Amazing health benefits of eating snails that you didn't know!

Snails are found everywhere and whilst most gardeners dislike them, in Portugal instead of being a pest, snails are a culinary
delicacy. June is the month when snails appear on menus and a new shop/restaurant has now opened near the Algarve Resident office, where you can enjoy a plate of snails for €2.50 or buy them to cook at home.
Although repulsive to many people, snails are consumed all over the world and are a very healthy thing to eat. Roasted snail shells found in archaeological excavations indicate humans have eaten them since prehistorical times and the Romans cultivated snails by feeding them special diets to improve their flavour. The species Theba Pisana, Otala Lactea and Helix Aspersa are the most consumed. They possess anti-cancer properties and boost the immune system due to their antioxidants and anti-inflammatory effects.
An average snail is comprised of 80% water, 15% protein and 2.4% fat. They contain essential fatty acids, calcium, iron, selenium, magnesium and are a rich source of vitamins E, A, K and B12.
If you plan to collect and cook your own snails, note some should be avoided due to the plants they eat (such as daisies) which makes them taste very bitter. It can take up to 10 days to clean the snails prior to using them in a recipe involving lots of oregano and garlic.
The latest trend is for snails’ eggs ‘Pearls of Aphrodite’, known as white caviar, retailing at around £1,600 per kilo. Mostly ‘farmed’ in Spain, the eggs are laid twice a year, collected with tweezers, washed, purified and sterilised before being lightly salted and tinned – this explains their high cost.
Fact: Did you know that snails are also used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes?
The benefits of snail slime were recognised in ancient Greece by Hippocrates who used it to heal skin and ulcers and to reduce scarring. More recently, Chilean snail farmers highlighted the benefits when they noticed cuts on their hands healed very quickly and their skin became softer. This is because the slime contains allantoin, antibiotics, glycolic acid, collagen and elastin, and so it heals and regenerates skin cells minimising scars.
In 2013, Louis-Marie Guedon in France began to harvest snail slime (without harming the snails) and now plans to produce 15 tonnes a year to meet the increasing demand from cosmetic companies wishing to incorporate the slime in their skin care products.
In Tokyo, there is a spa where you pay to have snails slithering over your face! Yeah you read that right.