Okra, whose scientific name is coffee okra, is native to India and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas. It is widely planted in Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and other places in China. Okra is known as the king of vegetables and has very high nutritional value. So what are the effects and functions of okra? This article will explain the efficacy of okra. Let's have a look.
1. Health care effect of Okra
Okra is also widely used abroad. Many African countries, Japan and the United States are very optimistic about okra and have high evaluation. Basically, it is consistent with the evaluation trend of Okra in China. It is generally believed that okra has the following three highlights:
1. The Japanese call okra 'green ginseng'. In this regard, Chinese scientific and technological personnel have also made special research. Wang Junyao, Zhou Jun, Tang Guping and others from Run Run Run Shaw Hospital and Zhejiang College of pharmacy in Zhejiang specially conducted comparative tests on the anti fatigue effects of ginseng and okra, including mouse endurance test, hypoxia resistance test, cold and heat resistance test and the effect of blood lactic acid level after strenuous exercise. Most of the experimental results show that okra has the same effect as the same amount of ginseng. In a few projects (hypoxia tolerance), when the amount of okra is twice as large as ginseng, the effect is the same. Only the effect of cold resistance is lower than that of ginseng. It shows that okra does have an effect similar to 'ginseng', and 'green ginseng' is well deserved!
2. Plant Viagra
The United States calls okra 'plant Viagra'. It is considered that its aphrodisiac effect can be equivalent to that of Viagra. It is found that yellow autumn sunflower is rich in flavonoids (about 300 times higher than that in soybean cotyledons), which has the effects of regulating endocrine and anti-aging. However, its aphrodisiac effect is different from that of chemical drug Viagra (Viagra mainly acts locally). It gradually plays its role through systemic regulation (anti fatigue, increasing endurance and promoting blood & hellip; & hellip;), so its effect is more mild and lasting without side effects.
3. Athletes' vegetables
Because okra has obvious effects of increasing endurance and anti fatigue, it has long been used as a vegetable for athletes. At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, okra has been listed as an athlete's vegetable. The experiment showed that the swimming time of the edible okra group was significantly longer than that of the control. In the experiments of hypoxia resistance, cold resistance and heat resistance, the okra group also showed a good anti stress effect. Okra group can significantly promote the recovery of blood lactic acid and reduce serum urea nitrogen after vigorous exercise.
These experiments strongly prove that okra can improve athletes' endurance, reduce fatigue and improve athletes' stress ability.
4. Health care value of Okra
According to Chinese historical documents and recent media reports at home and abroad, okra has a wide range of health care effects, which are described as follows:
1. Help digestion and protect intestines and stomach: the viscous substance of okra can promote gastrointestinal peristalsis, which is beneficial to digestion and intestines and stomach;
2 reduce blood lipid: okra's viscous material contains 50% soluble cellulose, which can effectively reduce serum cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease;
3. Hypoxia resistance: it can improve the ability of hypoxia resistance;
4 protect the liver: okra pectin and polysaccharide have the effect of protecting the liver;
5 Prevention and treatment of constipation and colon cancer: okra's viscous material contains 50% soluble cellulose, which is conducive to defecation, detoxification and cancer prevention;
6 calcium supplement: okra not only has the same calcium content as fresh milk, but also has a calcium absorption rate of 50-60%, which is twice higher than that of milk, so it is an ideal calcium source;
7 weight loss: okra is a low-energy food, which is a good weight loss food;
8 anti aging: the content of flavonoids is 2.8%, which has the effects of anti-oxidation and anti-aging;
9. Strengthening yang and resisting fatigue (as mentioned above);
10 beauty and skin care: effective for external use and internal use.
11. Increase endurance and fatigue resistance:
Okra can not only be used as a vegetable for athletes, but also be further developed as an endurance drink for athletes, but also as an anti fatigue food for the middle-aged and elderly and people with excessive mental work.
12 tonifying the kidney and strengthening Yang:
Impotence accounts for 10% of men, which is the highest symptom of male sexual dysfunction. Therefore, impotence is a topic of great social concern. The advent of Viagra is like impotence patients meeting the Savior. However, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, Viagra is inevitably suspected of 'helping fire and toughening Yin'!
At present, a large number of drugs and sexual health products used to treat impotence in the market are mainly local impotence. If such products are widely used for a long time, it will bring serious side effects, often inhibit the excitement of male hypothalamus pituitary testicular axis, cause prostate hypertrophy and even aggravate prostate cancer. Therefore, these impotence products, Some people vividly compare it to an air pump, which inflates the tire all the time, and it will burst if it is not done well. The new aphrodisiac concept requires that this tire be reinforced. That is, the emphasis is shifted from 'local impotence' to 'overall balance' and 'whole body conditioning'. The aphrodisiac effect of okra is in line with this new concept, so its effect is mild and reliable without adverse side effects.
13 anti aging:
Aging is a natural law, but through efforts, we can delay aging. Today, with the development of science and technology, it is completely possible. The polysaccharides and flavonoids in okra have the function of delaying aging. As mentioned earlier, the flavonoids in okra are 100 times higher than those in soybean leaves, which is enough to explain the rich content of flavonoids in okra. As we all know, flavonoids can absorb active free radicals (the culprit leading to cell aging) through thalamic barrier, have strong antioxidant capacity, and can complex metal ions that catalyze oxidation. Therefore, okra is a high-quality resource for developing anti-aging food.
14 moistening intestines and defecating:
Constipation not only brings pain due to difficult defecation, but also affects the discharge of waste and toxins, leading to the occurrence of many diseases. For the middle-aged and elderly, especially those with high blood pressure, they will have a 'stroke' due to difficult defecation, and even lead to death. The middle-aged and elderly people are very prone to constipation. Therefore, the prevention of constipation has become the focus of health care for the middle-aged and elderly people. Okra contains a large amount of viscous juice, rich in cellulose, which is conducive to moistening intestines and defecation, so it can be used as the raw material of this kind of health food.
15 beauty:
Pectin, polysaccharide and SOD in okra can protect skin, increase skin elasticity, delay aging and remove skin brown spots.
The natural protein in okra seeds is an 'oligopeptide' complex obtained by biotransformation, which can resist wrinkles. Therefore, okra is a natural skin care treasure, which can directly extract the juice from fresh fruits for skin care, or extract the processed finished products for internal or external use.