Cassava health benefits includes smoothening skin, supporting hair growth, supporting weight loss, aiding digestion, overcoming headaches and treating diarrhea. Other benefits includes supporting eye health, curing fever, healing wounds, clearing up worms, supporting good appetite and supporting pregnancy.
What is Cassava?
A lot of foods that help in healing the body from infection, disease and even gut problems can initially, be the cause of them. What this means is that there are poisonous foods out there that unless cooked properly, can be harmful to you. However, once they are cooked well, they provide a lot more benefits than any other food items out there.
Cassava fits perfectly into such a category. Cassava in its entirety is a tropical root vegetable that is known for its taste as well as many nutritional benefits it has. It is also turned into flour and starch that is used all around the world in different recipes. There is but one important thing to keep in mind, and that is how Cassava is hard to store fresh. Cassava roots are often known to rot quickly which is why you must cook them within two days of their purchase.
Nutritional Value of Cassava
Here is a chart showing the nutritional value of raw cassava (yuca) per 100 grams:
Nutrient | Amount per 100g |
---|---|
Calories | 160 kcal |
Water | 59.68 g |
Protein | 1.36 g |
Total Fat | 0.28 g |
Saturated Fat | 0.07 g |
Carbohydrates | 38.06 g |
Dietary Fiber | 1.8 g |
Sugars | 1.70 g |
Vitamin C | 20.6 mg (23% DV) |
Vitamin A | 13 IU (0% DV) |
Vitamin E | 0.19 mg (1% DV) |
Vitamin K | 1.9 µg (2% DV) |
Folate | 27 µg (7% DV) |
Potassium | 271 mg (6% DV) |
Calcium | 16 mg (2% DV) |
Iron | 0.27 mg (2% DV) |
Magnesium | 21 mg (5% DV) |
Phosphorus | 27 mg (4% DV) |
Sodium | 14 mg |
- Note: Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
This chart highlights that cassava is a high-carbohydrate root vegetable with a good amount of Vitamin C, and it provides small amounts of protein, fiber, and essential minerals like potassium and magnesium.
Adding Cassava to your meal plans can help your body in many ways as Cassava has several health and skin benefits. Here are 13 health benefits of Cassava that you might not be aware of.
13 Surprising Health Benefits of Cassava
1. Helps Smoothen and Brighten your Skin
The peel of the Cassava is an excellent remedy for any skin problems. You do not have to worry about those scars anymore as you can get rid of them with a simple solution. Cut the peels of Cassava and mix them into a paste. Spread that paste over your face or other affected areas for an hour and simply wash it to get the maximum result. You can also use it as a scrub to get rid of the extra oil in your face and shut the pores. This will help rejuvenate your skin and give you that necessary glow.
2. Helps Hair Grow Faster
Many people get bald well before their time, and this is attributed to the atmospheric conditions as well the nutrition you receive daily. One of the ways to eliminate this problem is to mix Cassava into a paste form and apply it to the hair for an hour or two. Carefully wash your hair afterward to see the effects of the root. Repeat this process twice a week to make the results more prominent. A month into the remedy and you will find your hair growing way faster than before.
3. Helps with Hair Fall
One of the biggest concerns of a female is hair fall. It could be because of a poor diet or a bad environment. Women often try several ways to stop hair fall but only succeed a few times. This can, however, change through the use of the Cassava root. It help nourish the tips of your hair and also help revitalize the rear ends. This eventually leads to a reduction in the hair fall rate.
4. Helps in Losing Weight
Cassava contains a good amount of fiber, and that is exactly what you need if you are looking out to cut some pounds. Losing weight is not easy but having Cassava in your daily diet can become helpful as you will feel fuller most of the time.
5. Amazing for Digestive System
The fiber present in it plays a dual role when assisting your body. It also helps improve your digestive system by absorbing all the toxins from your intestines and allowing a reduction in inflammation. This, therefore, keeps you healthy and away from any gastrointestinal problems.
6. Helps you Overcome Headaches
Migraines and headaches can sometimes overwhelm a person’s reasoning as well as emotions. They are extremely painful, and unless you take proper treatment, they will not go away anytime soon. This is where the Cassava roots and leaves are praised for their medicinal purposes. You can not only consume them in such situations but also wash and blend them up into juice. Drinking Cassava juice twice a day will prevent any future headaches from occurring.
7. Treats Diarrhea
As we move towards the medical implications of the Cassava root, it is worth mentioning how it has antioxidants present that help with diarrhea situations. Boiling the vegetable in water for an hour and then consuming it can help clean your stomach of all bacteria that plague it. This leads to a reduction in Diarrheic symptoms and gradually an improvement in performance.
8. It’s good for your Eyes
The importance of Cassava as both a medicinal plant as well a vegetable is important to distinguish between. If consumed, Cassavas provide some vitamins and minerals to the body that we require daily. One of the vitamins that help in eyesight improvement is Vitamin A, and fortunately, Cassava is full of it.
9. Helps Cure Fever
A well-known benefit of Cassava is how it helps in curing fever. Cassava leaves can be used to make a decoction that can help relieve you of feverish conditions. They can also help with the weakness and the pains you feel while your body is fighting off the bacteria inside your body. The Cassava leaf can also be eaten after boiling it for an hour, and this helps in improving your health.
10. Heals Wounds
It’s leaves are known to work like Aloe Vera if applied to a wound. Either it is fresh or an old one; the Cassava leaf will work its magic because it is full of nutrients that help prevent infection as well as speed up the healing process. Squeezing the pulp out of the Cassava leaf and applying it to a burned area can also provide relief in many ways.
11. Clears up Worms
Nematode infestation has to do with the worms that form inside your intestine and stomach. To prevent this from happening, researchers started feeding Cassava roots to a few patients, and after a month or so, the results found that the worms were eliminated from the systems of the people.
12. Cassava Helps in Regaining Appetite
Waking up early in the morning, you might not feel the need to eat. There are other such instances in your daily life where you start avoiding eating whether it is because of depression or anxiety. The Cassava root can help change that and restore your appetite, so you do not have to worry too much about losing too many important nutrients.
13. Beneficial for Pregnant Women
The major needs of women during their pregnancy are folate, and Vitamin C. The Cassava plant has plenty of both, and therefore you will get your requirement of nutrients. Although they have a bland taste, you can always chop the leaves and add them to salads or other meat dishes.