Chestnuts

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15 Apr 2022

What do Whole Food Plant-Based doctors say about chestnut consumption?

Wikipedia article on chestnuts explains that chestnuts are carbohydrate-rich, low-protein and low-fat. Thus chestnuts have a nutritional profile very different from nuts like almonds, cashews and walnuts, all of which are high-fat.

"Chestnuts depart from the norm for culinary nuts, as they have little protein or fat; their calories come chiefly from carbohydrates. Fresh chestnut fruits provide about 820 kJ (200 kcal) of food energy per 100 g of edible parts, which is much lower than walnuts, almonds, other nuts, and dried fruit (about 2,500 kJ or 600 kcal per 100 g)."

Dr Esselstyn

Esselstyn FAQ on Nuts explains:

Question: Nuts — What about nuts? I hear so many different opinions?

Dr Esselstyn: "As nuts are a rich source of saturated fats, my preference is no nuts for heart disease patients. That also eliminates peanuts and peanut butter even though peanuts are officially a legume. For those with established heart disease to add more saturated fat that is in nuts is inappropriate. For people with no heart disease who want to eat nuts and avocado and are able to achieve a cholesterol of 150 and LDL of 80 or under without cholesterol lowering drugs, some nuts and avocado are acceptable. Chestnuts are the one nut, very low in fat, it is ok to eat."

Dr Greger

In Dr Greger's Daily Dozen Checklist (9 mins, 2022), Dr Greger explains:

"Everyone should try to incorporate one tablespoon of ground flax seeds into their daily diet, in addition to a serving of nuts or other seeds. A quarter-cup of nuts is considered a serving, or two tablespoons of nut or seed butters, including peanut butter. (Chestnuts and coconuts, though, don't nutritionally count as nuts.)"

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