Nuts, including acorns, have been popular as a beneficial food ingredient in many ancient cultures to this day. It is though Health benefits of oakHowever, some may ask, are the fruits of the oak edible without any side effects on health?

What is an oak?

Oak is a type of nut, which is a rich source of nutrients needed by the body. The use of oak or oak fruits (scientific name: Quercus) is famous in many countries of the world such as France, England, and the United States of America. Oak bark is also used after drying and grinding in some therapeutic uses.

The acorn nut is distinguished by its single fruit encapsulated in a hard outer shell, topped with a dome that connects it to the oak tree branch. The length of one nut is from 1 to 6 cm, and it takes about 6 to 24 months to fully ripen.

Oak benefits

Oak fruits have many therapeutic and health benefits. Among its most prominent benefits:

Improve digestion health

Acorns are a rich source of dietary fiber, which helps improve digestion and nourishes beneficial gut bacteria. Oak extract is also known to be used as a herbal remedy to get rid of stomach pain, nausea, flatulence, diarrhea, and other common indigestion problems.

Prevention of chronic diseases

Because acorns contain antioxidants, eating them as a food rich in antioxidants may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

One of the most important benefits of oak is its ability to regulate blood sugar levels, thus reducing the risk of diabetes. It also contains five times more unsaturated fats compared to saturated fats, which maintains cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk of obesity, heart disease and atherosclerosis.

Gluten free

One of the most prominent benefits of oak is that patients with wheat allergy (celiac disease) can eat oak fruits and add them to food or prepare oak coffee, since it does not contain gluten.

Treat infections

Researchers believe that the high concentration of tannin in oak bark may help treat many skin diseases, such as treating skin infections and burns. Oak bark is also used due to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties in the treatment of gingivitis and toothache by gargling with it. And use it in the treatment of digestive disorders such as diarrhea and hemorrhoids, by bathing in water mixed with powdered oak bark in order to dry the sores.

Oak is also known to be used in folk medicine to treat colds, asthma, hemorrhage, dysentery, and laryngitis and pharyngitis.

This is in addition to the fact that some commercial preparations of oak are available in Europe, which are used as a diuretic, and to prevent the formation of kidney stones. However, more research studies are needed to confirm the safety and effectiveness of these treatments.

Rich source of energy

Acorns are high in complex carbohydrates, which provide long-term energy reserves. Therefore, one of the benefits of acorns is the possibility of including it in your diet, by using acorn flour as a substitute for regular flour, or by adding it as a kind of nuts to your diet. This is in addition to the possibility of enjoying acorn coffee as a healthy alternative to energy drinks.

Maintaining bone health

Containing oaks on many minerals such as calcium, potassium, and phosphorous helps promote bone health and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Where calcium is available in high concentrations inside the oak.

To prevent the risk of osteoporosis, read also: Symptoms of osteoporosis and how to prevent it

oak coffee

It is popular to use acorn coffee as a substitute for regular coffee. However, in fact, it is not considered coffee at all, as it is made entirely from nuts, but it looks somewhat like coffee in terms of color and aroma. One of the most prominent benefits of acorn coffee is that it is 100% caffeine-free.

How to prepare acorn coffee

Usually coffee oak is made from two types of tile trees: stone oak and cork oak. And in order to make ground acorn coffee Follow the following steps:

• The nuts are dried and then ground
• Preheat a liter of water
• Mix in about 4 to 5 tablespoons of oak powder
• A little milk or sugar can be added to reduce the bitter taste

Oak damage

Eating oak fruits is generally considered safe, as people have benefited from the health benefits of oak and have enjoyed eating its fruits safely for thousands of years to this day, but it must be eaten in moderate quantities without overdoing it. As it contains tannin (tannins). Which may be harmful if taken in large amounts.

This is because tannin is an anti-nutrient that reduces the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from foods. So excessive intake may lead to health damage such as liver damage, or cancer.

Therefore, it is always recommended to boil or soak crushed acorns until the water gets rid of the brown color before use, and not to eat them raw, in order to get rid of most of the tannin in the acorns before they become edible.

It is also not recommended for allergy sufferers, who are allergic to nuts, to eat acorns. Where it may lead to some side effects, such as:

• Nausea
• Cough
• diarrhea
• Breathing difficulty
• swelling of the lips;
• Unconsciousness