Okra or okro, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. (Wikipedia)
Okra has some immense benefits on consumption due to its nutritional composition. We elaborate the okra health benefits in this post.
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Okra Health Benefits
Now let’s look the health benefits of okra.
1. Helps in Digestion
Okra is rich in dietary fibre. If you plan to control your diet, eating okra will make you feel full for a long time. This will prevent the crave for other food in between meals. The fibre is very helpful in digestion and helps to prevent constipation and generally makes you healthy.
2. Controls obesity
Okra is also low in calories. This means that you can satisfy your hunger and still keep your weight.
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3. Helps maintain heart health
Okra contains pectin. This lowers LDL or bad cholesterol, and so improves cardiac function.
4. Helps fight cancer
Okra is packed with antioxidants and so can
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5. Strengthens immunity
Okra is rich in Vitamin C and other anti-oxidants. These help to strengthen our body immunity by acting against the harmful free radicals in our body. Vitamin C also stimulates the production of more white blood cells which are our body’s primary
6. Helps fertility and pregnancy
The high folate amount in okra is important in a conception diet as it decreases the incidence of neural tube defects in offspring. Moreover, the consumption of folates during pregnancy help support a healthy mother and baby.
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7. Helps control diabetes and kidney disease
The high content of soluble fibre in okra helps to regulate blood sugar levels. This helps to manage diabetes as the soluble fibre affects the absorption of sugars in the intestine. Further, it reduces the chances of developing kidney disease as half of such ailments develop from diabetes.
8. Controls asthma
It is recommended for people suffering from asthma to incorporate okra in their diet. Okra has shown some to have some positive effects in the treatment of asthma.
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Okra’s powerful dose of vitamin C has been linked to easing respiratory issues like asthma.
9. Anti-inflammatory
Okra health benefits include its anti-inflammatory property that makes it good for joints, as well as treating lung inflammation, sore throat, and irritable bowel syndrome.
10. Improves eye health
Okra has a high content of Vitamin A and other anti-oxidants which act against the free radicals in our body. These free radicals are formed as a result of cellular metabolism and can harm the cells which help our eyesight. So, okra helps to protect our eyes against the dangerous effects of these free radicals and prevent the onset of macular degeneration and cataracts.
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Okra’s nutrients like vitamins C and A have been linked to a reduction in the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. These nutrients contributes to the enormous okra health benefits.
11. Strengthen bones
The vitamin K and folates
12. Improves skin
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13. Source of vegetable protein
Okra is a very good source of vegetable protein and so it is a very good ingredient in a vegetarian diet. With 2 grams of protein per cup, it is an easily-digestible, vegetarian source of filling, a fibrous protein.
14. Healing of ulcer
Okra coats the digestive tract when consumed. It helps speed the healing of peptic ulcers.
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Side-effects of Consuming Okra
- Okra intake may nullify the effect of Metformin which is meant to control the levels of blood sugar.
- Also, okra is rich in oxalates which may bind with existing gall and kidney stones and cause them to deteriorate.
We advice you consume okra in moderation.
References
20 Health Benefits Of Okra That Are Constantly Overlooked – (lifehack.org)
Benefits Of Okra And Its Side Effects – (lybrate.com)
