Chestnuts: 5 good reasons for a good snack

It's time for chestnuts. Do you know their nutritional properties and the benefits they bring to our organism?

This is the ideal time to enjoy a local and seasonal food such as chestnuts: they offer the maximum of their nutritional properties and can be eaten roasted over an open fire, boiled or baked (the cooking method influences the calorie content: 200kcal/100gr for roasted chestnuts and 130kcal/100gr for boiled chestnuts). Once upon a time, chestnuts were the basis of the daily diet of mountain people, but with the arrival of affluence, they lost their nutritional priority in favour of more refined products.

Fresh chestnut is 48.6% water, about 35% carbohydrates, 2.4% protein, 2.2% fat, 8% fibre. It is also rich in minerals in good quantities including potassium, calcium, sodium, phosphorus and magnesium. It also contains vitamins such as C, B and folic acid.

Nutritious and digestible, they are recommended for children, the elderly, those suffering from chronic fatigue, during periods of recovery from illness, in cases of anaemia, lack of appetite and also in other more specific conditions as described below.

Chestnuts - boasting numerous properties and benefits - are also particularly indicated in specific conditions, so let's look together at what are the 5 good reasons for consuming them and especially in which more specific conditions they are indicated and why:
1. They do not contain gluten and are therefore indicated in the case of coeliac disease.
2. They give a sense of satiety due to their high carbohydrate content and are therefore recommended as a snack to calm hunger but are not really suitable for diabetics.
3. They contain a good source of fibre and are therefore useful for bowel function with beneficial effects on constipation but also for limiting the absorption of excess cholesterol by reducing its levels in the blood with consequent health benefits.
4. Also indicated during pregnancy due to the presence of folic acid, as this element is able to prevent certain malformations of the foetus.
5. Useful for the body's health to strengthen the immune system thanks to vitamin C with antioxidant properties, thus fighting coughs and colds.