Benefits of Eating Okra (or Lady's Finger)

There are many names for Okra and some are Ladies Fingers, Gombo, Bendi, and Gumbo. This vegetable seems to come from West Africa and is now grown over the world for its health benefits.

When using Okra in recipes, there are hundreds of ways to use this vegetable and here is a few ways to use Okra: cut it raw and season with vinegar and pepper, cut it raw and mix it with mayonnaise, steam the vegetable, in stews and soups.

In one half cup sliced cooked Okra, there is twenty five calories and in one cup of raw Okra, there is thirty three calories. These is what is in one half cup of sliced cooked Okra: two grams of dietary fiber, one point fifty two grams of protein, five point fifty six grams of carbohydrates, four hundred and sixty IC of Vitamin A, thirteen point zero four mg of Vitamin C, thirty six point five micrograms of folic acid, fifty point four mg of calcium, zero point four mg of iron, two hundred fifty six point six mg of potassium, and forty six mg of manganese.

Okra is rich in dietary fiber and dietary fiber helps to regulate the body’s blood sugar by curbing the rate by which the sugar is absorbed into the intestinal tract. By eating something sweet with Okra, the Okra will help the body take care of the sugar in the other food and help the body to absorb it. The mucilage in Okra helps to bind together the bile acid and the bad chosterol which is carrying toxins that will be dumped into the filtering liver.

Okra will lubricate the large intestine by due to its high qualities of bulk laxatives found in in it. This action will prevent constipation and promote regular bowel movements.

Okra is a good vegetable for whoever is feeling weak, exhausted, and depressed.

This vegetable is used for healing ulcers and helping to keep the body’s joint functioning properly.
It helps to treat lung inflammation, sore throats, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Okra is good to help fight against asthma by using the Vitamin C that is in this vegetable as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory which prevents the symptoms of asthma from happening.
This vegetable is good for the vision in the way that it helps to prevent cataracts.

Okra also helps to prevent diabetics. Some people have claimed that their diabetics have been cured or had their diabetic’s symptoms improved by drinking water soaked in Okra. Please before thinking this way, let your doctor know this folklore and ask his health opinion about it.

Okra contains glutathione which is a protein molecule that is produced naturally in the body. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant that helps the body fight against the harmful effects of germs and bacteria.

The pods of the plant is a rich source of Vitamin K and Vitamin K acts like a co-helper in the clotting enzymes and is required to help strengthen our bones in the body.

Source: Okra benefits to your health. Eating benefits of Okra.