The Chinese consume more than 50% of the world's chestnut harvest, the French celebrate a real chestnut holiday and fry the fruits, going out to the central squares, in huge pans.
Chestnuts are not grown in Russia, so European treats can be found only in supermarkets.
There are 2 types of chestnuts:
1) Horse chestnut - poisonous, unsuitable for food, but is actively used in medicine and cosmetology.
2) Noble ("real") - its fruits are edible.
It's about the fruits of the edible chestnut. How useful and what harm can they bring to our health?
Outwardly, chestnut is easy to confuse with hazelnuts - brown, rounded, with a strong shell. Its consistency is similar to mashed potatoes, and the taste is somewhat reminiscent of potatoes or corn. Pleasant and sweet in taste, the composition of chestnut is rich in healthy substances.
The composition of the chestnuts is as follows:
Minerals (carbohydrates, starch)
Cellulose
Carbohydrates
Protein
Vitamins A, B, C
Beta carotene
Calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, etc.
The beneficial property of chestnut for vegetarians is its high content of vegetable protein. Therefore, it will serve as an excellent substitute for animal protein in the human body.
Chestnut is a medicine! Benefits to human health are brought not only by the fruits of the chestnut, but also by the bark, leaves and buds. Chestnut decoction is perfect for diseases of the upper respiratory tract, for the treatment of hemorrhoids, thrombophlebitis and dilated veins of the nasopharynx. It increases vascular tone, reduces capillary fragility, and accelerates blood flow.
The chestnut decoction is wonderful for refreshing the skin. It is enough to take two tablespoons of chopped chestnut and pour a glass of boiling water. Done! We wipe our face every 2-3 days. After a month, the skin stops being dry, inflammation and redness disappear, fine wrinkles are eliminated.
Chestnut is an energy bar! Yes, it's hard to believe, but only 2-3 chestnuts for dinner saturate our body, and the feeling of hunger will never happen. The ideal option is to freeze the worm and moderate the appetite that wakes up at night. Chestnut also helps to get rid of malaise and fatigue.
There is an interesting fact that direct contact with chestnut can charge you with vigor, strength and good mood. Go to southern France, Spain or Italy, where chestnuts are grown, and be sure to check the truth of the statement.
Chestnut is a dietary aid! It contains a small amount of fat, so this product must be added to the number of the first when compiling a vegetarian diet, because it helps to lose weight. It is almost impossible to recover from even a large number of eaten chestnuts. Chestnut is useful for athletes before and after training.
Chestnuts - a side dish for roast... The French consider chestnuts to be irreplaceable helpers in the preparation of their culinary masterpieces. Chestnuts are baked, boiled, fried until golden brown. They are added to salads, cereals and even wine. Getting into the same container with meat, they give it an excellent aroma and unusual taste. Chestnut is a favorite product of kitchen masters. At the same time, chestnuts baked in the oven can also be an independent dish.
Chestnut is the perfect dessert for ice cream! To prepare it, you need only 4 ingredients: 500 g of chestnuts, 80 ml of brandy or wine, 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 teaspoons of sugar. Chestnuts are pre-cooked for 5 minutes in boiling water, then peeled and spread in a mold with butter and sugar. The form is sent to the oven and baked for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. Cooked fruits should be sprinkled with brandy and served with ice cream.
Chestnut is a panacea for many diseases... Doctors often talk about the incredible healing energy of chestnuts, which not only act as a preventive measure, but also treat diseases such as mastitis and mastopathy. The fruits of this plant are also used to massage the mammary glands. However, self-medication is not worth it, any therapy must necessarily take place under the supervision of a doctor.
In order to cope with cellulite, it is enough to make a simple chestnut scrub: mix olive oil, basil or other herbs, essential oil and the chestnut itself, previously ground.
It will have health benefits for people with a sore back. With radiculitis enough sleep on chestnuts... The body will receive a natural massage that will strengthen the nerve roots and the pain will begin to subside. With sore joints, you can make a bracelet from dried chestnuts and wear it on your hands. 6-7 pieces are enough in a bracelet.
Rheumatism is considered one of the most dangerous and widespread diseases of mankind. For rheumatism, constant fingering of chestnuts with the fingers will serve as a good prevention. By making the hands work, the motor skills of the fingers are improved and the bones are strengthened.
Chestnut cleanses the body, removes harmful substances and promotes the proper functioning of the internal system of the body. Chestnut tincture can be used as a diuretic and anti-edema remedy. The tannins in chestnuts help with furunculosis. Chestnut products treat wounds and burns.
Proponents of traditional medicine are advised to carry chestnuts in their pockets to protect themselves from ailments, to protect themselves from life's troubles and health problems.
Another useful property of chestnut for sensitive people prone to depression and stress is that a few pieces of chestnut a day energize and strengthen the body from the inside.
Chestnut is a great alternative to high-calorie nuts, chocolate bars and seeds. Chestnut is a very low-calorie product - 166 kcal per 100 g product. Roasted chestnuts are, of course, higher in calories. Their energy value rises to 202 kcal.
When introducing chestnuts into the diet, be sure to consult with a specialist so as not to harm your health. Since the chestnut fruit has a large number of contraindications. If in doubt, it is better to refuse the product so as not to harm your body.
Individual intolerance
Allergies
Renal failure
Pregnancy and lactation
Menstrual irregularities
Gastric bleeding
Diabetes mellitus
Stomach ulcer
As with everything, you need to be careful when eating chestnuts. Excessive consumption of them can lead to cramps and problems with the digestive system: constipation, heaviness in the stomach, nausea and bloating.
Be careful when buying chestnuts... After all, there is a second type of it: horse chestnut... Being poisonous, it cannot be eaten. Outwardly, it is very difficult to distinguish them, but there is one little clue: the edible chestnut has a pointed end, which contains the cotyledon. Eating a poisonous chestnut can cause poisoning, so buy chestnuts only in trusted stores, carefully studying the packaging.
Eating chestnuts can harm people with cardiovascular disease. Due to the high content of carbohydrates and starch in them (almost 60%), the load on the heart and blood vessels increases.
Chestnut reduces blood pressure. Therefore, hypotonic patients should refrain from using it.
Chestnut is a heavy food to digest. Poorly roasted fruits can damage the intestines and cause diarrhea. Therefore, people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract should not eat chestnuts in any form.
A chestnut-based scrub can dry out the skin, so it is important not to overdo it and avoid lotions and creams that attack the skin aggressively before applying the scrub.
Can chestnuts be given to children? And in what form?
Unfortunately, there are no official recommendations for adding chestnuts to the diet of children. It is not fully known whether it will benefit or harm. However, experts are inclined to believe that a child's stomach is able to perceive this kind of food only from 4-5 years old. Difficult to digest, chestnuts are difficult to digest and damage your baby's digestive tract. Problems with the liver, kidneys and pancreas may appear. It is best to prepare a homogeneous mass for children from pre-cooked chestnuts and add, for example, to mashed potatoes or soups. Chestnuts can cause bloating and constipation in your toddler, so be sure to check with your pediatrician to avoid harming your growing body.
There are some tips to make peeling chestnuts a lot easier:
1) First you need to cut the top of the chestnut, put it in boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.
2) Put in the freezer of the refrigerator for 4-5 hours, then dip them in boiling water and put them under a stream of cold water.
The positive and negative properties of chestnuts are not fully understood. As you can see from the article, the benefits of chestnuts are significant, and the harm is almost minimal. Chestnut is a delicious sweetness, effective medicine and fruit with beneficial properties. Eat chestnut fruits and be healthy!
In May-June, many residents of our country observe the amazingly beautiful flowering of chestnuts: elongated inflorescences grow from large oily buds, similar to candles with numerous white flowers. Therefore, this beautiful tree is rightfully considered one of the favorite ornamental plants, especially in southern cities. In September-October, the chestnuts begin to bear fruit. Chestnut fruits are slightly flattened, shiny. Unfortunately, its edible species in Russia grow only in the south. There are two types of chestnut - sweet edible and the so-called horse, used for medicinal purposes. In this article, we'll talk about the health benefits of chestnuts.
Chestnut is an extremely effective medicinal plant. Its fruits include many useful compounds - esculin, escin, fraxin, vitamin K, fatty oils, flavonoid glycosides, pectin, tannins and resinous substances. Such a rich composition determines the unique pharmacological properties of chestnut, therefore it is used in folk medicine in many countries of the world. For medicinal purposes, all parts of the plant are used - seeds, flowers, bark, peel of ripe fruits.
Due to its many healing properties, chestnut is used for the treatment and prevention of vascular diseases, post-traumatic edema, postoperative thrombosis, thrombophlebitis. With the help of chestnuts, many women successfully fight varicose veins - one of the main problems of the fair sex, regardless of their age. The resorbing effect of chestnut fruits is well known, helping women with breast ailments. With mastopathy, mastitis, stagnation of milk during breastfeeding, chestnut fruits roll over the skin, massaging painful seals, or put into a bra.
Decoctions and infusions of chestnut tree bark have anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, analgesic, anticonvulsant effects. They are used both externally and internally in the treatment of hemorrhoids, rectal fissures, chronic and inflammatory bowel diseases. Chestnut seeds in powder form help with colds of the respiratory tract and are an excellent wound healing agent used when boils, abscesses, burns appear. There is even a recipe for making beer from chestnuts, which is useful for prophylactic purposes in a complex cleansing of the body.
Mainly horse chestnut has medicinal properties. Edible chestnuts are low in fat (only 5%) and high in carbohydrates (up to 62%). Despite the rather high calorie content of sweet chestnuts (180 kcal per 100 g of product), they are an important component of all kinds of vegetarian diets. The fruits of sweet chestnuts are very nutritious, contain a lot of nutrients and have a pleasant taste. They are eaten raw, boiled and fried. Chestnuts are used to prepare a wide variety of dishes, sauces, desserts, they are used as a filling for stuffed poultry, but most often they are prepared by roasting over hot coals. In Europe there is a tradition - to bake chestnuts on the streets of cities on the eve of Christmas. In France, an annual holiday is dedicated to this wonderful plant, and the inhabitants of this country consider the chestnut to be their national product.
Chestnuts help to reduce blood clotting, so they are not recommended for use with pulmonary and gastrointestinal bleeding, as well as stomach ulcers. The health benefits of chestnuts are significant, and overall chestnuts are a delicious treat and effective medicine. Be healthy, take care of yourself and your loved ones!
Edible chestnuts evoke a pleasant association with France. Autumn, Paris and light smoke from braziers in which fruits are baked. This delicacy is firmly entrenched on the tables of the homeland of the Eiffel Tower and is gradually gaining the sympathy of the whole world. With regular use, the benefits of chestnuts can be traced. Which one, we will consider further.
Unfortunately, the fetus will harm some groups of the population. If you confuse a product with another species - horse chestnut, this will lead to poisoning. To avoid such situations, you must adhere to simple rules.
There are two types of chestnuts - horse and noble, or real. The first type is grown for decorative purposes. Its fruits are strictly prohibited to use, because they can harm the body. These chestnuts are poisonous. But the noble appearance does not pose any danger to humans, and even vice versa. Its benefit lies in improving the functioning of body systems and treating various diseases.
The chestnut tree belongs to the beech family. From a botanical point of view, the fruit is a nut. They are grown in Asian countries, some European countries, in North America.
In France, the plant is considered a national symbol, and even a big celebration is held in its honor. Various sauces, salads, desserts and many other savory dishes are made from the ingredient. Edible chestnuts are not grown in Russia, but many supermarkets sell them fresh and fried. The taste of the product is unusual, a bit like sweet potatoes with a nutty note.
The fruit is a valuable source of starch (up to 60%) and sugars (15%). Almost 6% are proteins and only 2% are fats. The thin, transparent film around the nut is an insoluble fiber, the benefits of which are evident in the gastrointestinal tract.
In addition, a small fruit contains tannins and pectin substances, glycosides, vitamins A, groups B, C. Chestnuts contain such minerals: calcium, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, sodium and potassium.
The energy value of fresh fruits is 180 kcal per 100 g. Roasted nuts are even more high in calories.
For those who follow their figure, such an indicator can be quite high. But you can pamper yourself with a small amount of chestnuts, because they do not overload the stomach and at the same time saturate the body with nutrients.
The benefits of edible chestnuts are obvious to vegetarians. Fruits allow you to diversify their diet and to some extent compensate for the lack of protein. For medicinal purposes, all parts of the tree are used: bark, flowers, leaves.
They have the following effect on the body:
The benefits of edible chestnuts don't end there. They are used in various forms for high blood pressure, vascular and heart diseases, thrombosis, varicose veins, hemorrhoids. In folk medicine, fresh nuts help eliminate malaria and chronic diarrhea, and fried nuts help eliminate hemorrhoids and uterine bleeding.
The recipes for making edible chestnuts are pretty simple. The most popular delicacy is fried fruits. They must first be peeled and membranes removed. The chestnuts themselves need to be cut crosswise or cut along the sides.
If this manipulation is neglected, then the nut can explode. Then put the product in the pan, cover with a wet napkin. Close the lid and let the chestnuts sit for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally and moisten the tissues as they dry.
Other cooking recipes offer hostesses to boil the fruits and serve them with different sauces (chocolate, coffee), to make mashed potatoes, pork or lamb with chestnuts. With a rich imagination, you can create real culinary masterpieces from the product.
People with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, heart and liver, latent pulmonary and gastric bleeding are not recommended to use the product without first consulting a doctor. Chestnuts can harm the body and aggravate the course of certain ailments. A categorical taboo is placed on the use of fruits by patients with diabetes mellitus and blood diseases.
Nut allergies are common, but they are mainly caused by eating a different type of horse. Therefore, it is recommended to buy chestnuts only from trusted locations. Edible fruits have a pointed top, so it is difficult to confuse them with horse nuts.
Harm is observed when overeating chestnuts and flour from them. In the intestines, gases are formed in large quantities, constipation occurs. Some people have diarrhea after eating unroasted nuts. When applied externally, you should be extremely careful, because tinctures and decoctions can lead to skin irritation. The benefits are canceled when chestnut extracts are combined with willow and oak bark.
Chestnuts, especially in large numbers, can lead to weight gain. Although the benefits of nuts are very attractive, overeating is still not worth it. And if there is any doubt, it is better to completely abandon the product, so as not to harm yourself.
- a very beautiful plant of the beech genus. In our region, its wild subspecies grows, but, despite the very appetizing appearance of its fruits, it is better not to eat them, since they can cause great harm to the body. Edible chestnut does not grow in our latitudes. But you can easily get it in modern supermarkets. The medicinal properties of chestnut tincture have been identified long ago in places of its growth - in Asia and North America. Let's get acquainted in more detail with chestnut, its benefits and contraindications, using the reviews of experienced nutritionists.
The beneficial properties of edible chestnut can be compared to potatoes and rice, this is due to the high content of starch and carbohydrates in it. Also, chestnut fruits are rich in natural vegetable protein, so it can become one of the main sources of its supply to the body of a vegetarian.
Chestnut with edible fruit
In their shape and structure, chestnut fruits have a certain similarity to nuts, but the main difference in the composition is the minimum content of fatty and oily substances (up to 6%). To a greater extent, chestnut contains:
Chestnut contains a whole range of nutrients
The ratio of the content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is 12% / 6% / 82%. Energy value 170 kcal per 100 g of product.
A positive effect on the human body is produced due to the bundle of fats, proteins and tannins contained in chestnuts. The increased content of starch and carbon make the product a real energy bomb, which is activated when it enters the body and releases a huge amount of energy. Very useful for athletes before and after training.
Edible chestnuts look almost identical to those we are used to.
The brown skin that covers the body of the fruit is rich in fiber.
Advice! Ground sweet chestnuts can be added to baked goods. This will not only achieve a pleasant exotic taste, but also ensure your and your family's fiber intake.
In cooking, an exclusively edible type of chestnuts is used. Salads are made of them, fruits are baked in the oven, added to dishes as a seasoning, etc. Here are some recipes for this exotic product:
Roasted chestnut salad. This salad is a dietary dish and can deservedly fit into a book about tasty and healthy food. It consists of arugula, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, chopped roasted chestnuts and durum wheat pasta, cooked "al dente" (not fully cooked). This salad is dressed with olive oil sauce with lemon juice.
Chestnuts can be simply fried or added to dishes
Roast mushroom with chestnut and hazelnuts... A very healthy dish for vegetarians. The high protein content of mushrooms and chestnuts will help fill in the missing amount. Oven-baked chestnuts are peeled and crushed together with hazelnuts. Mushrooms are fried and stewed in cognac until the liquid evaporates. Separately, onion and garlic are fried in olive oil with the addition of caraway and thyme. All blanks are mixed, fit into the mold. 2-3 tbsp is added there. l. vegetable broth. Roast is baked in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Chestnut is characterized by medicinal properties. The most beneficial is horse chestnut. Its correct use can cope with a number of difficulties in the work of the human body.
Very often used in folk medicine chestnut tincture... Depending on their preparation, the effect on the body is different.
The fruits of the horse chestnut rolled in a meat grinder are poured with vodka or medical alcohol. The liquid is infused for 3-4 weeks indoors. It is filtered and applied in accordance with the dosage:
Alcohol tincture of horse chestnut
The fruits of a horse-nut broken with a hammer are poured into 3 liters of water. The resulting mixture is boiled for 35-40 minutes, cooled and medical alcohol (no more than 100 ml) is poured into it. This tincture is used in cosmetic procedures to rejuvenate and cleanse the skin of the face.
Important! These recipes are based solely on the experience of ordinary people. Testing by scientific institutions has not been carried out. Before use, it is advisable to consult your doctor.
Not everyone benefits from chestnuts. Like all plants, chestnut has its own list of contraindications for people with hypersensitivity to individual units of the vitamin and mineral composition of the product.
Be careful with chestnuts and only eat edible varieties. Before using ointments and tinctures based on it, consult your doctor.
Chestnut edible fresh Is the fruit of a tree from the beech family that grows in the subtropical and temperate latitudes of our hemisphere. There are especially many edible chestnuts in Greece and the Balkans. And in our latitudes, the decorative horse chestnut is more common, which cannot be eaten, since it is poisonous.
Outwardly, fresh edible chestnut differs from horse chestnut by a small sharpening at the tip of the box, which contains the cotyledon (see photo).
In the context of an edible chestnut, it looks like a dense fleshy nut of a pale yellow or cream color. Wild edible chestnuts usually contain several small nuts in one shell, and cultivated ones - only one, but large.
It is advisable to store the chestnuts in a cool place, but not for long, because with prolonged storage, the fruits quickly dry out, become fragile and lose the glossy shine characteristic of fresh chestnuts.
The health benefits of fresh edible chestnut are quite varied. Unlike other nuts, it is very low in fat and therefore ideal for a vegetarian diet. In addition, fresh chestnuts are rich in proteins and carbohydrates (starch, sugars), as well as vitamins and natural plant enzymes. In unripe chestnuts, the content of vitamin C is increased (about 1500 mg), and in ripe ones - vitamin K.
In addition to fruits, the foliage of the edible chestnut has beneficial properties, as well as other parts of the tree, which contain abundant glycosides, pectins and tannins (up to 10% -16%), which can quickly stop bleeding and heal wounds.
You can plant and grow edible chestnuts yourself to have these wonderful nuts close at hand. This will require ripe fruits that have already fallen from the branch. First, they need to germinate, and for this they soak in water and wait for the sprouts to appear. This will happen in 2-3 weeks, during which the water will have to be changed regularly. After that, the sprouts should be transplanted into spacious pots with moist soil saturated with fertilizers and kept in a cool place until spring.
In the spring (preferably on a cloudy May day), the sprouted chestnuts can be transplanted into an open place in the garden, since they do not like shade. Before that, for two weeks they need to be temporarily taken out of the room into the open air in order to temper.
Rooted seedlings grow very quickly, but still begin to bear fruit after 40 years (and in nature - after 25). So you will provide not so much for yourself with chestnuts as for children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, because in good conditions a tree lives for about 500 years.
Edible chestnuts grow tall (up to 35 m) and beautiful, but it is advisable to trim the crown regularly. They love spaces open to the sun, fertile soils and tolerate drought well, since their root system goes deep into the ground, where moisture is almost always present. But these chestnuts are going through hard frosts. The climate of the subtropics is ideal for them (for example, the Crimea). In general, the edible chestnut is unpretentious, but it still needs to be protected from frost.
Fresh edible chestnut has a pleasant sweetish taste, which is why it is successfully used in cooking. The fruits can be simply eaten like nuts, or you can cook them by frying in a pan or baked over a fire or in the oven. It will turn out to be an interesting side dish for meat dishes. At the same time, fried or baked chestnuts may well be an independent dish.
In the old days in Europe, there was a Christmas tradition to bake chestnuts right on the streets and there you can eat them too.
Fresh edible chestnuts should be peeled from their bitter skin prior to culinary use. The easiest way to do this is by blanching, when the skin is cut crosswise in one place and in this form the chestnut is dipped in boiling water for a couple of minutes (it is also customary to peel tomatoes). After that, it will clean quickly and easily. And then you can add it to various dishes and prepare all kinds of goodies from it.
In cooking, for example, chestnut powder is added to flour when baking bread and various pastry chefs, and even put in all kinds of soufflés and even brewed instead of coffee. In addition, edible chestnuts are used in soups, stuffed with turkey, added to sweet pastries or pilaf.
In edible chestnut, the human body benefits not only from the fruits, but also from the bark, leaves, buds and even the wood of the tree, which are successfully used in the treatment of many diseases.
For example, a decoction of fresh fruits and / or leaves of a plant relieves pulmonary inflammation. It is effective for bronchitis, pneumonia and catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, as well as whooping cough. And this does not exhaust its useful properties.
The abundance of tannins in the edible chestnut bark broth makes the lotions from it useful for skin abscesses and furunculosis. And an infusion of fruits and bark on alcohol helps to get rid of problems with the intestines and urinary tract.
People often treat the gastrointestinal tract with the fruits of edible chestnut, since they contain pectins and plant enzymes that improve digestion. Chestnut is also effective for diarrhea. In addition, it helps with edema and severe bleeding of various etiologies (for example, toasted fruits are used for uterine and hemorrhoidal). When used correctly, fresh chestnut can also help patients with varicose veins and thrombophlebitis (even chronic). It will improve the condition with trophic ulcers, circulatory problems (atherosclerotic changes and vascular thromboembolism, arthritis) and relieve inflammation of hemorrhoids (but not bleeding!).
Since fresh edible chestnut is not stored for a long time, it is fried and ground into flour, from which powders are then prepared for internal use during exacerbations and remissions. But for the prevention and treatment of diarrhea, as well as for malaria, it is better to use fresh fruits.
By itself, fresh edible chestnut is unlikely to harm human health. therefore there are no direct contraindications for its use... But, as in everything, one must observe the measure.
Fresh chestnuts have a pleasant nutty flavor that many people like, and therefore there is always a danger of eating too much of it. but if abused, the consequences for the body can be quite unpleasant: vomiting, constipation, diarrhea... Therefore, even though chestnuts are considered the most dietary among nuts, exercise caution. It, of course, saturates the body (chestnuts are very satisfying) and at the same time contributes to weight loss, but even in a vegetarian diet, one should not forget about measure.
In addition, it is possible that you may be allergic to this product.