Okra

This article is part of a larger article titled "100+ Healthiest Foods On Planet Earth."  Read it here.

Okra (also known as ladies’ fingers or gumbo) is a flowering plant used extensively in Indian, African and Caribbean cuisine, to name a few. Delicious roasted, fried or even pickled, okra is a fantastic addition to dishes like curries and stir fries.

It is a very nutrient-dense food with a distinctive mucilaginous (slimy) texture that can be removed with cooking or kept, depending on your preference. With a solid nutritional profile, and real potential when it comes to the management of diabetes and your digestive health, okra are certainly worthy of a place on this list.

Okra are a low calorie vegetable. 100g of okra contains just 33 calories. This relative lack of energy value doesn’t come at the expense of vitamins and minerals however: 100g of okra contains 38% of your daily value (DV) of vitamin C, 14% DV of vitamin A, 10 % DV of vitamin B6, 14% DV of magnesium, and 12% DV of dietary fibre.

To deal with the vitamins first, vitamins A C and B6 are essential for the health of your eyes, heart and immune system respectively, among a plethora of other important roles in the body. Magnesium, a mineral many are deficient in, is an important part of cardiovascular health, and dietary fibre is essential for digestive health.

Okra also has two main researched health advantages: it has benefits for the management of diabetes and associated conditions, and also has digestive benefits.

It has been shown to have potential when it comes to the management of diabetes. This is because studies on rats with induced diabetes have shown that okra can help to lower both blood sugar and fat levels, essential for the management of the disease. Research also points to potential therapeutic benefits for managing diabetic neuropathy, a complication of diabetes.

Okra also has excellent benefits when it comes to improving your digestive health. To begin with, it has been proven to have considerable anti-adhesive properties against helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) adhesion. H. pylori is a bacteria found in the stomach that may contribute to the formation of ulcers and eventually stomach cancer.

When we say that okra has an anti-adhesive effect, we mean, in essence, that they remove the adhesive between the bacteria and the stomach tissue, preventing the culture from spreading. Also, the okra’s mucilaginous properties benefit digestive health in a more day to day sense.