Know2eat

Dungeness crab

Metacarcinus magister

What dungeness crab has been studied for

2 associations assessed — none with dependable human evidence behind them yet. Strongest first.

  • 2 Insufficient
4 things to know first — allergies, interactions and intake limits

About dungeness crab

A large Pacific coast crab fished from California to Alaska and usually sold cooked whole or as picked leg and body meat. The USDA entry named here is the raw animal.

Also known as Dungeness, Pacific crab, Market crab

Heart HealthMuscle & Physical Performance

The evidence in depth

Best supported: Insufficient

What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Cardiovascular risk markers

Heart Health
Insufficient evidence

Evidence is limited for crab and cardiovascular outcomes. Shellfish is usually pooled with all seafood in cohort studies, and the few analyses that separate it are too sparse to support a conclusion.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

1 source

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Muscle protein synthesis

Muscle & Physical Performance
Insufficient evidence

May support muscle protein synthesis as a very lean complete protein. The evidence describes seafood protein quality in general; crab has not been used in a feeding trial.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

No source is attached to this association yet, so it is rated insufficient by default. It is listed because people commonly ask about it — not because there is evidence for it.

Ask about Dungeness crab

Ask about Dungeness crab

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories86 kcal4%
Protein17.4 g35%
Total fat0.97 g1%
Carbohydrate0.74 g0%
Fibre0 g0%
Water79.2 g—
Fats
Saturated fat0.132 g1%
Monounsaturated fat0.167 g—
Polyunsaturated fat0.317 g—
Cholesterol59 mg20%
EPA (omega-3)0.219 g—
DHA (omega-3)0.088 g—
DPA (omega-3)0.01 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A27 µg3%
Vitamin C3.5 mg4%
Thiamin (B1)0.047 mg4%
Riboflavin (B2)0.167 mg13%
Niacin (B3)3.14 mg20%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.35 mg7%
Vitamin B60.15 mg9%
Folate44 µg11%
Vitamin B129 µg375%
Minerals
Calcium46 mg4%
Iron0.37 mg2%
Magnesium45 mg11%
Phosphorus182 mg15%
Potassium354 mg8%
Sodium295 mg13%
Zinc4.27 mg39%
Copper0.674 mg75%
Manganese0.08 mg3%
Selenium37.1 µg67%
Other measured compounds
Ash1.7 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Crustaceans, crab, dungeness, raw (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 171968).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

Nothing dependable is recorded about how preparation changes this food’s nutritional properties. Rather than guess, this section stays empty.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Allergy

    Crustacean allergy

    Crustacean allergy is one of the most common adult-onset food allergies and one of the most frequent causes of food-induced anaphylaxis. It is driven mainly by tropomyosin, is usually lifelong, and commonly extends across crab, shrimp, lobster and crayfish. Cooking vapours alone are enough to trigger reactions in some people.

  • Worth knowing

    Domoic acid in crab viscera

    West coast Dungeness fisheries have been closed or delayed repeatedly because of domoic acid from Pseudo-nitzschia blooms, which concentrates in the hepatopancreas, the soft crab butter, far more than in the leg meat. Health agencies in California, Oregon and Washington routinely advise against eating the viscera and against using it in stock, even when the meat itself has been cleared.

  • Too much

    Sodium in cooked and canned crab

    Crab is boiled in heavily salted water, and canned or pasteurised crab meat is salted further, so the product on the plate carries much more sodium than the raw entry named here.

  • Too much

    Purines

    Shellfish are moderately high in purines and are commonly limited in dietary advice for gout.