Okra
Okra nutrition facts
Okra, also known as "lady finger" is one of the highly nutritious vegetables, usually eaten while the pod is green, tender, and immature. Botanically, this perennial flowering plant belongs to the Malvaceae (mallows)family and named scientifically as Abelmoschus esculentus.
The plant is cultivated throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions around the world for its fibrous fruits or "pods." It grows best in well-drained and manure rich soil. The plant bears numerous dark green colored pods measuring about 5-15 cm in length. It takes about 45-60 days to get ready-to-harvest fruits.
Okra pods.
Okra plant with pods.
Internally, the pods feature small, round, mucilaginous white colored seeds arranged in vertical rows. The pods are handpicked while just short of reaching maturity and eaten as a vegetable.
Health benefits of Okra
The pods are among the very low calorie vegetables. They provide just 30 calories per 100 g besides containing no saturated fats or cholesterol. Nonetheless, they are rich sources of dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins; often recommended by nutritionists in cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs.
The rich fiber and mucilaginous content in okra pods help in smooth peristalsis of digested food particles and relieve constipation condition.
The pods contain healthy amounts of vitamin A, and flavonoid anti-oxidants such as beta carotenes, xanthin and lutein. It is one of the green vegetables with highest levels of these anti-oxidants. These compounds are known to have antioxidant properties and are essential for vision. Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
Fresh pods are the good source of folates; provide about 22% of RDA per 100 g. Consumption of foods rich in folates, especially during the pre-conception period helps decrease the incidence of neural tube defects in the offspring.
The gumbo pods are also an excellent source of anti-oxidant vitamin, vitamin-C, providing about 36% of daily-recommended levels. Research suggests that consumption of foods rich in vitamin-C helps the body develop immunity against infectious agents, reduce episodes of cold and cough and protect the body from harmful free radicals.
The veggies are rich in B-complex group of vitamins like niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin and pantothenic acid. The pods also contain good amounts of vitamin K. Vitamin K is a co-factor for blood clotting enzymes and is required for strengthening of bones.
The pods are an also good source of many important minerals such as iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium.
Selection and storage
Fresh and immature okra pods are readily available in the stores all around the year. The pods feature attractively rich green-color and have neutral flavor. In the store, look for crispy, immature pods and avoid those with over-ripen, sunken appearance, discolored spots, cuts and too soft.
Once at home, place them inside the refrigerator. Eat them while they are fresh to obtain full benefits of vitamins and anti-oxidants.
Preparation and serving methods
In general, some of the hybrid varieties are subject to insecticide/pesticide spray. Therefore, wash the pods thoroughly in the water in order to remove dust, soil and any residual insecticides.
Trim the top stem end using a paring knife. Some prefer trimming tip ends as well. Then, cut/slice the pod as desired.
Here are some serving tips:
Pickled gumbo pods with baby-corn, and beans.
Photo courtesy: wharman
Okra pod stir fry with onion, tomato, and green chillies.
Okra pods are one of the widely used vegetables in tropical countries. Chopped, or sliced pods are stewed or fried (fritters) under low heat oil in order to soften their mucilaginous content. They then, can be mixed with other vegetables, rice, or meat.
In Caribbean islands, okra is cooked and eaten as soup, often with fish.
The pods can be pickled and preserved like in other vegetables.
Okra leaves may be cooked in a similar manner as the greens of beets or dandelions. The leaves are also eaten raw in salads.
Okra is discovered to be a powerful natural antidepressant
Okra has become well-known recently as a superfood against diabetes, prompting many people to give it a try. If you’ve felt an unexpected boost to your mood from okra, there may be more to it than just good nutrition and stabilized blood sugar: researchers have just discovered that okra seeds contain a powerful natural antidepressant and they’ve demonstrated the effect on mice. That’s good news for diabetics, because depression is especially prevalent among diabetics due partly to blood sugar fluctuations associated with diabetes.
Okra antioxidants – as powerful as blueberries and blackberries
If you’ve ever noticed that people with healthy diets appear to be in better moods more often, there is good reason for it. Scientists have known for long that flavonoids (found in fruit and vegetables) have mood-elevating properties. For example, quercetin (found in apples, citrus fruits, onions, parsley, red wine, tea, blackberries, blueberries, leafy green vegetables) has been shown to significantly improve mood-scores in diabetic mice. Since the seeds and leaves of vegetables often contain the highest concentrations of antioxidants, researchers in this study prepared extracts from okra seeds and leaves, to test antioxidant levels. The extracts were found to contain the same levels of antioxidants (58 – 68 mg of gallic acid equivalents per gram) as extracts of blueberry and blackberry, which are among the most powerful of all the fruits and berries. Because of this, it made sense to test the okra extracts as anti-depressants in mice.
Okra exerts powerful antidepressant effects – but at what dose?
The researchers used standard tests known as “forced swimming” and “tail suspension” to gauge the mood of the mice (based on their reaction time to these events) as a measure of depression. The result? Okra seed extract significantly improved the mood-scores of mice in both tests at nearly all doses tested. And amazingly, at the highest dose used, the seed extract actually performed as well as imipramine, an FDA-approved drug for depression. The dose required to do this was fairly high: 750 mg of 10:1 seed extract per kg bodyweight. For a 75 kg adult human, that would equate to eating roughly 560 grams (well over a pound) of the seeds daily. However, the extract also significantly boosted mood at the lower dose of 250 mg / kg, equivalent to eating about 180 grams of okra seeds for an adult human. But that’s just testing the seeds. Whole okra also contains a unique fiber which has been shown to help regulate blood sugar. That in itself may help with depression, which can be worsened by blood sugar fluctuations.
Anti-cancer effects against breast and prostate cancer
Okra may offer many potential benefits apart from lifting your mood and fighting diabetes. A newly discovered lectin in okra was recently shown to kill up to 72% of human breast cancer cells (MCF7) in vitro, while the pectin was recently discovered to kill up to 75% of highly metastatic melanoma cells in vitro. (Note that the pectin is found under the pod’s skin, while the lectin is found in the seeds.) In addition, a recent cohort study carried out in the United States found that men eating a Southern dietary pattern (characterized by eating okra, grits, cornbread, beans, rice and sweet potatoes) experienced 40% less prostate cancer than those not eating such a diet. The newly discovered lectin mentioned above was also observed to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive (pain relieving) properties, which makes it a very interesting compound for future research.
The takeaway here? Okra is quickly emerging as a new superfood for many health conditions, with benefits coming from all parts of the vegetable. So try eating healthy portions of whole okra as one more regular vegetable in a varied diet rich in organic fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and whole foods. As for eating just the seeds, it’s interesting to note that the roasted seeds have been used in Turkey for many generations as a traditional medicine for diabetes. Perhaps food really is the best medicine.
