Eating Snails

NUMEROUS HEALTH BENEFITS OF SNAILS

  Hippocrates  documented the health benefits of snails in the Ancient Greece civilization. As at that time, experiments, conducted showed that snails mucin was beneficial  in healing skin and reducing scarring. As of today, modern Researchers have proved that Hippocrates was correct, and snail serum has been found to contain both anti-inflammatories and antioxidants.

"Snail secretions are alleged to contain a copper peptide which is thought to be the only natural sources of a substance usually manufactured to assist in making creams which help minimize scarring"

It sounds unbelievable but it is true that snails- Congo meat, 'les escargot' have more health benefits than we otherwise thought.

 An average Snail is comprised of 80% water, 15% protein, and 2.4% of fat which is primarily healthy fat. A snail contains essential fatty acids, calcium, iron, selenium, and magnesium are also found in snails.

They are rich source of vitamins too and highlly and incredibly packed with vitamins E, A, K and B12.

Snails are an ideal weight watchers diet because they are good sources of proteins but low in calories and fat. Imagine for a 100-gram serving of snail, you have about 90calories.

An average snail also contain a glycoprotein which is believed to contain cancer-fighting properties. The mucous exuded by these  creatures contain a copper compound which helps in healing after an injury or scalding and also helps in preventing heart disorders.

In addition to all these health benefits, snails are tasty, juicy, delicious nutritious and cheaper than any red meat. Snail farming, can make any villager rich if he knows how to rear snails. Snails farming is relatively   cheaper in Nigeria than chicken or fish farming. I wonder why many people in Nigeria have not considered establishing snails farms instead of fish.

 Such farms are easy to set up and do not take time before the farm starts to yield some profits. Snails farms can help many people  "reduce nutritional deficiency". You now know the health benefits of snails. You can prepare it in any form and as well eat it all alone or put them in  soups, fry, cook, boil and eat with all sorts of vegetables and foods. Happy yummy yummy!

Snails are quite nutritious as long as you resist the butter sauce that often accompanies them.

Snails are surprisingly nutritious, as long as you don't eat all the butter often slathered over and around them. Like any animal meat, snails -- which sound much more edible when referred to by their French name of escargot -- provide a hefty dose of protein, little carbohydrate and some fat. Snails also serve as an excellent source of iron and other essential minerals, such as potassium and phosphorus.

Calories and Protein

A 100-gram serving of snails -- about 3.5 ounces -- provides 90 calories. Most of the calories in a dish of snails come from protein. A serving of snails packs a protein punch, that, while not quite equal to beef or

chicken, compares favorably with seafood. A 100-gram serving adds 16.5 grams of protein to your diet, compared to 30 grams in a serving of white-meat chicken and 25 grams in a serving of dark-meat chicken. A 100-gram serving of catfish provides 19 grams of protein. A Nigerian study published in the 2009 "International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health" found that snails provided an excellent and inexpensive source of protein and iron for children and young mothers.

Carbohydrates

If you're following a low-carbohydrate diet, both snails and their most frequent accompaniment -- melted butter -- fit well into your diet as a snack, an appetizer or a meal. A serving of snails contains just 2 grams of carbohydrates, while the butter doesn't add a single carb.

Fat

Like other animal sources of food, snails do contain fat, although not very much. An entire serving contains just 1.4 grams of fat, with slightly more unsaturated than saturated fat. A serving of snails contains 50 grams of cholesterol; if you add the butter sauce, you will get extra dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. A tablespoon of butter contains 11 grams of fat and 31 grams of cholesterol.

Vitamins and Minerals

A 100-gram serving supplies 3.5 milligrams of iron; that's more iron than beef, which contains around 4 milligrams of iron in a 6-ounce serving. This equals nearly half of your daily 8 milligram iron requirement if you're male or a postmenopausal woman and about 20 percent of the 18 milligrams you need if you're a woman of childbearing age. A serving of snails contains about the same amount of potassium as beef, 382 milligrams, as well as 250 milligrams of magnesium, far more than beef, chicken, pork or fish, which provide about 30 milligrams of magnesium.

Preparation

Preparing snails properly is imperative if you don't want to get sick. Snail intestines can contain decayed material and toxins. You must purge their intestines for about 10 days if you're preparing them yourself. Feed the snails plain lettuce during this period. Give them only water two days before you plan to eat them, so they have time to discharge all their slime, advises the May 1988 issue of "Home and Garden." If you're purchasing prepared snails, buy only from a trusted commercial source.