Top 10 Health Benefits of Okra

Top Benefits of Eating Okra or Gumbo Pods

Lady’s Fingers, Gumbo Pods, Bamia, Ochro, Bhindi, or Okra- whichever you call this vegetable, you should know more why it’s worth chewing this slimy veggie. It’s quite common in Asian countries as well as in Africa and Southern America. It’s either served fried, grilled and boiled. It’s gooey texture when boiled or mixed with a soup makes every single dish extra thicker while it’s crispy texture when fried coupled with the unique taste of this pod would definitely live an impression.

Jam packed with vitamins and minerals minus the extra calorie and fat, this pod would always be listed among the super veggies. So make sure that you include this in your diet. A half a cup serving alone could give you more than you can imagine, to give you a more concrete proof, here are the top 10 benefits of eating Okra.

Here are the Top 10 Health Benefits of Okra:

1. Okra Controls your cholesterol levels

Okra is composed mainly of dietary fiber. In fact half a cup would give you 2 grams of dietary fiber. Dietary Fiber is comprised of two components, the insoluble fiber, which is the vegetables chewy component, and the soluble fiber, which is part of the slimy substance that the okra has. The soluble fiber plays the most important role in lowering cholesterol level. It binds with the excess fat molecules and eliminates them from your system.

2. Okra is Anti-diabetic

Diabetes is quite a major problem among the world population. It’s one of the top killer diseases around the globe. Treatment of course is not possible, because once you get it in your system, you can never get it out. So might as well do a good job in protecting yourself against it, by eating the right amount of carbs, and vegetables like Okra to maintain your blood sugar level. The global medical community has been researching on the potential of Okra to be an anti-diabetic food and the evidence on this claim has been building up over the years. It is thought that the insoluble fiber of this plant causes the absorption of sugar in the intestine to slow down.

3. Ensures good digestion

It’s gooey, and slimy substance might be a bit of a turn off for many, but did you know that all these substances contribute to a good digestion by helping improve peristalsis movement. Other than this substance, the rich dietary fiber content also contributes in intestinal health by acting as intestinal sweepers to maintain a good bowel movement.

4. Rich in Folate

If you’re planning to get pregnant, make sure you have a good serving of this vegetable because it contains a good dose of Folate, an essential B vitamin that prevents Neural Tube Defect. Folate is needed during rapid cell divisions, which generally happen during conception. But apart for pre-conception process, Folate is also great for preventing anemia because it ensures normal red blood cell formation.

5. Great for Eye health

 The world is beautiful, and thanks to our eyes we are able to everything around us, so one must make sure that their eyes are properly taken care of. Eating food rich in Vitamin A, and Lutein are quite the most famous way of accumulating essential substances for eye health improvement, so for all ye people looking for other potential eye health food source, grab a serving of Okra to get a share of all these necessary eye vitamins.

6. Vitamin K
   

If you are gearing towards protecting your heart, preventing cancer, osteoporosis and dementia, then Okra is the vegetable for you. Apart from these abilities, Vitamin K is also found to be important in blood clotting and improving insulin sensitivity. Vitamin K is found among commercially produced food supplements, but you only need a little amount of this. In fact, you only need at most 80 µg of Vitamin K, and Okra can give you 80% of the RDA of this vitamin.

7. Vitamin C rich
   

Do not be deceived by its green color, because Vitamin C is not only innate among brightly colored fuits and vegetables. A hundred gram of Okra is seen to contain 38% of the RDA of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is essential to a lot of body processes such as repairing damaged tissues, forming some proteins, healing wounds, and blocking damage of free radicals.

8. Mineral Bank

Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Potassium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, and Selenium, are all found in one serving (100 grams) of Okra. So it’s an important to consider eating this vegetable. All these minerals function for important processes inside the body, like the calcium is for bone formation, Magnesium as cofactor for biochemical reaction, Phosphorus for making the energy molecule ATP, Sodium for controlling blood pressure, Potassium for preventing stroke, Zinc for strengthening the immune system, Selenium for preventing cell damage, Copper for manufacturing RBC and Manganese for building bone structures.

9. Anti-oxidant Rich
   

Anti-oxidative food are quite the rage these days. They are very good in helping the body boosts its ability to prevent the damage of the free radicals. Anti-oxidant is popular among people who are vigilant against cancer and aging. There is quite a long list of fruits and veggies that are rich in anti-oxidant and among them is the Okra. One of its known antioxidants is the high Vitamin C. It also contains flavonoids that also act as anti-oxidants such as the beta-carotene and the lutein.

10. Prevents Cancer
    

High Fiber, High Anti-oxidant and High Vitamins and Minerals, needless to say Okra can help any person stay away from cancer as long as it’s served and cooked properly. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with Lung Cancer, and Colon Cancer as the most commonly occurring among all the types of cancer. Okra can aide in preventing Colon Cancer through the roughage that this veggie has. Lung Cancer and the other types can be prevented through the antioxidant that this vegetable contains.

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These are just but the top 10 benefits that you can get out of eating these furry on the outside and gooey on the inside vegetable. There’s much more that you could get from it. Researchers have been continuing there studies on this plant to further help people get to know more about the benefits, and the proper ways on how to cook this veggie to maximize its healing properties.

What else are you waiting for then? Grab a Laswa Soup or some Pinakbet and invest on a healthier you.