Wild chestnuts: benefits and harms. Edible chestnuts - benefits and harm. Effect on the body and contraindications

– a very beautiful plant of the beech genus. Its wild subspecies grows in our region, but despite the very appetizing appearance of its fruits, it is better not to eat them as they can cause great harm to the body. Edible chestnut does not grow in our latitudes. But it can be easily purchased in modern supermarkets. Medicinal properties Chestnut tinctures were discovered long ago in the places where it grows - in Asia and North America. Let's get to know chestnut in more detail, its benefits and contraindications, using reviews from experienced nutritionists.

The beneficial properties of edible chestnut can be compared with potatoes and rice; this is due to its high content of starch and carbohydrates. Also, chestnut fruits are rich in natural plant protein, so it can become one of the main sources of its supply to the vegetarian body.

Chestnut with edible fruits

In their shape and structure, chestnut fruits have some similarity with nuts, but the main difference in composition is the minimum content of fatty and oily substances (up to 6%). To a greater extent, chestnut contains:

• fiber;
• starch;
• tannins;
• carbohydrates (62%);
• vitamins A, C and B (B1, B2, B6, B9);
• beta-carotene;

Chestnut contains a whole range of useful substances

• potassium;
• copper;
• phosphorus;
• magnesium;
• calcium;
• manganese;
• selenium.

The ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrates is 12%/6%/82%. Energy value 170 kcal per 100 g of product.

Benefits for the body

The positive effect on the human body is due to the combination of fats, proteins and tannins contained in chestnuts. The increased content of starch and carbons makes 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 practically no different from the ones we are used to

The brown skin that covers the body of the fruit is rich in fiber.

Advice! Ground sweet chestnut fruits can be added to baked goods. By doing this, you will achieve not only a pleasant exotic taste, but also ensure that you and your family consume fiber.

Using chestnuts in cooking

In cooking, only the edible type of chestnut is used. They are used to make salads, bake fruits in the oven, add them to dishes as a seasoning, etc. Here are several recipes for preparing this exotic product:

Salad with roasted chestnut. This salad is dietary dish and can deservedly be included in a book about delicious and healthy food. It contains arugula, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, chopped roasted chestnuts and durum wheat pasta, cooked al dente (not until full readiness). This salad is dressed with sauce from olive oil with lemon juice.

Chestnuts can be simply fried or added to dishes

Roasted mushrooms with chestnuts and hazelnuts. Very healthy dish for vegetarians. The high protein content in mushrooms and chestnuts will help make up for the missing amount. Oven-baked chestnuts are peeled and chopped together with hazelnuts. Mushrooms are fried and stewed in cognac until the liquid evaporates. Separately, onions and garlic are fried in olive oil with the addition of caraway and thyme. All preparations are mixed and placed in a mold. Add 2-3 tbsp there. l. vegetable broth. The roast is baked in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Medicinal properties and use in folk medicine

Chestnut is characterized by medicinal properties. The most useful is horse chestnut. Its correct use can cope with a number of difficulties in the functioning of the human body.

Very often used in folk medicine chestnut tinctures. Depending on their preparation, the effect on the body differs.

Horse chestnut fruits rolled in a meat grinder are poured with vodka or medical alcohol. The liquid is infused for 3-4 weeks indoors. Strain and apply in accordance with the dosage:

• in the treatment of thrombophlebitis - 20 drops no more than 2 times a day before meals for 30 days, diluted in 250 ml of water;
• for varicose veins - rub the tincture into the skin overnight, rinse off in the morning.

Alcohol tincture of horse chestnut

The horse nut fruits, crushed with a hammer, are poured with 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 facial skin.

Important! These recipes are based solely on experience. ordinary people. Testing by scientific institutes was not carried out. Before use, it is advisable to consult your doctor.

Contraindications and reviews

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 when eating chestnuts; only eat edible varieties. Before using ointments and tinctures based on it, consult your doctor.

Horse chestnut is a deciduous tree with a spreading crown, which is formed by large, complex, opposite leaves with long petioles, five- or seven-fingered, with no stipules. An adult plant reaches an average of 25 m in height. May is the time for the tree to bloom. Bell-shaped, bisexual, irregular flowers can be white or pale pink, with fringed petals along the edges. The flowers are collected in erect, large, cone-shaped inflorescences with a double flower cover.

From September to October the fruits ripen - tricuspid boxes with thorns, round shape. Each capsule contains one, rarely two seeds - flattened, shiny, dark brown with a gray spot. Horse chestnut in wildlife grows in deciduous forests, it is specially grown in parks and squares in the middle zone of the European part of the CIS countries, in the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Useful properties of horse chestnut

Flowers, seeds, bark, and leaves are used for medicinal purposes. Flowers and leaves are collected in May: carefully cut and dried, constantly turning over and covering from direct sunlight. Seeds begin to be harvested in early September, dried for two to four weeks, scattered in a thin layer. Spring time is suitable for harvesting bark; it is removed from the branches after pruning the trees. The bark, cut into pieces, is dried under a canopy or in well-ventilated areas.
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The seeds contain coumarin glycosides, such as esculin, fraxin, escin. There are tannins and starch. The presence of fatty oil, triterpene saponin escin, was detected. The bark is rich in escin and tannins. In addition to esculin and fraxin, it contains vitamin C and thiamine. Horse chestnut leaves are endowed with glycosides, pectin substances and carotenoids. Flowers can saturate the human body with flavonoids. Exposure to mucus, tannins and pectin is also beneficial.

Uses of horse chestnut

Traditional medicine has accumulated a wealth of experience in the use of horse chestnut; official medicine also widely uses beneficial features of this medicinal plant. Due to the low toxicity and beneficial esculin, fraxin and excine, the pharmacological properties of the plant have an excellent effect on the body for many ailments. Alcohol tinctures of seeds and flowers are popular. Chestnut relieves inflammation and swelling.

As a result of the action of horse chestnut, blood clotting slows down, so it is incredibly effective against thrombosis and affects the reduction of capillary permeability. Esculin stimulates the production of a substance that prevents the formation of blood clots. A decoction of the bark effectively helps with malaria, diarrhea, and diseases of the spleen, normalizes acidity gastric juice, ideal for the treatment of uterine bleeding, relieves vascular spasms, and copes with disorders of the secretory function of the gallbladder. Chestnut bark can also be used to treat acute bronchitis. Horse chestnut flowers make a wonderful tincture, used for rubbing during rheumatoid arthritis, gout, sciatica. A tincture of flowers in vodka or a decoction is a real elixir for disorders of the heart and liver. Gastritis, pulmonary tuberculosis, anemia and shortness of breath are well cured.

Taking 20 to 30 drops of fresh chestnut flower juice per 1 tablespoon of water 2 times a day, you can eliminate stagnation of venous blood with varicose veins, hemorrhoids and trophic ulcers. In the fight against atherosclerosis of the vessels of the extremities, the effect of juice cannot be overestimated.

Horse chestnut is not edible! If you consume it internally, you can get poisoned! Horse chestnut and preparations based on it are again used only in folk and official medicine! Only the fruits of edible chestnut (seed, noble) are eaten.

Horse chestnut tincture

There are actually a lot of recipes, they are all different.. Some people advise taking 5 chestnuts, others recommend 0.5 liters of vodka more. Should I use the top prickly shell, should I crush it finely or coarsely, should I strain it? And, finally, how to use it correctly - rub it into joints or make compresses? Can it be taken orally and is it necessary?

Recipe 1. The most effective are preparations made from the brownish skin of the fruit. To obtain the correct extract, take 50 g of fruit skins crushed to 3-5 mm, pour in 0.5 liters of vodka and leave for 2 weeks. Shaking daily. Next, filter. All!

This tincture relieves inflammation and swelling, reduces viscosity, pressure and cholesterol levels in the blood, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, and increases their elasticity. During treatment with chestnut preparations, fatty deposits on the walls of the arteries and in the liver are reduced, and pain in the area of ​​inflamed veins and joints is reduced.

How to use? The tincture is taken orally, first 30 drops per 30 ml of water 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals. After a week, already 4 times, and in the future they switch to 4 times a day. The duration of treatment varies from one month to one and a half.

If the tincture is also used externally in the form of gentle rubbing on inflamed veins (thrombophlebitis) 2-3 times a day or compresses are applied to them (the tincture is diluted 1:1 with water) for 1.5 - 2 hours in the morning and evening - recovery will come faster.

In the pharmacy chain you will find a certain number of chestnut preparations. But folk and medical practice suggests that total extracts (alcohol, water) are more effective, cheaper and more accessible. Just use raw materials collected from chestnut trees outside the city limits.

Recipe 2: Tincture for external use: mince the mature grains along with the peel, pour into a glass container. For 1 liter of infusion you will need 300 g of twisted chestnut fruits, doused with vodka. The composition must be infused in a dark place for 7 days. This remedy is good for treating radiculitis, thrombophlebitis, muscle inflammation and salt deposits.

Recipe 3: 20 g of chestnut flowers should be poured into 500 ml of vodka, left for 14 days and used 2 times a day to rub sore joints.

Horse chestnut fruit

Unripe fruits are endowed with malic, citric and lactic acids, lecithin, calcium, and iron. They contain globulin and vitamin C. The fleshy kernels of the medicinal plant contain many useful substances, such as zinc, chromium, barium, selenium, nickel, silver, iodine, boron. The fruits of this wonderful tree give people an energy boost. There are many ways to use this gift of nature. If you simply carry 2-3 chestnut fruits with you in your pocket, the pain associated with articular rheumatism will decrease. You can make applications from crushed chestnut kernels with the addition of clay; the warming mass can relieve inflammation of the joints.

Fruit tincture: Chestnut fruits cut into four parts should be placed in a jar, filled with vodka, filling to the top, tightly closed and left in the sun for three days, then 40 days at room temperature in room. It is recommended to rub the joints with the resulting product and apply it to diseased veins.

Chestnut seeds– an excellent diuretic and hemostatic agent for hemoptysis and nosebleeds. A decoction of dry chestnuts acts as a diaphoretic for colds.

Horse chestnut extract

Horse chestnut extract contains escin, which helps relieve swelling and fatigue in the legs when treating varicose veins. The product contains triterpensaponins, is characterized by capillary-protective activity and has an anti-inflammatory effect, increases the tone of the veins. The extract normalizes blood pressure and regulates cholesterol levels in the blood.

Horse chestnut leaves

Chestnut leaves are distinguished by their content of glycosides, pectin and tannins, and vitamin K. They are used in folk medicine as a raw material for preparing decoctions and infusions for internal bleeding. Horse chestnut leaves are harvested from May to September. They are dried by laying them out in a thin layer in attics or under a canopy. The finished raw material should have a green color and a pleasant smell.

Horse chestnut for varicose veins

Horse chestnut can increase the resistance of blood vessels. An amazing therapeutic effect is obtained when treating veins affected by varicose veins and thrombophlebitis. Traditional medicine recommends taking horse chestnut remedies to prevent thrombosis, but if the disease has already become the cause of suffering, then decoctions, infusions and tinctures are excellent for resolving blood clots and lowering blood pressure. The flowers, fruits and leaves of the tree exhibit medicinal properties.

Horse chestnut recipes

Horse chestnut bark infusion: you will need 1 teaspoon of crushed bark per 2 cups (400 ml) chilled boiled water. You should leave the mixture for 8 hours, then strain and take 2 tablespoons 4 times a day.

Infusion of bark for external use: you need to take 50 g of bark per 1 liter of boiling water, boil for 15 minutes and leave for 8 hours, and then strain. The resulting product is used to take cool sitz baths for hemorrhoidal bleeding for 15 minutes after bowel movement.

Infusion of chestnut fruits or flowers: take 50 g of raw material per 0.5 liter of vodka, infuse for two to three weeks, take 3-4 times a day, 30-40 drops each.

Decoction of fruit peel: it will require 5 g of peel per glass (200 ml) of boiling water, boil the composition for 15 minutes, take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.

When treating hemorrhoids, it is recommended to chew fresh chestnut fruits. For bleeding hemorrhoidal cones, baths made from a decoction of chestnut branches should be used.

Branch decoction: You will need 50 grams of chestnut branches, 1 liter of water with the addition of water pepper herb. You need to sit in the bath for 5–15 minutes, the water should be at room temperature.

Fruit infusion: You should chop 2 horse chestnut fruits and pour a glass of boiling water into a thermos and leave for 2 hours. Take the medicine 2 tablespoons 5 times a day for chronic diarrhea and kidney diseases, for inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract.

Horse chestnut flowers

For medicinal purposes, horse chestnut flowers are used for many diseases; they are an ideal raw material for preparing tinctures and decoctions. Chestnut flowers have unique properties, allowing you to achieve excellent results with endarteritis, hemorrhoids, leg ulcers, and vein lesions caused by various injuries. Horse chestnut flowers are useful for radiation sickness. Tinctures and decoctions can be used to treat adenoma and prostatitis. The ability of substances contained in flowers to restore the amount of protein in the blood structure favors recovery from fibrocystic mastopathy, brain tumors.

Chestnut flower infusion: Bring 1 tablespoon of dried flowers and 200 g of water to a boil and leave for 6–8 hours. Take the product in sips throughout the day. You need to drink from 1 to 1.5 liters per day.

Horse chestnut cream

Cream with chestnut helps restore the structure of the skin and strengthens the walls of blood vessels, exhibiting the properties of a lymphatic drainage agent. It is a good prevention of varicose veins and serves to maintain skin tone. At home, creams can be prepared on the basis of fatty oils, for example, cream or olive oil; essential oils, infusions. All components of the cream are mixed; this mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Horse chestnut ointment

horse chestnut- a real miracle of nature, this is one of the most beautiful trees that gives coolness in the summer and cures all kinds of ailments. From its fruits, flowers and leaves you can prepare many different medicinal products. By lubricating sore spots on the skin with a special ointment containing horse chestnut, you can quickly relieve inflammation and eliminate venous diseases.

Ointment recipe: you need to chop 5 chestnuts or 5 tablespoons of chestnut flowers, pour in 0.5 liters of vegetable oil, boil in a water bath for 1 hour, cool and strain.

Contraindications to the use of horse chestnut

When taking horse chestnut-based products, nausea and heartburn may occur. Therefore, they should be taken only after visiting a doctor and monitoring blood prothrombin. Contraindications may include atonic constipation, gastritis, menstrual irregularities and hypertension.

Chestnut is a strong tree with a powerful root system. You can meet chestnut trees in the wild in the southern latitudes of the northern hemisphere of our planet. The fruits of the tree are chestnut nuts, valued for their high nutritional value and are used as food. The bark, foliage and fruits are valuable raw materials in the pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetology industries.

Enthusiasts quietly grow chestnuts in mid-latitudes, obtaining a harvest of a nut unusual for central Russia. Chestnut nuts, in addition to food, are in demand in folk medicine, which reveals their medicinal properties.

This article will focus on a nut that is no less common than the walnut. This is a chestnut. You will learn more about how to prepare it correctly, what can be made from it, and what it will be useful for. Can children or expectant mothers eat it? You will also learn how you can easily grow chestnuts right on your property or even at home.

What is a chestnut

Chestnut is a tree belonging to the Beech family. It can reach fifty meters in height. And the diameter is about two meters. The bark of the tree is dark brown, thick and deeply furrowed.

The chestnut tree reaches a height of 20-50 m from the base of the trunk, often 2 m in diameter. The bark is often reticulated with deep grooves or cracks spiraling in both directions along the trunk. The long lanceolate, toothed leaves are 16-28 cm long and 5-9 cm wide.

The leaves of this tree have an oblong shape and sharp “teeth”. Light green in summer, in autumn they change their color to yellow. The length of the leaf plate can reach up to twenty centimeters. As for chestnut flowers, they are collected in inflorescences up to fifteen centimeters long, and resemble spikelets.

The chestnut tree begins to bear fruit only after reaching the age of about twelve years. But it's wild. If we talk about the “domesticated” chestnut, then it begins to bear fruit at about the age of four to ten years. In the first decade of its life, the tree grows rather slowly. And it bears fruit once every couple of years, in the first two autumn months.

Sometimes in the name of chestnut you can hear such additional words as noble, real, edible.

What type of chestnut does it look like?

The fruits of this tree are spherical in shape, surrounded by a shell densely covered with thorns. During the ripening period, the shell is green, but in mature fruits it is brown. There are up to four nuts inside the shell. When the fruit is fully ripe, the shell cracks and the fruit falls out.

The nut itself has a spherical or slightly flattened shape. Its surface is dark brown and smooth. The diameter of the nut can be up to six centimeters.

In what area does chestnut grow?

Chestnuts love warmth and moisture. And soil with a weak acidity level. This tree does not tolerate long-term heat and especially drought.

Chestnut can often be found in America, eastern Asia, the Mediterranean, Russia, Ukraine and the Transcaucasus. Interestingly, the size of the chestnut may depend on where exactly it grows. So, for example, in Armenia chestnuts rarely grow to the size of a walnut, but in some European countries, on the contrary, this nut can compete in size, for example, with a large tangerine.

How to find edible chestnuts

Please note that edible chestnut should not be confused with horse chestnut. The latter variety of chestnut cannot be eaten. It's not that difficult to tell them apart. These chestnuts differ from each other in literally everything - in the structure of the inflorescences, in the shape of the leaves, and in the way the nuts themselves look.

Remember that the edible chestnut leaves have an elongated shape and spines at the ends. And the inflorescences look like long and narrow women's earrings. In contrast, horse chestnut blooms more luxuriantly, so it plays more of a decorative role.

edible chestnut photo

The edible chestnut is covered with a brown shell covered with many spines. And horse chestnut has a bright green shell that is more lumpy than prickly. And finally, the taste. Edible fruits are mealy-sweet. And inedible ones are bitter.

horse chestnut fruit photo

Composition of nuts

• Vitamins: A, B, C;
• Chemical elements: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, fluorine, zinc;
• Other useful elements: proteins, tannins, fats, fiber, pectins, carbohydrates,

One hundred grams of raw chestnut nuts contains 165 kilocalories. And fried ones have 16 calories more.

The benefits of chestnut for the human body

Basic useful qualities benefits of chestnut lie in its enriched composition. Nuts have the ability to relieve inflammation, high temperature, eliminate pain and calm cough. These fruits are widely used to treat colds. Chestnut is able to relieve the lungs of a debilitating cough in record time. In addition, chestnuts also support digestion.

They can improve appetite and eliminate diarrhea. In addition, chestnut nuts can stabilize kidney function. They are also used to lower blood pressure and strengthen vascular walls. Chestnut will help cope with varicose veins, stop bleeding and heal small wounds. The fruits help to recover faster from burns or cut wounds.

edible chestnut and

Uses of chestnut

The main use of chestnut, of course, is ethnoscience. Chestnuts help treat diseases related to digestion, breathing and nerves. These nuts will help in the fight against arthritis and radiculitis. During the treatment process, both whole nuts and compresses from the ground mass are used.

And, of course, chestnuts are often used in cooking. With their help they prepare first courses, second courses and even sweets! European cuisine is rich in dishes with chestnuts. For example, they simply love chestnuts in sweet syrup.

How to properly cook chestnuts

There are two options for preparing chestnut nuts: you can either boil them or fry them. The only thing that is important is that the chestnuts need to be cleared of shells and film. If you don't do this, then the nuts will be bitter.

To clean chestnut fruits well, you need to make cuts on them, and then boil them in boiling water for literally five minutes. Then remove from the stove, cover and leave to stand for another fifteen minutes. The nuts will need to be peeled while they are still warm. This will be more convenient and easier.

Boiling on medium gas for fifteen minutes will help bring the nuts to full readiness. Or you can fry them in a frying pan with the lid closed. You can also bake chestnuts in the oven. They need to be placed on a baking sheet and placed in the oven for twenty minutes, maximum half an hour.

Chestnut will help you lose weight

The fat content of chestnuts is quite low, which is why nutritionists often use it to help lose weight. Chestnuts even help get rid of cellulite, eliminate swelling and improve blood flow.

And chestnut oil often becomes an additive for anti-cellulite creams and lotions. Chestnut tinctures also effectively help get rid of excess.

Chestnut for children

Traditional medicine does not provide any advice regarding when to add chestnut nuts to a child’s diet. Pediatricians, for example, do not recommend giving them before the child turns five years old.

According to experts, before this age, chestnut can put a big burden on the baby’s digestion. Which in turn can cause bloating and even constipation. Be that as it may, you should not give your child raw chestnuts.

The best way to do this is to boil them and grind them to a puree. It would be best to add it to mashed potatoes or soup.

Chestnut for expectant and young mothers

It is no secret that chestnuts help overcome sudden mood swings that women often experience during pregnancy. Chestnuts help improve blood pressure, stabilize sleep, and strengthen the skeleton. Chestnuts contain a lot of fiber, which will only benefit the digestion of the expectant mother.

Chestnuts stimulate lactation during breastfeeding. The fruits of this nut are rich in vitamins, which will only improve the quality breast milk. But before eating them, it would be a good idea to consult a doctor.

Roasted chestnut

Roasted chestnuts are far from an exotic dish. Southerners enjoy preparing nuts this way using a simple recipe. However, untrained people should use roasted chestnuts with caution. Nuts may be a product with signs of individual intolerance.

In addition, people who decide to lose a little weight should remove roasted chestnuts from their diet. The high calorie content and large amount of carbohydrates contained in nuts will lead to the opposite result.

Any product requires an individual approach, chestnut is no exception. Here are a few secrets to the roasted chestnut recipe:

1. First rule. The main thing is not to overdo it and not to overcook, otherwise the chestnuts will turn out dry, tough and not tasty.
2. Do not grease the pan with any oil.
3. Pour the chestnuts into a frying pan and put on fire. The trick is that before frying, the nuts must be cut with a sharp knife, and a frying pan must be chosen with a thick bottom.
4. It is necessary to remove the peel from the finished chestnuts, it is better to do this immediately, otherwise it will be problematic to remove it from the cooled nuts.
5. We remove films and membranes.
6. Don't be greedy. Don't fry too much. Half-eaten cold chestnuts dry out and become tasteless.

Chestnut jam

Chestnut jam is very popular in the culinary field. Not only on its own, but also as a filling for baked goods and other desserts. This sweetness can be stored for up to six months. To increase shelf life, jam should be rolled into sterilized jars or frozen.

Components:

• Chestnut fruits – 0.5 kilograms;
• Sugar – 0.5 kilograms;
• Water – 0.3 liters;
• Rum – 1 tablespoon.

Grind the chestnut nuts into powder through a sieve. Pour water into a saucepan, put it on gas and add sugar. Stir frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add chestnut crumbs to the syrup and cook for about half an hour, stirring from time to time so that they do not burn.

When the jam becomes thick and darkens to rich Brown, pour in the rum and boil for just a couple more minutes. After this, you can pour the jam into jars and roll up.

Chestnut honey: beneficial properties and contraindications

Chestnut honey is no less useful than flower or buckwheat honey. First of all, it is a very effective natural antibiotic. You can not only eat it. This honey can be used to treat wounds and burns - chestnut honey perfectly relieves inflammation.

It is often used to cure diseases associated with breathing or genitourinary system. Chestnut honey can improve digestion. It will be especially useful in spring and autumn - it will strengthen the immune system and help resist viruses.

Restrictions on use

Undoubtedly this useful product. But even he has his limitations. So, you should not eat chestnuts in any of their forms if you have:

• Allergic reaction;
• Diabetes;
• Bleeding in the stomach;
• The menstrual cycle is disrupted;
• Kidney failure.

But even if everything is in order, you should not exceed daily norm consumption of forty grams. If you overeat chestnuts, you may experience problems with your digestive system: bloating or even constipation.

How to grow a chestnut tree yourself

Chestnuts are not that difficult to grow own plot or even in an apartment. At the very beginning, of course, you need to collect ripe chestnuts in the fall. They must be intact.

It is easy to grow nuts on the plot. To do this, plant several nuts at a depth of five centimeters and at a distance of approximately ten centimeters. In spring you will see the first shoots.

To grow chestnuts at home, you need to leave the nuts on the balcony until the first frost. And then put it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for the whole winter. Towards the end of February, the nuts should be transferred to pots with soil and placed on the windowsill. The first shoots will appear in a month or two

The benefits and harms of chestnut. Tinctures, decoctions, and ground chestnut are considered an excellent remedy for your home medicine cabinet.

At least in our country, the inflorescences of this tree are constantly doused with alcohol and then compresses and tinctures are made from this substance.

But, for example, in France, people also eat chestnut nuts, sometimes without even peeling them. What caused this metamorphosis?

First of all, because in warmer climates a slightly different type of chestnut tends to grow, called edible. In our country it is impossible to pick it from a tree - you can only buy it, and even then not in all supermarkets.

But our native and so familiar horse chestnut is also very popular as a means of treating and caring for your body.

So let's look at the benefits and harms of both the edible chestnut and its horse-type relative from different angles. Let's start, as usual, with the benefits:

1) In edible chestnut, the combination of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is so optimized that this product is low in calories and at the same time very valuable in energy.

2) Chestnut contains many tannins, which help in the fight against diarrhea and other unpleasant stomach disorders.

3) Edible chestnut contains a lot of starch, which makes it a source of energy and very dietary product, oddly enough.

4) The brown chestnut peel contains insoluble fiber, which also has a very good effect on digestion and generally brings many benefits to the body.

5) Due to the fact that horse chestnut contains a lot of tannins, it is not suitable for food. But it is often used as cosmetic product for making masks, creams and scrubs.

6) By the way, chestnut flour scrubs can be made with the addition of sour cream, coffee or other binders.

7) Horse chestnut is often used as a remedy to combat varicose veins.. They also make a decoction of fruits and leaves, sometimes they can even add the inflorescence to this potion.

It is enough to just steam your feet in this solution for half an hour to feel a significant improvement.

8) Horse chestnut can become excellent anti-cellulite agent for women, if you add grapefruit or bitter orange fruits to its decoction.

9) An excellent talcum powder can be obtained if you make a mixture of two hundred grams of olive oil, grapefruit oil, one hundred grams of basil and the same amount of grated horse chestnut.

This remedy must be infused for at least ten days, then strained and do a wrap.

10) Horse chestnut is used together with pig lard as a treatment for radiculitis..

The ratio should be one to one; the mixture should be applied either to a cabbage leaf or to a slice of rye bread. After this, apply to problem areas.

11) In the case of an inflammatory process in the body, it is horse chestnut, or rather flour from it, that will quickly eliminate the symptoms.

12) Eating chestnuts, if possible with a specific species, dilates blood vessels and strengthens their walls. This minimizes the risk of blood clots and other misfortunes that many people now suffer from.

13) If you prepare a bath with homemade horse chestnut extract, you can feel a significant tone of the muscles of the whole body.

This will allow you to relax and at the same time stimulate the cells necessary for further productive work of the whole body.

14) If you have problems with the nasopharynx and need to rinse it, then the best remedy will be chestnut bark decoction.

It will quickly expand the walls of blood vessels and help your nose breathe fully again, without any hint of a painful condition.

15) If you make a decoction from chestnut bark and its fruits, you will get universal remedy for hemorrhoids. You need to drink the decoction at least three times a day, a tablespoon at a time, and then after a few days the symptoms of the most unpleasant disease will disappear.

16)Caring for aging skin with horse chestnut becomes a real pleasure. You just need to make lotions with horse chestnut decoction for up to fifteen minutes at least once a day.

17) Edible view chestnut helps women get rid of heavy and painful menstruation. Such an extravagant method of application should not stop you if the pain really cannot be tolerated.

Harm of chestnut

Well, now it’s time to talk about the dangers of chestnuts and possible contraindications to its use. First of all, anyone who suffers from heart, kidney or liver diseases should limit their consumption of this product.

Also, do not confuse horse chestnut with edible, because otherwise you may well begin to suffer from constipation due to an excess of tannins in the body.

In the cosmetological aspect, you can dry out the skin if you use a scrub with the addition of chestnut immediately after skin care products and lotions, which also have an aggressive effect on oily skin.

Well, breastfeeding mothers and women who are pregnant should not abuse chestnut.

But be that as it may, use chestnut in moderation and when you really need it. Then there won’t be any problems!

The chestnut family contains approximately 30 species, growing in temperate and tropical zone. The most common is the common chestnut, which can be found in temperate and subtropical latitudes of the northern hemisphere. People use not only fruits that they eat, but also wood, which is very valuable in carpentry due to its strength. By the way, the age of individual representatives of this species can reach 1000 years.
With such a variety of varieties, it is important to know that they are divided into edible and ornamental. Ornamental fruits growing on city streets are not suitable for food; there are special varieties for this, for example sweet chestnut. Its homeland is the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows mainly in mountainous areas. Its main requirements for climate are humidity and warmth.
Sweet chestnut becomes especially popular before the Christmas holidays. By old tradition, they sell hot baked chestnuts right on the streets. Before cooking, they are peeled and rubbed with a brush to remove dirt, after which, after making several cuts, they are placed on an open fire or in a special frying pan.

Nutritional value of chestnut

Chestnuts contain the most carbohydrates. The calorie content of the product varies depending on the method of preparation - the raw product contains 165 kcal, when stewed or boiled - 130 kcal, when fried - 180 kcal per 100 grams. Steamed chestnuts are considered dietary - they contain only 56 kcal, although the nutrients in them do not decrease.
Chestnuts contain 2-3% fiber and 3% minerals. In addition, chestnuts are rich in vitamins A, C and B.
Chestnut seeds contain a lot of cumaniric glycosides, triterpene saponin, escin, fatty oil (up to 7%), protein substances (up to 10%), starch (up to 50%) and tannins (1%). The bark also contains sugar and ascorbic acid. The leaves contain carotenoids, glycosides and pectin. The flowers contain flavonoids, pectin and tannins, as well as mucus.
The chestnut fruit is considered a nut, but it contains much less fat than other members of this family. Despite this, this fruit is very filling and nutritious, and therefore more healthy. Due to its texture, it is included in vegetarian diets.

Useful properties of chestnuts

It is well known that an infusion of horse chestnut with alcohol has an anti-inflammatory and anti-edematous effect, thins the blood, can strengthen the walls of blood vessels and lower blood pressure. With its help, you can significantly reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, thus preventing the formation of fatty plaques. The extract can be used to constrict blood vessels and as a pain reliever. A lot of products are made from chestnut extract. medicines for external use.

The main use of chestnut is, of course, aimed at improving the health of blood vessels. For example, chestnut flower juice is used to treat varicose veins, atherosclerosis and hemorrhoids, and with the help of fruit infusion they get rid of diarrhea, malaria and chronic bronchitis. Uterine bleeding can be stopped by a decoction of chestnut skin.
Raw materials for preparing medicines from chestnut can be harvested in the spring, and the fruits can be harvested in the fall, when they are fully ripe. A large number of These products are exported.

Dangerous properties of chestnuts

Even such an abundance of beneficial properties does not negate the fact that chestnut is an allergen, and therefore individual tolerance must be taken into account before using it. For the same reason, it should definitely not be used by children during pregnancy and lactation.
Because of strong influence on the circulatory system, an overdose of chestnut can cause convulsions. If a person has poor blood clotting, hypotension, thrombocytopenia, gastritis, menstrual irregularities, atonic constipation or kidney disease, it is better to avoid chestnuts, as they can only aggravate the disease.

Losing weight with horse chestnut

When losing weight, chestnut will be useful when used externally, as it improves blood circulation and lymphatic drainage. With the help of this product, women who take care of their figure get rid of cellulite and swelling.
Undoubtedly, the effect of using chestnut will be much more noticeable if used in combination with physical exercise and anti-cellulite massage.

Recipes for weight loss with chestnuts

• Powdered dried chestnut bark is mixed with oil and used for anti-cellulite massage. The bark in this case serves as an exfoliating and stimulating agent.
• The combination of chestnut with chamomile decoction and green tea infusion significantly enhances its effect.
• If stored for a long time, the massage mixture loses its beneficial properties and can even release toxins, so it should be prepared in small portions and stored in the refrigerator.
• During massage, problem areas should be given special attention - they need to be cleaned of skin secretions before the procedure.

It is enough to do this massage every 2 days for a month, increasing the portion of the mixture applied every week, and the result will not take long to arrive. A stronger effect can be obtained if you take a bath before each procedure.

Chestnut during pregnancy

On the issue of using chestnut during pregnancy, doctors are unanimously against it. The fact is that this product has a very strong effect on blood vessels, and any sudden change during pregnancy is unacceptable. It is not even recommended to relieve swelling using medications containing chestnut extract.