Top 5 Health Benefits Of Okra You Must Know

Okra, more popularly renowned as lady’s’ finger, is a valuable vegetable that belongs to rare green vegetables that are much more than normal edible foods that offer limited benefits. It is primarily cultivated in warm to hot weather conditions and is mostly a native to South Asia and West Africa. It is basically bundled with bulk traces of vitamins like vitamin A, Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B9, vitamin C, vitamin E and Vitamin K. Other than being one miraculous multivitamin food, it is also blessed with calcium, iron, zinc, water, potassium, proteins and fibres. Being such an all rounder food, it is sure to offer multiple health benefits. Out of those endless benefits, we have listed 5 major benefits of Okra you must be aware of.

Scroll Down Through Our List And Reserve A Place For Okra In Your Daily Meal:

1. It Reduces Cholesterol

Okra has a sticky gel like pulp. And this sticky pulp is actually a boon for cholesterol reduction.As we know, entire body’s fluids, including good cholesterol, circulate throughout the body, collect toxins, and brings them to the liver for detoxification. But bad cholesterol that is tightly bonded to the walls of heart does not return for purification. The gel in okra has the capacity to seep within the layers of stubborn accumulated cholesterol and loosen its grip. Cholesterol molecules break and stick to okra’s gel that pushes it down to the liver that converts it to good cholesterol (1).

2. It Protects The Heart

Okra is one of world’s most powerful and abundant natural supplements of Vitamin C. Vitamin C, popularly known by the name ascorbic acid that is an antioxidant, protects the heart by reducing cholesterol accumulation within the walls of heart valves, arteries and veins. It also breaks down incoming insoluble fat into smaller molecules that reduces the chances of them sticking to the valves. This reduces the susceptibility of heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases (2).

3. It Reduces Constipation

If you want to lay your hands on a magical remedy that can ease even chronic constipation, then Okra might prove too handy for you. It is sticky and highly rich in water. Working as powerfully as artificial laxatives can, Okra adds optimum moisture to dry stools and makes them soft. This reduces bowel irritation and increases sphincter flexibility. Moreover, being a vital supplement of dietary fibres, okra already aids better digestion. As a result, it not just reduces acute constipation, it is also beneficial for chronic constipation (3).

4. It Helps In Controlling Diabetes

Okra isn’t like any basic food that lowers the glucose level in blood and keeps an eye on its regulation, it also simultaneously prevents the body from post side effects of developing diabetes in the long run, that is renal failure. Kidneys are hard hit and prone to failure due to excessive insulin dependency on people who deal with diabetes for years. But regular consumption of okra actually shields the kidneys against impairment commonly seen in diabetic patients (4).

5. It Improves Vision

If you thought carrot and spinach are the only two most powerful vision boosting natural foods, then add okra to that list as well. Since it is infused with retina strengthening antioxidants like beta carotenoids, lutein and xanthin, it improves impaired vision. Since it holds the power to restore retina’s flexibility to an extent, it is also a potential option to keep bay from cataract (5).

And alongside these 5 major benefits, Okra is also one major natural shield against colon cancer.