Each year there is always something exciting and new in the world of nutrition. This time around it’s the healthy concept of eating BUGS. All I keep hearing about is how these high protein critters are the future of food!  I just had to try.

Being a huge Naked & Afraid fan, I knew that eating termites while out in the wild without food is a great source of protein (barf), and that beetles are loaded with healthy fat (barf again). Even though the thought of eating bugs is an icky one, it got me thinking about all of the other SUPER icky things that we already eat…and most of us have no idea how icky they are!  For example:• Sodas, some juices and sports drinks are actually laced with flame retardant.

• Titanium dioxide (a paint chemical) is often used in salad dressings, icing and coffee creamers.

• Maggots can often be found in canned mushrooms.

• Glyphosate (active chemical in weed killer, Roundup) is used commonly on corn and soy crops.

• Natural flavorings can mean about 45 ingredients including beaver anal gland juice (usually for a vanilla “natural” flavor).

• L-cysteine is a non-essential amino acid made from dissolved human hair (often from China) or duck feathers to improve the texture of breads and baked goods.

• Carmine is a bright red food colorant that is the crushed abdomen of the female African beetle-like insect.

• Since factory-farm conditions are so god awful, meat processing plants mix meat from hundreds, even thousands of different cows…then puts them through an ammonia gas bath to kill the germs.

• Artificial dyes in candies, cakes and cereal are derived from petroleum materials (think of Yellow #6 or Red #40).

• An industrial non-stick chemical is commonly used to coat the inside of popcorn bags and is the coating on most non-stick pots, pans and baking sheets.

So as you can see, we already are exposed to a plethora of nasty things in the foods/drinks that we eat. And those were just SOME!  So the concept of eating bugs to me for their nutritional benefits sounds just fine. Hence the reason I gave these Exo bars a try. They’re made from ground cricket flour. I fell deeply in love with them!!!  I can pronounce all of the ingredients (there aren’t many) and just love how jammed they are with protein and healthy fat. The sugar is a little high for my liking but the benefits for the bar outweigh that in my opinion. There are so many crappy bars out there that are just candy bars in disguise…this one, not so much!

I am thrilled that I willingly choose to try eating bugs, because they’re my new favorite thing!  Would you give bug flour a try?

Check out this brief TED talk on Edible Insects and how they’re the future of protein!