Eating water chestnuts raw is parasitic risky and is only safe to eat when cooked

Autumn is getting stronger, water chestnuts are on the market, and the sweet and crisp taste has captured the taste buds
of many people.
Regarding the way to eat water chestnuts, many people like to eat raw, thinking that eating raw is sweeter
.
However, some nutrition experts said that aquatic plants such as water chestnuts and lotus roots will have the risk of parasites such as ginger tablets, and try not to eat
them raw.

Eating water chestnuts raw carries parasite risk

According to the data, water chestnut, also known as horsehoof, is an aquatic plant that can be eaten raw, cooked or cooked
.
Its taste is crisp and sweet, and many people like to eat
it directly raw as a fruit.

In fact, there is a parasite risk
of eating raw water chestnuts.
Ruan Guangfeng, director of the Science and Technology Communication Department of the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, told the Beijing News that water chestnuts grow in muddy water, and a parasite called ginger tablets will breed larvae through the stems and fruits of water chestnuts, and drill into the water chestnuts when they are not ripe, and when people eat raw or use their teeth to gnaw on water chestnuts, they may eat the larvae of ginger tablets into the intestine and cause disease
.

Nguyen Quang Thong explained that the vectors of infection by ginger tablets are mainly the stems and fruits
of aquatic plants.
Ginger tablets that enter the human body will cause necrosis and shedding of the intestinal mucosa, inflammation, edema, etc.
, so that the infected person will have abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms, and the serious can cause malnutrition or even death
.

Therefore, water chestnuts should not be eaten raw with the skin, be sure to wash and peel, rinse with light salt water before eating
.
However, the water chestnut is small and not easy to peel, and the safest thing is to peel the water chestnut and cook it to eat
.

Aquatic plants such as rhombus horns and lotus roots should not be eaten raw

Nguyen Quang Thong also mentioned that human gingerian tablets are generally common in adolescents, but the infection rate is high
in all age groups in severe endemic areas.
"This mainly depends on the chance of infection with ginger cysticerci, not only water chestnuts, but also
aquatic plants such as rhombus horn and rutset.
In particular, diamond horns, which are picked and eaten while picking, are easily infected, and even if they are bought at town fairs, there may be live cysticetes
.
”

Professor Ma Guansheng, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene at the School of Public Health of Peking University, also posted on the WeChat public account "Nutrition Now" that aquatic plants such as diamond horn, water chestnut, cosy white, and water cress are easily contaminated by the cysts of ginger tablets, and eating contaminated aquatic plants raw may cause ginger tablets to infect
.

How can aquatic plants be safely eaten? "Try not to eat raw aquatic plants such as rhombus, water chestnut, lotus root, etc.
, even if you want to eat raw, do not use your teeth to gnaw on the skin, to fully clean it, blanch it in boiling water for a few minutes and then eat
.
" Ruan Quang Feng reminded
.