Hazelnut - benefits and harm for women and men

Hazelnuts - the most Russian of all nuts. In different territories it is also called differently: hazelnuts, squirrel delicacies, hazel. And Italians call it the Lombard nut (after the name of one of the Italian regions - Lombardy). Unpretentious to conditions, it grows in almost all territories of Russia, including forest tundra zones. Nevertheless, the most nutritious and useful species are still preferred by the southern regions - Crimea, Kuban, Orenburg, etc.

Abroad of our country, hazelnut grows both in the wild and is grown on an industrial scale. In the wild, hazel grows in Spain, Greece, Italy, some rare species even sprout in Norway. The most useful wild species of hazelnuts grows on the Balkan Peninsula.

In industrial breeding today, three varieties are known: Kerasund and Badem - foreign and a variety bred in the USSR during the time of Khrushchev - Crimean hazelnut.

Speaking about different species, it is worth noting that, despite such an abundance of varieties, the wild species is considered the most useful!

The chemical and biological composition of hazelnuts

The usefulness of this product has long been undergoing various scientific disputes and debates. Some consider this type of nut to be completely useless, attracting appetites exclusively by the simplicity of their taste, another group of scientists, on the contrary, makes weighty arguments about the undoubted benefit of the product. So which of them is right?

Each 100 grams of hazel contains about 90% of the daily intake of vitamins such as A and E, and, therefore, hazelnut plays a direct role in strengthening the walls of internal organs, starting from the vascular and ending with the walls of hollow organs (intestines, bladder, some uterine tissues in women, lungs and many others). In addition, daily consumption of 30 - 50 grams actively stimulates brain activity, increasing memory, concentration of attention, and reducing manifestations of feelings of fatigue. In addition, hazelnut significantly improves the functioning of the organs associated with the brain - vision, hearing, smell, improving the severity of their functions.

Due to the high content of vitamins B and C, the mass accumulation of which has the inner shell of the nut and its surrounding parts, hazel significantly improves metabolic processes in the body (stabilizes the regulation of hormonal activity, improves trophic tissue by increasing the influx of nutrients to them), and also increases immune processes.

Among the useful mineral substances contained in the squirrel delicacy, one can distinguish the presence in large quantities: zinc, phosphorus, sodium, copper, selenium, manganese, potassium and many others. All these components help a person to become stronger, more durable and, most importantly, healthier. Being an excellent antidepressant, hazelnuts will be especially useful in winter, when the color day is short, and the view outside the windows does not indulge in a variety of colors.

And, of course, in the light of the popularity of a healthy lifestyle, one cannot but mention the calorie content of the food product. Hazelnuts are high-calorie foods - 400 grams of hazel consumed at one time can replace a person with a full meal consisting of 3 dishes. Thanks to this feature, nuts occupy a worthy place in the dishes of world cuisine.

Benefit or harm: where does the scale go?

Before considering hazelnuts as an active food product or as a cosmetic component for masks, it is important to familiarize yourself with its positive and negative points.

About product benefits
The usefulness of this product can be argued within infinity - this:

1. Nutrition and calorie content. Under extreme conditions, involving a long stay in the forest zone in summer and autumn, a person is able to survive much longer, largely due to the presence of a hazelnut. Even in an immature state, he is able to reliably provide a person with all the necessary nutrients.
2. Stimulation of the brain. Due to this feature, hazel has been accepted into its kingdom by such a worthy science as pharmacology. On the basis of hazelnuts, preparations for the stimulation of brain activity are actively developed, as well as nutritional complexes for athletes in the form of various dietary supplements.
3. Strengthening the walls of blood vessels of the circulatory and lymphatic systems, the regulation of myocardial power work. Studies have shown that nuts have a very beneficial effect on cardiac activity, preventing the risk of heart attack.
4. This nut is irreplaceable during pregnancy. A large amount of selenium and zinc makes hazelnuts one of the indispensable products for pregnant women, providing the fetus with the full formation of the skeleton, vascular tissues, hollow organs. And copper, which is part of hazelnuts, is able to neutralize toxic products that accidentally enter the fetus (with infections in the mother, or when she consumes unwanted foods and drinks).
5. Decongestant. Zinc contained in the composition plays a direct role in removing excess moisture from the body, and also has a strong effect on the production of adrenal hormones, due to which blood pressure is regulated.
6. Improves the functions of the senses: hearing, vision, smell.
7. A large number of flavonoids contributes to increased production of sex hormones, which makes a person attractive in the eyes of the opposite sex. From the above, the following follows - an increase in sex hormones contributes to the full preparation for pregnancy. And, therefore, when planning it, this product is a sin to underestimate.
8. Strengthens male potency and increases libido in women due to the large amount of magnesium and calcium, a combination of which is especially important in this case.
9. Cosmetic effect. The presence of the most necessary vitamins and microelements in the composition allows hazelnuts to actively stimulate metabolic processes, improving the external structure of the skin, strengthening hair follicles, improving the external condition of hair, nails, and prevents eyelash loss (included in many cosmetic formulations designed to solve this problem).

About the dangers of the product
The negative facts about hazelnuts include the following facts:

1. Hazelnuts, like any other product actively consumed by people, have one of the negative aspects (perhaps even the most important one, which can turn all the pluses into a single minus) is the presence of an allergy to this type of nut or nuts in general.
2. From the point of view of "weight control", this product can most likely be attributed to pests, especially when consuming large quantities - due to the large number of lipid constituents, it is perfectly deposited in problem areas.
3. Not desirable for people who have problems with high cholesterol - hazelnuts contribute to body fat, and hence cholesterol similarly.
4. In large quantities, it causes severe headaches that provoke vasospasm.
5. It quickly deteriorates, which makes it very easy to poison with this nut.
6. During pregnancy, the usefulness of this product is undoubtedly high, but, nevertheless, do not forget to control overweight. In this case, excessive consumption may not play the most positive role.
7. When fried, it’s tastier, but much more harmful due to the released rebuilt harmful fats. Raw hazelnuts to taste - for an amateur.
8. Not useful for people who have problems with the liver, stomach and biliary organs (especially if calculi are diagnosed), since it requires large enzyme and energy costs for digestion and assimilation.

After analyzing the useful and harmful aspects of the product, it is concluded that there are much more positive aspects, and in the negative part, some points are essentially conditional, which means that with the right approach they can easily be turned into pluses. Having agreed in the mind all the logical arguments of the article, a person can get an extra storehouse of health in the form of hazelnuts.

Video: the beneficial properties of hazelnuts