What is Snail?

Snail, which is in the class Orthogastropoda, is the common name of crustacean land animals. The consumption of snails as food, which has species living in fresh waters and on land, especially in the seas, dates back thousands of years. During the Roman Empire, snail dishes came to the fore in culinary cultures, especially in cities on the Mediterranean coast. A delicious source of protein, snails have many benefits.

What Are the Benefits of Snails?

The main benefits of the snail, which finds itself in different cuisines, are as follows;

• It strengthens the immune system.
• Snail meat is rich in vitamins A, E, B1, B3, B6 and B12. As an antioxidant, vitamin E plays an important role in the body. Vitamins B1, B3, B6 and B12 are important vitamins that support the treatment and prevention of diabetes.
• It helps the body fight cancerous cells in it.
• It repairs the damages in the skin tissue with the elastin and collagen substances in its structure.
• It helps to relieve bone disorders.
• Snail meat contains important elements such as iron, which supports blood production and provides zinc to the body.
• The mucus produced by snails is used to heal wrinkles and wounds on the skin.
• With the tryptophan substance in it, it triggers the production of the hormone serotonin, which allows the brain to relax. This improves mood.
• It contains different minerals and vitamins in order for the muscles to develop in a healthy way.

Snail meat contains high levels of magnesium.

Magnesium is extremely important in the body as it is needed in more than 330 enzymatic processes. Some include maintaining proper blood pressure, bone strength, regulating heart rhythm and fat synthesis. Muscle contraction and relaxation, cardiac activity and bone metabolism are some of them. The body needs a lot of magnesium to perform these activities. Among the benefits of snails is that it contains high levels of magnesium.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a magnesium supplement of 400 mg for men ages 19 to 30 and 420 mg for men over 30. Women under the age of 30 should consume 300 mg of magnesium per day. Women over the age of 30 should get 310 mg of magnesium per day.

Note that snails contain 250 mg of magnesium, or 62% of the daily requirement. Therefore, the high magnesium content in snail meat is extremely beneficial for the human body system . Eating snails is a great way to meet your body’s need for magnesium.

Eating snails can prevent cardiovascular diseases.

One of the benefits of eating snails and drinking snail juice is that it lowers blood pressure. It is also highly effective in reducing the risk of heart problems, including hypertension and cardiac arrest.

What are the harms of snails?

Snails have many good health effects, but if you eat snails that have not been washed, carefully processed, or combined with some taboo foods, it will cause some bad effects.

• Snails contain many parasites.
• Snails live in muddy places, so they contain many types of parasites that cause diseases for humans. Parasites in snails will seriously affect human health when entering organs such as lungs, bile, intestines, liver, brain, kidneys.
• Therefore, snails must be carefully cleaned to ensure food hygiene and safety. In addition, snail meat should be thoroughly cooked to destroy harmful parasites.
• Snail affects digestion.
• Orange, tangerine etc. The use of snails with foods containing vitamin C can cause stomach pain, bloating, indigestion and even food poisoning, significantly affecting the digestive organs.
• Snails cause gout.
• Although snail is a familiar snack, this dish is not suitable for alcohol. This is because eating snails will create uric acid as it enters the body, increasing the risk of gout. If you drink more alcohol, it will inhibit the process of removing excess protein from the body. Since uric acid has not been excreted since then, it accumulates and causes gout for a long time.

How should snails be consumed?

Many people do not know exactly how to consume snails. In general, to cook snails, you can choose canned or frozen ones. If you want to use fresh ones, you need to clean them carefully and in detail. You can consume snails by frying them as in various Mediterranean countries. In addition, after boiling for a certain period of time, you can consume it as you wish by flavoring it with various sauces and spices.