8 Health Benefits of Asparagus
Asparagus is a tasty vegetable eaten by people worldwide. Apart from being popular for its unique taste, it is a nutritious vegetable which provides many health benefits.
Here is the nutritional content of asparagus and how they promote your body’s health:
Health Benefits of Asparagus
Folate – Asparagus contains folate which helps your body maintain and generate new cells. This is very important for times when there is rapid cell generation, for example during pregnancy or infancy.
Potassium – Asparagus is also a source of potassium which is an important mineral for many body functions. Potassium is needed for muscle strength as it aids with tissue growth and the utilization of energy.
Potassium also helps with the regulation of water levels. Many cells require a certain water potential to function properly, potassium ensures that these body cells contain the right amount of water.
Cramps are a common indicator of low potassium levels in the blood. Eating foods which contain potassium such as asparagus can help prevent cramping of the muscles.
Antioxidant – Asparagus stalks are high in antioxidants. Antioxidants have become a recent craze in many magazines and news articles because of its ability to tackle the free radicals damaging our body.
Free radicals can be found as a by product of bodily functions such as the digestion of food. They are highly unstable and try to stabilize themselves by joining other healthy cells; however, this creates more damaged cells. Free radicals can be seen to create a chain reaction where healthy cells are converted into free radicals; this then leads to even more healthy cells being destroyed. As a result there is an alarming connection between free radicals and the development of cancerous cells.
Luckily antioxidants can neutralize the free radicals and prevent the dangerous chain reactions. So to help reduce the risk of cancer, eat enough foods containing antioxidants like asparagus.
Vitamin C – Vitamin C can be found in asparagus and provides a number of health benefits. It is needed to maintain a healthy immune system and it can also help prevent a normal illness turn into something more serious such as pneumonia or a lung infection.
Vitamin C additionally improves the condition of our skin and slows down ageing visibilities such as dryness or wrinkles. Studies have even shown that vitamin C may reduce the risk of cancer.
Vitamin A – This is another vitamin contained in asparagus. Similar to Vitamin C, Vitamin A helps strengthen our immunity and protects us against viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. It’s also important for maintaining good eyesight and vision in the dark. As we get older people may experience the degeneration of their eye sight or even partial blindness. A condition known as Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness, but an amazing study showed that eating enough vitamin A reduces the chances of ARMD by almost half.
Vitamin K – Asparagus is a fantastic source of vitamin K. This vitamin has an important role with blood wounds since it is an essential component of glumatic acid which is needed to clot blood.
Vitamin K can additionally help us maintain healthy bones. It prevents too many osteoclasts being formed; these are bone cells which extract minerals from our bones. Having an abundance of osteoclasts can lead to bones being overly depleted of their minerals.
There is also a protein found in bones called osteocalcin which has a direct link to bone mineral density. Osteocalcin needs to be chemically transformed through carboxylation to allow the protein to improve the health and composition of our bones. Vitamin K is a key requirement of this carboxylation process.
Having healthy levels of vitamin K can also reduce inflammation within the body.
Vitamin E – Asparagus contains vitamin E which can bring even more health benefits to the table.
Vitamin E helps protect our skin from harmful UV rays from the sun, and can keep our skin looking healthy. It can help people with blood pressure problems as well since it is said to cleanse and prevent clogging of the arteries.
Fiber – Asparagus contains a good amount of dietary fiber. Fiber is needed to normalize your bowel movements and reduce your chances of constipation. It helps solidify your stools as it absorbs water and creates bulk, this can also help people with irritable bowel syndrome.
Fiber can also slow down the absorption of sugar which is especially useful for people with diabetes who need to control their blood sugar levels. Furthermore, a diet rich in fiber has actually been associated with lowering the chances developing type-2 diabetes.
