Water Chestnuts Nutrition
Water chestnut is a vegetable that is commonly found in a Chinese household. Although these are seasonal vegetables and are harvested at very few places in United States, canned water chestnuts can be purchased throughout the year in South East Asia and is an integral part of Asian cooking.
Water Chestnuts Nutrition
The exact amount of nutrients in every serving of water chestnut (62 g) is given below:
Minerals
Although, water chestnut contains a number of minerals such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, the content of potassium is highest in this vegetable. A serving of water chestnut, which is equivalent to half a cup, contains 362 mg of potassium. On the other hand, phosphorus and magnesium content are found to 39.1 mg and 13.6 mg respectively. As compared to other vegetables, calcium in a serving of water chestnut is low (6.8 mg). Although, it also contains minerals like zinc, copper and manganese, the amount is negligible.
Protein
Protein is also not present in substantial amounts in water chestnut. This is because protein amount is found to be only 0.9 mg per serving.
Vitamins
Honestly speaking, water chests are not rich in vitamins. Vitamin A, vitamin B12, as well as vitamin D, are found even in meager amounts. Half a cup of water chestnut has only 2.5 mg of vitamin C. B vitamins like thiamine, vitamin B6, niacin and riboflavin only make 1 mg of the total 62 g serving. However, the amount of choline, a B complex vitamin, is significantly high and is around 22.4 mg per serving.
Fats
What has made water chestnut so popular in all corners of the Earth, is its fat content. Believe it or not, but saturated fat in this vegetable is nil. Now, that's a good news for those who want to lose weight and include a non-fatty healthy food in their diet. Well, are you one of those, thinking that water chestnuts are lacking in healthy fats. However, a detailed analysis proves that this vegetable has omega 3 essential fatty acids and omega 6 essential fatty acids. These are unsaturated fats that provide innumerable cardiovascular health benefits and can prevent dreadful diseases like cancer.
Carbohydrates
The amount of carbohydrates of water chestnut is found to be high. Total carbohydrate content per serving (62 g) is 15 g. Fiber count in half cup of water chest is 1.9 g. Being high in carbohydrates, the vegetable is definitely excluded from a low carb diet.
How Many Calories are in Water Chestnuts
This is one question that is frequently asked by health freaks, especially vegetarians. Now, as the vegetable is free from unhealthy fats, its calorie count per serving will naturally be low. That is why, half a cup of water chestnut contains only 60.1 calories.
Although, its nutrition value is not at the same level as that of green leafy vegetables, you would certainly be glad to know that it also does not contain any constituents like caffeine, alcohol or theobromine, that are considered to be harmful to your health. This certainly makes the water chestnut eligible for daily consumption.
