Seeking professional advice

sohkubo
sohkubo Posts: 4
in Food and Nutrition
I was cycling home by the river in the dark after a long ride. Well I must have been panting open-mouthed. All I know is that an insect - or possibly a tiny nocturnal bird - was then in my mouth. In fourth gear on a long flat, my speed was such that neither of us had a chance to extricate ourselves from the sudden acquaintance, and the unfortunate thing likely ended up in my stomach.

After a bout of futile gagging, the thought occurred to me that the insect wasn't the only unfortunate one because I had now consumed an unplanned snack for which the MFP food database has been sadly lacking. It's true that I don't know precisely what sort of creature I swallowed. Larger than a fly, less oblong than a cockroach; full-bodied, more like a moth, perhaps, though the wings were more "glassy" (i.e. crunchy). Wing-span? Hard to say. The memory of there even being a wing-span is itself unsettling.

Hoping for comments on approximate nutritional values from a professional entomologist and/or micro-ornithologist with experience in South-East Asian breeds.

Replies

  • KristysLosing
    KristysLosing Posts: 683
    Wow...sounds like a rough night. Maybe guesstimate about 250 cals? That should give you a starting place. I hope it passes! :laugh:
  • lynnette26
    lynnette26 Posts: 9
    South-East asian? if you'r in asia then it's probably on the menu anyway
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    You might want to try an entomophagy site.
  • sarahmichelle876
    sarahmichelle876 Posts: 94
    Lmao please tell me this is a joke
  • florymonde
    florymonde Posts: 261 Member
    Hmm. Not a professional, but I'm not aware of any small nocturnal birds. However, the local bats average about 8g. Mostly protein, I'm sure.

    I would venture than any intake of calories would be balanced by the expenditure in coughing and retching.
    Happy Halloween!
  • sohkubo
    sohkubo Posts: 4
    @klpleet2011: 250 kcal sounds like a lot. I mean it probably only had 2-3 thimble-fulls of "meat". Is the exo-skeleton mostly protein? I don't know. Since you say "guesstimate" I assume you're not a professional in this area but I thank you for your attempt.
  • hofosho1020
    hofosho1020 Posts: 179
    I am dying of laughter. I hate when I eat unplanned bugs. Not that there have ever been planned bugs. Super gross. Sorry for your nasty accidental snack.
  • TexasTroy
    TexasTroy Posts: 477 Member
    lmfao.............I cant stop laughing.....not at you but definitely with you.....*wipes tear's outta eyes * okay. In Texas, USA we have big flying roaches...big-usually about an inch long with long wings and one hell of a crunch. If you were here, then thats prolly what it was and it would easily have 7-10 grams of protein and prolly 30-50 total calories. ....mmmmm, yummy!
  • rodneyderrick
    rodneyderrick Posts: 483 Member
    Probably no more than 125 calories.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
    Just count it as free extra protein that you burned out while trying to gag. Yummy, crunchy protein!
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    keep the nonsense to the chit chat section
  • TexasTroy
    TexasTroy Posts: 477 Member
    I think we need to petition MFP to add insects to the database, lol. Lots of cultures eat them anyway.
  • eandrsmom
    eandrsmom Posts: 119
    Wash it down with a beer, log it at 200 and call it a night.
  • sohkubo
    sohkubo Posts: 4
    @TexasTroy and @rodneyderrick - thanks for the advice. This sounds about right to me too, so I have added "Random Insect" to the public food database with 80 calories and 10g of protein.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    keep the nonsense to the chit chat section

    Wow. Really?

    Where *did* i put that carrot...?
  • JosephVitte
    JosephVitte Posts: 2,039
    @klpleet2011: 250 kcal sounds like a lot. I mean it probably only had 2-3 thimble-fulls of "meat". Is the exo-skeleton mostly protein? I don't know. Since you say "guesstimate" I assume you're not a professional in this area but I thank you for your attempt.

    Assuming your serious about wanting to know the nutritional value.................. of something...............that you don't know what you ate................................you sound pretty lame? What professional is going to tell you the nutrional value of something you don't know you consumed................"ah doc...............yeah I ate something, kinda small, kinda crunchy.........wingspan 3 inches possibly............how many calories you think?"
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
    @klpleet2011: 250 kcal sounds like a lot. I mean it probably only had 2-3 thimble-fulls of "meat". Is the exo-skeleton mostly protein? I don't know. Since you say "guesstimate" I assume you're not a professional in this area but I thank you for your attempt.

    Assuming your serious about wanting to know the nutritional value.................. of something...............that you don't know what you ate................................you sound pretty lame? What professional is going to tell you the nutrional value of something you don't know you consumed................"ah doc...............yeah I ate something, kinda small, kinda crunchy.........wingspan 3 inches possibly............how many calories you think?"

    typing........ like this........ is really....... annoying to read...... you know?
  • JosephVitte
    JosephVitte Posts: 2,039
    @klpleet2011: 250 kcal sounds like a lot. I mean it probably only had 2-3 thimble-fulls of "meat". Is the exo-skeleton mostly protein? I don't know. Since you say "guesstimate" I assume you're not a professional in this area but I thank you for your attempt.

    Assuming your serious about wanting to know the nutritional value.................. of something...............that you don't know what you ate................................you sound pretty lame? What professional is going to tell you the nutrional value of something you don't know you consumed................"ah doc...............yeah I ate something, kinda small, kinda crunchy.........wingspan 3 inches possibly............how many calories you think?"

    typing........ like this........ is really....... annoying to read...... you know?

    Why do unto others as you don't want done to you???..............you just annoyed me back!.............writing like me...........sorry............if you ever see my name in a thread.................skip it.................I do it every time.......unless it's less than a sentence I use............which is hardly ever, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......................sorry, lol.................oh, btw, don't worry your not the first complainer.................and I can't stop it................I'm working on my potty mouth first...............maybe this later.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    Bazinga. lol. Twice.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    P.S. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/small-bug-inhaled-while-working-out-2063806 lol It seems this is not the first time it was in our database. :]
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    This thread is epic! Hope whatever you ate wasn't poisonous!:flowerforyou:
  • aliesha1978
    aliesha1978 Posts: 12
    LMFAO!!! Sorry all the advice I got! :laugh:
  • sohkubo
    sohkubo Posts: 4
    Hmm. Not a professional, but I'm not aware of any small nocturnal birds. However, the local bats average about 8g. Mostly protein, I'm sure.

    I would venture than any intake of calories would be balanced by the expenditure in coughing and retching.
    Happy Halloween!

    @florymonde, a person who knows the weight of a bat to the nearest gram is someone I can trust. Are you a chiropterologist by trade, or just a keen hobbyist? Anyhow I thought that the wingspan of a bat would be too wide to be swallowed, but it's possible that at the last moment he/she curled up in a sort of panicked dive-bomb, so you might be onto something.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    I eat fried crickets whenever I can get my hands on them.
    Less than 10 cals each. Yumm!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    @klpleet2011: 250 kcal sounds like a lot. I mean it probably only had 2-3 thimble-fulls of "meat". Is the exo-skeleton mostly protein? I don't know. Since you say "guesstimate" I assume you're not a professional in this area but I thank you for your attempt.

    i thought 250 was high, personally i would go for a 50cal quick add!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    @TexasTroy and @rodneyderrick - thanks for the advice. This sounds about right to me too, so I have added "Random Insect" to the public food database with 80 calories and 10g of protein.

    LOVE IT!
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    I thought that the wingspan of a bat would be too wide to be swallowed, but it's possible that at the last moment he/she curled up in a sort of panicked dive-bomb
    Thank you for this visual image! :bigsmile:

    Flying insects tend to have an ultra low fat content; I'd be logging more like 35 calories for this.
  • rogerbosch
    rogerbosch Posts: 343 Member
    Hmm. Not a professional, but I'm not aware of any small nocturnal birds. However, the local bats average about 8g. Mostly protein, I'm sure.

    I would venture than any intake of calories would be balanced by the expenditure in coughing and retching.
    Happy Halloween!

    @florymonde, a person who knows the weight of a bat to the nearest gram is someone I can trust. Are you a chiropterologist by trade, or just a keen hobbyist? Anyhow I thought that the wingspan of a bat would be too wide to be swallowed, but it's possible that at the last moment he/she curled up in a sort of panicked dive-bomb, so you might be onto something.

    You obviously never swallowed a bat that was flying too close to a black hole!

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