Chestnut: Benefits, Effects and Dietary Taboos, Can Chestnut Shells Be Eaten?

Chestnut has long been known as the “king of dried fruits,” and abroad it is also called “ginseng fruit.” The chestnut is the general name for trees or shrubs in the genus Castanea of the Fagaceae (beech family), of which there are about 7-9 species. In China, they are generally divided into 2 types: wild chestnuts and hybrid improved chestnuts. So what are the benefits and effects of chestnut? What about the dietary taboos of chestnut and the benefits and effects of chestnut shells?

I. Benefits and Effects of Chestnut

1. Prolonging life

Immortality is the dream of many people. Although this dream cannot be realized even now, eating more chestnuts in daily life can prolong life and extend lifespan, and this is something that can be achieved, because this food ingredient, the chestnut, has extremely high nutritional value. It has a good conditioning effect on human organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart, and can increase the activity of tissue cells, keeping the human body in a relatively young state.

2. Strengthening tendons and bones

Eating more chestnuts can also strengthen tendons and bones. The nutritional components it contains, such as vitamin C and the trace elements calcium and phosphorus, can promote bone development and increase bone density and toughness. It has a good conditioning effect on the adverse symptoms people often experience, such as soreness and weakness of the waist and legs, pain in the tendons and bones, as well as osteoporosis and fatigue and weakness.

3. Stopping bleeding

Stopping bleeding is one of the important effects of eating chestnuts. Chestnuts can not only be eaten but can also be used as medicine. They have a strong hemostatic effect and can shorten the human body's clotting time. In particular, when people have bleeding-related conditions such as vomiting blood or blood in the stool, eating more chestnuts can stop the bleeding as quickly as possible and allow the condition to improve quickly.

4. Tonifying the kidneys and boosting essence

Eating more chestnuts in daily life can also play an important role in tonifying the kidneys and boosting essence. They enter the kidney meridian, can improve kidney function, and can also promote diuresis and reduce swelling. They have a good preventive and therapeutic effect on adverse symptoms caused by kidney deficiency, such as weakness of the waist and legs and frequent urination. During treatment, it is best to cook chestnuts together with pork kidneys and coix seed and other ingredients into porridge, which will allow their kidney-tonifying effect to be better exerted.

5. Preventing and treating cardiovascular disease 

Chestnuts are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, multiple vitamins and minerals, and can effectively prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and arteriosclerosis, and are beneficial to human health.

6. Strengthening tendons and bones, delaying aging. Chestnuts are rich in vitamin C and can maintain the normal function of teeth, bones, blood vessels and muscles. They can prevent and treat osteoporosis, soreness and weakness of the waist and legs, pain in the tendons and bones, fatigue, and so on, and delay human aging. They are an ideal health fruit for the elderly.

II. Dietary Taboos of Chestnut

1. The calories of 6 chestnuts are equivalent to 2 liang of rice. They give a strong feeling of fullness and keep hunger away for a long time, so they should not be eaten in large amounts; otherwise, they will cause indigestion.

2. Infants and young children, people with weak spleen and stomach and poor digestion, or people suffering from rheumatism should not eat them; chestnuts are difficult to digest.

3. People with diabetes should not eat much of them, because they contain relatively many carbohydrates.

4. People with weak spleen and stomach should not eat chestnuts raw. Eaten raw, chestnuts are difficult to digest; eaten cooked, they easily cause qi stagnation. Eating too many at one time will harm the spleen and stomach.

5. Chestnuts should not be eaten cold, because chestnuts have a high starch content; once cold, part of the starch will retrograde and cause intestinal gas.

6. Sugar-roasted chestnuts are not hygienic and should be eaten less.

III. Benefits and Effects of Chestnut Shells

1. Chestnut shells have the effects of lowering reversed qi, stopping bleeding, relieving cough, resolving phlegm, and clearing heat and reducing internal heat. They mainly treat nausea, nosebleeds, blood in the stool and other conditions.

2. Decoction of chestnut shells in water can treat nausea. Chestnut shells charred and ground into powder can stop external bleeding. They can be used for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, cough with profuse phlegm, whooping cough, lymphadenitis, mumps and other diseases. Dried and ground into powder, chestnut shells also have a very good hemostatic effect.

3. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that chestnuts are sweet and warm in nature, non-toxic, and have the medical effects of strengthening the spleen, tonifying the liver, and strengthening the body and bones. Regular raw consumption can treat weakness of the waist and legs; the shells and bark have an astringent effect; fresh leaves applied externally can treat skin inflammation; the flowers can treat scrofula and diarrhea, and the roots can treat hernia. Folk proven remedies mostly use chestnuts: eating 1 to 2 raw each morning and evening can treat kidney deficiency in the elderly and weak, frequent urination; raw chestnuts pounded into a paste and applied to the affected area can treat bruises and injuries, swelling and pain of the tendons and bones, and also have the effects of relieving pain, stopping bleeding, and absorbing pus and toxins.