Om Padmanabhaya namah:
History of Okra
Okra has a history that dates back to antiquity and was recorded to
have been widely cultivated along the banks of the Nile in ancient
Egyptian times.
The available historical data are vague about okra and its exact
origin, but Africa is the commonly thought of beginning. From Ethiopia
to South America and from North Africa to the slaver countries it was
carried and documented to travel far and wide along the trade routes to
Northern Europe and Asia.
Today the recipes for okra are found everywhere and okra is a popular
staple throughout the world. As it grows best in warmer weather with
plenty of water, the US center is and has been the Southern states where
it first showed up with slaves that were brought over from Africa and
the Caribbean.
An interesting side note is that many of the slaves brought over
from Africa sequestered okra seeds, (and probably some other plant
species), in their matted hair to use when, (and if), they arrived.
Digestion and Okra
The nurition benefits of okra are numerous, but let’s start with one
that helps everything else in the human body when it runs right.
Today’s diets of processed foods, too much animal protein and fats have
turned our natural physiologies on their collective ears. It’s becoming
more evident to even the laymen out there that something is needed that
we are not getting. Consequently our levels of physical discomfort,
and general ill health is linked to what, when, and how much we eat.
To say that we feel the danger and urgency of the problem at the gut
level is more than just use of a catch phrase. The gut, or intestinal
system, is where much of the problem lies. The food is there fermenting
and turning into a toxic load too heavy for our bodies to handle.
During the digestive process toxin heavy bile acid exits the liver. One
of the most significant benefits of okra is that the mucilage from the
okra binds with this bile and cholesterol to better facilitate its
elimination.
If the acids and toxins are allowed to remain in the gut too long
they tend to cause inflammation and can lead to many of the intestinal
problems that plague our culture today. One of these problems that is
on the forefront of health and nutrition news is irritable bowel
syndrome. With the regular use of okra with its lubricating effect and
acid neutralizing characteristics, it protects the intestinal membrane
from those inflammations that can lead to colorectal cancer.
It has a laxative quality that helps lubricate the large intestine,
soothing rather than irritating the bowel and helps elimination without
the toxic side effects of constipation medications. Okra is much more
cost effective than many of the drugs out there and it is loaded with
nutrition that isn’t available in pills or animal based food products.
Okra and Nutrition
As with most foods throughout history that have survived this long,
the benefits of okra are significant enough to have carried it through
for millennia to our tables today.
Okra is replete with a superior form of fiber that controls the rate
of sugar absorption in the intestine and so is able to stabilize blood
sugar levels. Together with other whole, unprocessed natural foods,
eaten on a regular basis, they can help bring down dangerously high
levels of blood sugar and cholesterol to normal ranges.
Fiber is not always thought of in terms of nutrition, but certainly
is in that it feeds the bacteria that is beneficial to our digestive
systems and allows them to do what they were designed to do. Okra can
help with this too.
As do other green vegetables, okra provides a significant donation to
the calcium that we need daily. Unlike calcium from milk products a
higher percentage of the calcium from okra and all other green
vegetables is absorbed and utilized while contributing no fat or acids
to the system.
Nutrition
Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), Fresh, raw pods,
Nutrition value per 100 g.
(Source: USDA National Nutrient data base)
Principle Nutrient Value Percentage of RDA
Energy 1.5 % 31 Kcal
Carbohydrates 7.03 g 5.4%
Protein 2.0 g 4.0%
Total Fat 0.1 g 0.5%
Cholesterol 0 mg 0.0%
Dietary Fiber 9.0 % 3.2 g
Vitamins:
Folates 88 mcg 22.0%
Niacin 1.000 mg 6.0%
Pantothenic acid 0.245 mg 5.0%
Pyridoxine 0.215 mg 16.5%
Riboflavin 0.060 mg 4.5%
Thiamin 0.200 mg 17.0%
Vitamin C 21.1 mg 36.0%
Vitamin A 375 IU 12.5%
Vitamin E 0.36 mg 2.5%
Vitamin K 53 mcg 44.0%
Electrolytes:
Sodium 8 mg 0.5%
Potassium 303 mg 6.0%
Minerals:
Calcium 81 mg 8.0%
Copper 0.094 mg 10.0%
Iron 0.80 mg 0.0%
Magnesium 57 mg 14.0%
Manganese 0.990 mg 43.0%
Phosphorus 63 mg 9.0%
Selenium 0.7 mcg 1.0%
Zinc 0.60 mg 5.5%
Phyto-nutrients
Carotene-ß 225 mcg –
Crypto-xanthin-ß 0 mcg –
Lutein-zeaxanthin 516 mcg –
There is a whole host of real nutrition found in okra that can do
nothing but good for those of us who otherwise are lacking most of the
nutrition we need to stay healthy.
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