The hazelnut: a small nut with a big effect

General information about the hazelnut

The hazelnut is a shell fruit and thus, from a botanical point of view, is classified as a nut, provided that its seeds are enclosed in a woody pericarp. Hazelnut is grown mainly in Mediterranean countries with humid and warm climate. Although we also find the nut in Germany, the hazel bushes are not very productive because of the harsher climate.

This is what the hazelnut can do:

• Provides you with many vitamins
• Provides strong bones due to the mineral profile
• Supplies iron
• Contains healthy fats that are good for the body
• Strengthens nerves and brain with magnesium, vitamin E and niacin

The hazelnut offers you these nutrients

Macronutrients (per 100g hazelnut)

Carbohydrates: 10.5 g

Proteins: 12 g

Fat: 61.6 g

Water: 5.6 g

Vitamins (per 100g hazelnut)

Vitamin A: 5 µg

Vitamin B1: 0.4 mg

Vitamin B2: 0.2 mg

Vitamin B6: 0.31 mg

Vitamin C: 3 mg

Minerals (per 100g hazelnut)

Calcium: 225 mg

Iron: 3.8 mg

Potassium: 630 mg

Magnesium: 150 mg

Sodium: 2 mg

The hazelnut under the magnifying glass

The hazelnuts are particularly rich in high-quality proteins. Especially for vegans and vegetarians this plays a big role, they can significantly improve the protein quality in their meals with just a handful of hazelnuts.

This plays a particularly important role for athletes, as they have an increased protein requirement. Learn more about proteins for athletes HERE.

But also in the area of vitamins and minerals, the hazelnuts are good. Above all, the small nuts score with their high vitamin E content. Vitamin E is in fact a particularly powerful antioxidant.

This means that harmful substances in your body are suppressed with the help of vitamin E. For you as an athlete this is interesting because many harmful substances are formed in your body due to the training stress.

In addition, vitamin E is often called a natural anti-aging agent because it protects your skin from premature aging.

The important substances magnesium, calcium, copper, vitamin B1 and niacin are also abundant in the hazelnut. These substances are lost in large quantities through sweat, but are very important for your body. For this reason, it is of great importance that you replenish them through food.

Thus, the hazelnut can be optimally used for this purpose.

Do not be afraid of the fat

Like all nuts, hazelnuts are rich in fat. But this is no cause for concern – on the contrary.

Indeed, the fats contained are healthy fats and have abundant positive effects on health, especially for the cardiovascular system.

A study from the Netherlands examined how the consumption of hazelnuts affects the cardiovascular system. 10 grams of hazelnuts reduced the risk of being diagnosed with cardiovascular or respiratory disease by about 47%.

Last but not least, digestion also benefits from hazelnuts. They are rich in fiber, so that 100g of nuts cover almost a quarter of the daily fiber requirement.

A small disadvantage of the healthy nuts is that many allergy sufferers can not tolerate them. So for these: watch out!