Oysters benefits make them not only one of the favorite seafood worldwide but also one of the most beneficial food.

The advantage of oysters is that they have such a strong ability to filter and purify harmful water components.

In this article, we present the most important benefits you get from oysters and oyster calories and nutritional data per serving, how to consume oysters and how to buy and store them alongside the precautions you need to know before you start consuming them!

Oysters benefits:

Seafood is usually very nutritional including tuna, salmon, and oysters.

Once you consume oysters more often you will enjoy their benefits which include:

Help with weight loss:

Seafood and oysters specifically provide good amounts of protein, healthy oils, and very few calories.

Among the many roles of protein, it enhances the feeling of fullness, thus less need for snacks.

Also, protein in oysters increases the metabolism of the body which means more fat burnt.

On the other hand, the fat content in oysters is among the healthy fats that don’t increase weight.

Improves immunity:

Oysters are full of beneficial antioxidants that help our bodies fight free radicals.

Among those antioxidants, oysters are a good source of Selenium and vitamin E.

Both of these nutrients are among the most powerful antioxidants against infectious diseases.

By consuming more oysters, you will help your better eliminate free radicals, thus prevent cancer and aging diseases.

Boosts cardiovascular health:

The most common cardiovascular diseases are a result of blood clotting and harmful cholesterol.

However, a diet rich in omega 3 omega 6 fatty acids is linked with a reduction in strokes and harmful cholesterol levels.

In addition, oysters contain potassium which is a mineral responsible for regulating blood pressure.

This is very beneficial especially for those who deal with blood pressure, stress issues, and cardiovascular diseases.

Enhances the bones:

Generally speaking, seafood is a great source of minerals and this also applies to oysters.

Just 8 medium oysters (110g) contain 160% of copper, 230% of zinc, and 88% of Selenium.

However, bones health is directly linked to the calcium and vitamin D content we get every day.

Oysters provide 12% of calcium and 12% of vitamin D per serving and that is a great boost to our health.

The other minerals in oysters improve bones density, strengthens them, and protect them from osteoporosis.

 Increases sexual desire:

Several studies show the effectiveness of zinc in increasing the sexual well-being of a person.

The most abundant mineral in oysters is zinc with more than 200% of our daily need per serving.

A zinc deficiency usually leads to:

• Low levels of testosterone.
• Erectile dysfunction.
• Fast ejaculation.

Oysters benefits for men:

Just like we mentioned earlier, the high content of zinc makes oysters beneficial for men’s sexual health.

For instance, men who supply their bodies with zinc have better sexual desire and sperm production.

The other minerals and vitamins in oysters treat sexual vulnerability and enhance sexual performance.

However, to be fair there is no scientific evidence that shows oysters’ ability to promote arousal.

Oysters benefits for women:

Thanks to its richness in copper, zinc, vitamin D, and Manganese, it reduces the incidence of osteoporosis.

This is very beneficial for women, as they are 4 times more likely to develop osteoporosis compared to men.

Oysters benefits for pregnant women:

Oysters enhance the effectiveness of the immunity system and this is very beneficial for pregnant women.

For instance, a better immunity reduces the risk of poisoning caused by pregnancy and prevents premature delivery.

Also, the high iron content in oysters provides the daily need for pregnant women and prevents anemia.

In addition, the richness in omega 3 and potassium boosts the growth of the fetus’s brain.

By eating cooked oysters regularly, it helps to keep the fluids balanced and the embryo protected.

The reason why oysters must be cooked is that seafood may contain harmful bacteria.

Thus, cooking oysters especially for pregnant women is essential to avoid any food poisoning.

Oyster calories:

Oysters are leaner than tuna and salmon which makes them one of the best nutritional seafood.

Even the so-called fatty oysters are not rich in fats but in glycogen, a source of stored glucose.

Just a dozen oysters may contain as much protein as in the serving size of beef, chicken, tuna, or salmon.

In fact, there are recent studies that prove that oysters contain 4 times less cholesterol than meat.

Among the most abundant nutrients in oysters, they are a good source of calcium, phosphorus, zinc, selenium, copper …

These data counts for the serving of raw oysters 4 ounces (6 oysters):

• Calories: 38
• Fat: 1.2g
• Protein: 5.12g
• Sodium: 330 mg
• Cholesterol: 16mg
• D vitamin: 8%
• B3 vitamin: 37%
• B5 vitamin: 7%
• B12 vitamin: 770%
• Calcium: 6%
• Copper: 110%
• Magnesium: 17%
• Phosphorus: 11%
• Potassium : 8%
• Zinc: 170%
• Selenium : 63%

Precautions you need to know before consuming oysters:

Despite all of the oysters benefits to our health, we still need to consume them moderately.

This is because an excessive amount of oysters may contribute to health issues such as:

Risks of infections:

Especially, during summer as it is a favorable environment for bacteria to grow.

Even though raw oysters are very beneficial especially for men, they can have side effects.

Oysters may contain more bacteria during summer and eating them raw may cause infections.

One of the very common bacterial infections related to raw meat or seafood is the Vibrio bacteria.

These bacteria usually live in saltwater and flourish in summer when the water is warm.

Also, oysters that contain vibrio-bacteria don’t sell or taste weird and look natural.

Because of that, the best healthy choice is to always cook your oysters before eating them.

Risk of intoxications:

Among the many minerals in oysters, it contains cadmium which is a toxic mineral.

However, oysters do not contain significant amounts of cadmium and only excessive consumption could result in intoxication.

This could be really critical especially for people with poor immunity like kids, the elderly, and pregnant women.

Zinc contamination:

This mineral is the most abundant nutrient in oysters with over 200% of our daily need of zinc per serving.

This is really beneficial for our bodies, however, consuming that much amount daily could lead to contamination.

As the Arabic quote says: “Consuming too much honey burns the throat”!

In this same manner, you should avoid consuming oysters every day to avoid a zinc buildup in your body.

In the case of high doses of zinc, the body has a lower ability to absorb copper and Iron.

As a result, this could lead to anemia and the malfunction of many body processes.

Unbalanced blood pressure:

This is due to the sodium content in oysters which may increase blood pressure.

Even though this won’t be an issue for healthy people as their bodies have the ability to stabilize blood pressure.

However, this is not the case for people with hyper or hypo-tension as it destabilizes their blood pressure.

Consuming oysters:

There are several ways to consume oysters as they can be consumed both raw and cooked.

Consuming raw oysters:

It is necessary to mention that raw oysters may contain parasites and bacteria.

However, when you don’t consume them every day and get them from a trusted seller there is a minimum risk for your health.

In fact, raw oysters are very beneficial as they contain all of the nutrients since none of them is damaged by heat or cold.

Also, raw oysters have a very hard almost closed shell and you would need good knife skills to break them open.

Our advice is that when you want to eat raw oysters, just order them at a trusted restaurant to avoid cutting yourself.

After breaking the shell open, you can add other ingredients to improve the taste of raw oysters.

Among those ingredients, you can use lemon, vinegar, chili sauce, tabasco sauce …

This is not the case with cooked oysters as the shells open when exposed to heat.

Consuming cooked oysters:

Oyster with French sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1lbs of unshelled oysters.
• 1cup of French sauce: a mix of lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and ground black pepper.
• 1 garlic clove crushed (onion is optional).

Preparation:

• Boil some water then place the oysters inside with some salt and let it boil for 5 minutes.
• Then take out the oysters and put them in a container.
• Pour the French sauce on the oysters, also add the crushed garlic clove then close the container and shake it.
• Place the closed container in the refrigerator to cool down.
• Serve it cold as a side dish.

Oysters with garlic sauce:

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of oysters (1Kg).
• 1 chopped red onion.
• 1tbsp of crushed garlic.
• 1tbsp of vinegar.
• 1tbsp cooking cream.
• 1tsp of mustard.
• 2tbsp of corn oil.
• 1cup of chicken sauce (fish sauce).
• 1tsp of salt and 1tsp ground black pepper.

Preparation:

• In a large frying pan, pour corn oil and let it heat then start by frying onion and garlic with salt and ground black pepper.
• Now add the oysters to the frying mixture, cover the pan and stir all the ingredients together before you let them cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
• Take out the oysters and put them on a dish on the side, this is because you don’t want the oysters to be over-cooked.
• Add the cooking cream, mustard, vinegar, and the chicken or fish sauce to the fried onion and garlic.
• Mix all the ingredients together then let them cook for 5 minutes before you put the oysters again in the pan and let them cook for another 2 minutes.
• You can then serve them with chopped parsley on top.

Grilled oysters:

Most people like fried food rather than cooked or raw food.

For instance, French fries are more common than any other potato recipe and that is good proof.

This also applies to grilled oysters as they tend to have a more pronounced flavor and a crispy texture.

Ingredients:

• 1lbs of unshelled oysters (1/2Kg).
• 4 cups (500g) of flour.
• 1/2tsp of baking powder.
• 1cup of egg whites (5 egg whites).
• 1tsp of salt.
• 1tsp of ground black powder.
• 1tsp of paprika.
• 2 cups of cooking oil.

Preparation:

• Mix the flour with baking soda, salt, paprika, and ground black powder.
• Put half of the flour mix in a flat plate and the other half in a plastic container and cover it.
• Then, you put an oyster in the plastic container of flour.
• Then you take the floured oyster and submerge it in the egg whites.
• After that, put the oyster covered in flour and egg whites on the flat plate so that flour sticks in the egg whites from all sides.
• Place that oyster in another flat plate, and repeat the same process for all the oysters to obtain oysters covered in egg whites and flour.
• Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan, then start frying your dipped oysters until they gain a golden color.
• As soon as they turn golden, take them out and drain the remaining oil.
• You can then serve them with ketchup or chili sauce and enjoy their crispiness.

Storing oysters:

Oysters must be eaten alive or at least alive by the time of cooking.

Unlike most seafood, oysters are meant to be kept at a normal temperature between 40 and 60°F (5 and 15°C).

That is the ideal temperature to preserve the freshness of shelled oysters.

How to preserve oysters in a basket?

Probably the best way to preserve oysters is to buy them in a basket.

You can consume some of the oysters and keep the rest in their basket covered in the refrigerator for 10 days.

However, make sure you keep the basket closed until the moment of consumption to extend the freshness period.

After you open up the basket, you can use plastic foil to cover it before you place it on the lower shelf of the refrigerator.

How to store oysters in bulk?

Sometimes you find oysters sold in bulks and this is also one of the good preservation methods.

However, the oysters are mostly open with only half of a shell and you need to quickly store them.

When you get home, place the oysters on a flat container with the hollow parts faced down.

This will allow the oysters to bathe in their own water and stay alive until you need them.

If you want to store them for a couple of days, cover the plate with a piece of cloth and put them in the refrigerator for 10 days.

Make sure you put them on the lower shelf of the refrigerator where it’s not too cold.

This is because oysters are very sensitive to temperature variation and you don’t want to go from frozen to boiling.

Buying oysters:

The first and most critical tip is to only buy oysters at the last moment.

However, you can buy oysters up to 10 days before serving but you’ll have to store them properly.

When you are choosing oysters make sure you buy the ones that have their shells intact and closed.

Even if the oyster has a little crack or is partially open, don’t buy it.

Also, after cooking them, make sure you throw away the ones that didn’t open up from the heat.

That is because cooked and still shelled oysters mean they were dead and not fresh in the first place.

Another sign of freshness is, to touch the inside of the oyster, and if it shrinks it means it’s still fresh and alive.

Finally, if the oyster has a strong unpleasant smell you shouldn’t buy it as that is a sign of rancidity.