Tamarind Health Benefits And Some Interesting Fun Facts About Tamarind!
If I were to give you one wonderful suggestion, I would ask you to grow a small tamarind tree in your backyard. Well, you would start growing it by yourself when you find out these amazing tamarind health benefits. There are umpteen uses of tamarind and you will be shocked and amused at the same time to know some mysterious fun facts behind tamarind tree.
Did Your Parents Ever Talk About Their Time Spent Under Tamarind Tree?
When was the first time you ever heard about tamarinds? If you are born and brought up in a conservative Indian family, you would definitely agree with me if I say that your parents can never stop chatting about their good old days, when they would spend their time under those beautiful tamarind trees and find their happiness in struggling hard to pluck and taste some amazing tamarind fruits.
They can never stop bragging about how amazing their life was by the countryside when there was no access to technology. Well, we all have to agree that nature was their best friend and the secret behind their fitness is the availability of eatables in their natural form itself.
I have grown up hearing their amazing stories and I have to agree that their memories and fun-filled times make me feel envious because this era does not give us a chance to be close to nature and enjoy its benefits.
What Is A Tamarind Fruit And What Are Tamarind Fruit Benefits?
Tamarinds taste so delicious; you can’t just resist yourself after tasting one. A sweet flavour that is mixed with a sour taste is what makes this so tasty and mouth watery. Tamarinds are originally a native of Africa but these are now grown in almost all the tropical parts of the world. This fruit often goes unnoticed but you will be surprised to discover these amazing tamarind fruit benefits.
Why Do Pregnant Women Eat Tamarinds?
It is very common for pregnant women to undergo substantial changes during their pregnancy period. One such change is the immense cravings or likings towards certain foods or a condition known as Dysgeusia which makes their taste buds insensitive to certain kinds of tastes which is why pregnant woman often develop cravings towards foods that taste sweet and sour.
Tamarinds are given the utmost priority in gratifying their cravings because apart from being a rich source of dietary fibre there is a wide range of tamarind health benefits which have been mentioned in the article.
Tamarind Can Help You Deal With These Health Complications.
Well, now it’s your turn to astonish your parents. Know these fun-filled facts along with some amazing health benefits of tamarind and some tremendous uses of tamarind. This can also help if you are suffering from skin problems, overweight or diabetes because tamarind has some amazing properties which can deal with these problems. Want to know how? Read on to know.
Have You Ever Heard Of Tamarind Flowers?
People are so obsessed with tamarind trees and tamarind seeds; they fail to notice that the tamarind tree also contains flowers and that these flowers serve a wide range of health benefits.
Tamarind Health Benefits – Tamarind Flower
If you ever come across a tamarind tree that has bloomed with tamarind flowers, you can simply pluck a tamarind flower and try tasting it, which can be sweet, sour and astringent at the same time because this can help you in the following ways.
- Helps in improving the digestive capacity
- It helps in balancing the two main Doshas of Ayurveda (Kapha and Vata)
Kapha dosha governs the proper flow of mucous inside your body and helps in the formation of tissues inside your body. If you are suffering from digestive problems or fatigue, there is an imbalance of Vata dosha in your body. Tamarind flowers can help in balancing these two and provide you with a healthy life devoid of sickness.
- Tamarind flowers also help in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Tamarind Tree Is Considered As A Lucky Charm
We consider some lucky charms as bizarre as long as we do not experience the pure luck that is brought upon by believing this. People believe that growing tamarind trees can bring luck, health and wealth into their homes.
The funny part about tamarind tree is that an incident occurred in a part of India where people have lined up to spend some time under tamarind tree because spending time under tamarind trees is believed to bring in positive election results. Such is the belief in the miraculous power of the tamarind tree.
Apart from tamarind benefits, the tamarind tree is also considered as a sacred tree in some parts of the world.
Tamarind Leaves For Menstrual Cramps
One of the comforting tamarind health benefits which I have discovered very recently was about the power of tamarind leaves in reducing the menstrual cramps.
You can get rid of menstrual cramps by using tamarind leaves. You just have to boil some leaves in a large vessel and wait until the water absorbs the essence of these leaves. You can add a tablespoon of honey and squeeze a fresh lime into this water to add a special flavour to the liquid. You can consume this residue to subside your pain.
Tamarind For Weight Loss!
If you have tried several methods to lose weight and are looking for a simple formula to achieve the weight loss, you can make use of this simple ingredient that will help in weight loss.
The hydro citric acid, which is one of the most important compounds present in tamarind helps in inhibiting the enzyme that stores the fat.
Tamarind helps in keeping your stomach full, thereby reducing your appetite. It reduces your food cravings and helps you stay away from junk foods or processed foods. But you have to make sure that you do not consume more than 10 grams of tamarind per day.
I wouldn’t say tamarind alone would help you in losing weight but, the next time you are looking for a solution to burn your fat, do not forget to include tamarind for weight loss.
Tamarind For Skin – One Solution To All Your Skin Problems
It is merely impossible to flaunt a perfect glowing skin like it is shown in movies and advertisements. But you can definitely reduce the intensity of your problems by using this simple ingredient. If you had not tried using tamarind for skin problems, you must definitely give it a try. Tamarind benefits are numerous out of which it can be best used to treat skin problems.
How To Use Tamarind For Skin?
The word curcumin would remind you of turmeric, but you have to know that tamarind also does contain this chemical which is used for a wide range of purposes especially as a cosmetic. If you want to make the most out of this chemical to beautify your skin, you can use tamarind and turmeric together which can have an amazing impact on your skin.
To make a face pack out of turmeric and tamarind, you need to boil tamarind in water until the water absorbs the essence of tamarind. Turn off the flame and extract the pulp of tamarind. You can discard the tamarind pods.
Add required amount of turmeric to this pulp and mix it well until it forms a smooth paste, thick in consistency. Apply this mixture to your face and wait for half an hour until it gets dried up. You can later rinse your face with lukewarm water and pat dry.
Tamarind For Skin – Multi Benefits Of This Face Pack
Applying this face pack twice in a week can help in
- Exfoliating your skin by removing all the dead skin cells
- Eliminates all the dark spots and blemishes, making your skin smooth and glowing
- Helps in curing the never leaving stubborn acne and zits
- Can diminish your dark circles
- Nourishes your skin by moisturising it and gives your skin a smooth texture
- Tamarind can act as an anti-ageing agent as it contains antioxidants.
Are You Diabetic? – How Can You Use Tamarind For Diabetes?
What is the worst thing about getting old? Wrinkles? Well, this is quite an old response, the new one being diabetes. The cases of diabetes are significantly increasing with the increase in population. People used to fear wrinkles as they get old, but now they fear being attacked with diabetes because this has undoubtedly become a common problem.
If you are suffering from diabetes, you definitely have to hear about this interesting animal study on rats. Few rats which had high levels of blood glucose were provided with the bark extracts of tamarind. Surprisingly, the blood glucose levels of these rats have suddenly reduced.
This shows that tamarind can reduce the blood glucose levels. While you are taking the required medication to control your blood glucose levels, you can also use tamarind as a home remedy which is an added advantage in controlling your diabetes.
Tamarind To Fight Illness And Diseases
One of the major tamarind health benefits is that it helps in increasing your immunity and you have to know that any food source that contains vitamin C is said to speed up your metabolism. You can make tamarind a regular ingredient of your diet as it prevents the entry of bacteria and viruses into your body, thereby strengthening your immune system.
100 grams of tamarind contains 3.5 milligrams of vitamin C, which is why you must necessarily include tamarind in your daily diet.
Tamarind For An Effective Blood Circulation
Tamarind health benefits are so amazing, they can make you get rid of all the uneasiness and weakness.
Some minor problems like headaches, dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath can completely ruin your mood, making you dull and inactive. Lack of proper blood circulation can often make you experience such symptoms which can stop you from completing your daily tasks.
If you have been suffering from laziness and lethargy all the time, you can increase the intake of tamarind as this enables a proper blood circulation throughout your body making you active and alive.
Feed Your Children With This Pulp
If your children are obsessed with chocolates and ice-creams, you must be having a tough time enduring their hues and cries about abdominal pain. The reason for their frequent complaints could only be the intestinal parasites that have been causing chaos in their stomach.
While you have several medications to kill the parasites, this simple home remedy is going to help you achieve it. This one remedy is the most effective and most commonly used remedy of all the tamarind health benefits.
You can soak some tamarind pods in the water and boil them. You can extract the pulp and discard the pods. Add required amounts of salt to this and you can use this pulp in a wide range of dishes and main courses. You could also feed your children with the pulp and this can help in eliminating the intestinal parasites and make your children free of the uneasiness and stomach pain.
Tamarind Health Benefits – It Treats Scurvy
Did you ever hear about the sailors being affected with scurvy? 1571 to 1862 was known as the Age of sail where there was a frequent sail of ships. It so happened that the sailors were affected by the deficiency of Vitamin C which led to a disease called scurvy.
Scurvy can be identified by the decrease in the erythrocyte count, bleeding gums, general weakness, fatigue and if the condition worsened, it would eventually lead to death.
The sad part is that about half per cent of the sailors were affected by this disease and have ultimately lost their lives. It was after this that the sailors were ordered to be provided with lemon juice to boost the levels of vitamin C in their bodies.
Since the disease is majorly related to the deficiency of vitamin C, you can use tamarind as one of the natural sources of vitamin C as this ingredient contains abundant amounts of vitamin C.
Is Tamarind Good For Health? Know About Tamarind Nutrition
If you have been ignoring tamarind all this time, this information about tamarind nutrition will give you some serious reasons of why you should include tamarind in your diet.
Tamarind Health Benefits – Tamarind Nutrition
Vitamins In Tamarind
Tamarind is one such ingredient which is embedded with all kinds of vitamins which our body requires and those which no other food source can provide.
- Vitamins A, C, E and K
- Vitamin B – Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Choline, Folic acid
Read More: Food Sources of Vitamin B
Minerals In Tamarind
- Phosphorous
- Manganese
- Calcium
- Iron
- Zinc
- Potassium
- Copper
- Selenium
- Magnesium
The presence of all these mineral and vitamins is what makes tamarind the most unique of all the other food sources because it helps in improving the digestion, improvising the blood circulation, enhancing the nervous system and works the best as an anti-inflammatory ingredient.
Bottom Line
Since you have discovered some amazing tamarind health benefits, it is high time you start incorporating this wonderful ingredient in your diet, but you have to keep a check on the intake since excess consumption can land you up in various health problems. 10 grams of tamarind per day is safe and healthy.
Comments
Leave a Comment