seafood.
In this article, we’ll explain prawn farming further, as it’s something you need to know about as a vegan. We’ll also discuss how vegans can get the nutrients that shrimp contains. You’re not going to want to miss it!
The Nutritiousness of Shrimp
The decapod crustaceans known as shrimp include such species as Japanese glass shrimp, Alaskan pink shrimp, Sakura shrimp, Amano shrimp, cherry shrimp, whiteleg shrimp, and giant tiger prawns. Shrimp are available for commercial production in a variety of sizes. These sizes include:
- Tiny (61 to 70 shrimp per pound)
- Small (51 to 60 shrimp per pound)
- Medium (41 to 50 shrimp per pound)
- Large (31 to 40 shrimp per pound)
- Extra large (26 to 30 shrimp per pound)
- Jumbo (21 to 25 shrimp per pound)
- Extra jumbo (16 to 20 shrimp per pound)
- Colossal (15 shrimp or less per pound)
Regardless of size, shrimp are packed with healthful nutrients. Per the USDA, 100 grams of cooked shrimp includes:
- 99 calories
- 3 grams of total fat
- 1 grams of saturated fat
- 1 grams of polyunsaturated fat
- 0 grams of monounsaturated fat
- 189 milligrams of sodium (63 percent of your recommended daily value)
- 111 milligrams of sodium (4 percent of your recommended daily value)
- 259 milligrams of potassium (7 percent of your recommended daily value)
- 2 grams of carbs
- 24 grams of protein (48 percent of your recommended daily value)
- 7 percent calcium
- 2 percent iron
- 9 percent magnesium
Shrimp also contains zinc, niacin, phosphorus, iodine, iron, and selenium. You don’t get as many omega-3 fatty acids as well as omega-6s as you do when consuming other seafood, but both types of fatty acids are in shrimp.
The antioxidant known as astaxanthin, a type of keto-carotenoid, produces the red color that shrimp are known for. Outside of that, astaxanthin may maintain your vision and keep the hands of time from showing their effects prematurely.
As a whole, shrimp are perceived as healthy despite that they contain significant amounts of sodium and cholesterol.
Can Vegans Eat Shrimp?
Understandably, you’d want to enjoy some shrimp as a vegan considering their nutritional profile, but can you?
No. On the vegan diet, you omit all dairy, meat, poultry, honey, eggs, shellfish, and seafood. Shrimp are shellfish along with lobsters, crab, octopus, scallops, oysters, mussels, and clams. If you’ve ever wondered why shellfish aren’t allowed on the diet, let us introduce you to the terrors of prawn farming.
You’ve heard of factory farming, which is often the fate of chickens and other birds as well as mammals such as cows. Prawn farming might be even more heartbreaking. Unlike chickens, which hatch more eggs when exposed to different lighting patterns, it takes a strange and painful method to get female prawns to reproduce. They undergo what’s called eyestalk ablation.
Shrimp have eyestalks, which you rarely see because the version of shrimp sold to you at restaurants and grocery store freezers come stalk-less. One such stalk is already taken care of by the prawn farmers, who cut the eye of the female prawns. Sometimes the farmers remove the eye entirely, and in other cases, they leave the eye intact but cut it deeply.
How do prawn farmers perform eyestalk ablation? With a common razor, usually, but not always. The farmers can also do ligation, which is when they use a thread to tie the eyestalk tightly until it falls off. Cauterizing the eye with heated forceps is another method for removing the eyestalk. Then they squeeze the eye. The farmers also give the female shrimp no relief from her horrific pain.
Yes, it does hurt. Shrimp are part of the Kingdom Animalia and they can feel pain. They’re thought to be sentient as well, says this study from Applied Animal Behaviour Science from 2012. The researchers found that shrimp that underwent eyestalk ablation were in pain. The shrimp would rub at the area, flick their tail to try to escape, and become disoriented.
The study states that “these procedures are traumatic not only because of the surgical treatment or ligation but also due to the subsequent discomfort and hormonal changes.”
Why does it take removing a female shrimp’s eyestalks to make her reproduce? A gland in the face of prawns near their eye indicates when their ovaries have matured. When the gland is removed or destroyed, the ovaries grow and grow. Shrimp will normally reproduce in limited conditions that are conducive to healthy offspring, but not when they’re part of prawn farms.
What’s worse is that female shrimp can reproduce in prawn farms without eyestalk ablation. It’s just that most farmers will remove the eyestalk to speed up the reproduction since they don’t want to wait for the female shrimp to reproduce when she feels ready.
Without both their eyes, shrimp can’t as easily detect polarized light, which makes them more vulnerable to predators, especially silver-colored or transparent creatures. This makes the shrimp’s life even more stressful.
As if all that wasn’t enough to make you quit eating shrimp forever, we also have to talk about shellfish allergies. Upwards of seven million people in the United States might have a shellfish allergy. Granted, some people with this allergy are only allergic to certain shellfish and not all, but that can change.
Shellfish allergy symptoms include dizziness, fainting, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing issues, nasal congestion, and swelling throughout the body, including the throat, tongue, face, and lips. You may also experience atopic dermatitis with side effects such as eczema, itchy skin, or hives.
The most serious symptom of a shellfish allergy by far is anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition that can cause:
- Nasal congestion
- Voice impairment
- Confusion
- Face swelling
- Trouble swallowing
- Tongue swelling
- Itching
- Increased heart rate
- Rash
- Blue skin
- Shortness of breath
- Wheezing
- Flushing
- Dizziness
- Decreased blood pressure
- Fainting
Anaphylaxis requires immediate treatment with epinephrine or death could occur.
When or if a shellfish allergy develops is something you have no control over. You can become allergic to shellfish seemingly out of the blue whereas the last time you ate shrimp, you were fine. The best way to prevent a shellfish allergy is to forego shrimp entirely.
How Can Vegans Get the Nutrients They Would from Eating Shrimp?
Nutrient deficiencies are among your biggest risk on the vegan diet, as plant-based foods sometimes lack the nutrients, minerals, and vitamins found in animal products, or at least don’t contain them in the same quantities.
Here are the main nutrients in shrimp as well as dietary options for getting those same nutrients and minerals as part of a vegan diet.
Magnesium
The nutrient magnesium can produce DNA, bones, and protein. We also maintain our blood pressure, blood sugar, and nerve and muscle function thanks to magnesium, so it’s not a nutrient to skip on the vegan diet.
Fortunately, a plant-based diet can be rich in magnesium by incorporating the following foods:
- Peanut butter
- Flaxseed
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Tofu
- Cooked chickpeas, pinto beans, navy beans, lima beans, and black beans
- Soy nuts
- Cooked tempeh
- Cooked black-eyed peas
- Cooked quinoa
- Toasted wheat germ
- Vegan bran cereals
- Okra
- Skin-on potatoes
- Tamarind
- Edamame
- Swiss chard
- Spinach
Zinc
Your cells use zinc, especially your immune system, which stays strong through this mineral. The production of DNA and proteins happens in part due to zinc as well. To get your daily dose of zinc as a vegan, eat these foods:
- Quinoa
- Wholemeal bread
- Pumpkin seeds
- Hemp seeds
- Ground linseed
- Chia seeds
- Cashews
- Walnuts
- Tofu
- Lentils
- Chickpeas
- Beans
Niacin
Vitamin B3 or niacin converts food to energy, sending that energy to your cells so they can function and grow. Vegans can get niacin in lots of yummy ways, including:
- Acorn squash
- Brown rice
- Corn on the cob
- Wholemeal spaghetti
- Wild rice
- Yeast extract
- Muesli
- Quinoa
- Fortified vegan cereals
- Peanuts
- Nutritional yeast
Phosphorus
Your teeth and bones are as healthy as they are because you have phosphorus in your diet. Without phosphorus, your body would struggle to properly use the fats and carbs from the foods you eat. Tissues and cells rely on phosphorus too for repair and maintenance.
Here are some vegan-friendly ways of eating more phosphorus:
- Chickpeas
- Parsnips
- Wholemeal bread
- Walnuts
- Hazelnuts
- Pecans
- Sunflower seeds
- Cashews
- Brazil nuts
- Red lentils
- Corn on the cob
- Sesame seeds
- Tahini
- Almonds
- Wheatgerm
- Edamame
- Rolled oats
- Tempeh
- Pumpkin seeds
- Tofu
- Wholemeal spaghetti
- Quinoa
- Peanut butter
Iodine
Thyroid hormone comes from the mineral iodine, and that hormone allows pregnant women’s babies to develop a healthy brain and bones. Thyroid hormone can also regulate your metabolism, so make sure you’re getting iodine from these sources:
- Skin-on potatoes
- Strawberries
- Watercress
- Spring greens
- Kale
- Green beans
- Wholegrains
Iron
In your red blood cells is hemoglobin, a protein that sends oxygen to your lungs. Myoglobin is another protein that transports oxygen, this time to the muscles. The mineral iron makes both hemoglobin and myoglobin.
Although meat is a primary source of iron, vegans can eat iron-rich foods too, including:
- Swiss chard
- Beans
- Spinach
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Lentils
- Blackstrap molasses
Selenium
The last mineral we want to talk about is selenium, which prevents infections and free radical damage while producing DNA, maintaining thyroid gland health, and helping men and women reproduce.
Eat these vegan foods for more selenium:
- Legumes
- Seeds
- Nuts
- Tofu
- Soybeans
Conclusion
Vegans cannot eat shrimp, but it’s not like you would you want to after you’ve learned of the atrocities that shrimp must undergo in prawn farms. Many plant-based foods make up for the nutrients, minerals, and vitamins you’re missing from skipping the shrimp.