Growing up in an Indian household, you probably think you would have eaten all the vegetables in the world. However, there are many super-nutritious veggies grown in the country which we have forgotten. When you learn about their numerous incredible advantages for your health, you may want to be extra careful the next time you go out to buy veggies or order online.
Etimes Lifestyle spoke to nutritionists and diet consultants about two lesser known Indian veggies -- Green Jackfruit (Kathal in Hindi) and White Pumpkin (Safed Petha in Hindi) -- and the variety of nutrition and health benefits they offer, along with how you can include them in your daily diet.
Why should I eat Green Jackfruit?
Green Jackfruit is a healthy source of Vitamin C, potassium, and phosphorus. Commonly, people use jackfruit as a meat substitute in vegan dishes.
Dr. Nicheta Bhatia, Consultant Nutritionist providing guest lectures in Delhi University, shares that being a rich source of potassium, green jackfruit helps in controlling blood pressure.
Talking about how eating this vegetable can help in preventing high cholesterol, cancer and type 2 diabetes, she explains, “Jackfruit seeds help to reduce LDL (poor) cholesterol/ and improve HDL (good) cholesterol. Jackfruit contains substances like phytochemicals. These phytochemicals also have antioxidant properties (antioxidants are controlling the oxidation of the cells) which may help in controlling the development of degenerative diseases like cancer.”
“Jackfruit has an intermediate Glycemic Index but the leaves and stems of the plant help in the treatment of Type II Diabetes. As it is a good source of vitamin C it improves the healing capacity by improving the immune system of our body,” she adds.
Ways to enjoy this exotic fruit
Suhani Jain, Nutritionist & Diet Consultant, Bloomwithin, shares many easy and delicious ways in which you can eat green jackfruit:
You can eat it as it is, in the form of raw salad along with basic lemon-mint-pepper dressing, as an ingredient of smoothie, in some porridge, stir fry, cooked/grilled/roasted/marinated as stuffing in a wrap or in from of a great tikka appetizer along with a lovely dip.
Another way to enjoy it is in the form of Green jackfruit flour available in a variety of brands which is essentially designed for diabetics, glucose management, people with insulin resistance or women dealing with PCOS/PCOD.
Green jackfruit powder if consuming regularly has been proven to lower Hba1c, fasting
blood sugar levels & post meal levels too. You can begin by adding 1-2 tbsp of organic green jackfruit powder to wheat/ rice while making dough, in idlis, dosa, chillas, and pancakes. The best time would definitely be early morning or after a meal to keep blood sugar levels stable and prevent unnecessary snacking.
Even the leaves of this fruit- especially fermented juice prepared out of its leaves is also very helpful in lowering blood sugar levels and can be consuming empty stomach along with some cinnamon.
Whichever way you choose, the nutritionist warns that it is important to be mindful of consuming this health wonder. Even a healthy food if over consumed can be harmful to health.
White Pumpkin is bursting with benefits
Dr. Nicheta Bhatia shares that white pumpkin (also called ash gourd) is a great source of calcium, and phosphorus. In fact, its consumption acts as a medicine in depression patients as it is a rich source of the essential amino acid tryptophan which helps in elevating depressive mood.
That’s not it. “It helps in controlling cholesterol by reducing LDL levels in the blood. It is anti-inflammatory and thus helps in the treatment of arthritis and asthma,” she adds.
If you have ever heard about this less-used variety of pumpkin, you might have heard about the benefits of its juice. “The juice of white pumpkin helps in increasing the count of white blood cells, thereby improving the immunity level. Its seeds have a high content of carotenoids and zinc which helps in preventing enlargement of the prostate and irritable bladder problems thus helping in the prevention of prostate cancer,” Dr. Bhatia explains.
Nutritionist Suhani Jain adds that white pumpkin is also a wonder packed food for those looking to shed extra stubborn fat. She further shares some exciting recipes recommendations to consume white pumpkin.
Try these White Pumpkin recipes
“I personally recommend a glass of fresh white-pumpkin juice along with pulp to most of my clients and have observed a positive feedback with reduced blood pressure, cholesterol, better digestion, relief from acidity and also substantial weight loss when combined with a healthy diet routine and holistic lifestyle. It tastes refreshing and targets stubborn fat and metabolism while easing digestion which helps us to slim down our waist,” Jain shares, along with the recipe below.
Take ½ ash gourd- wash, peel and cut into pieces.Add the pieces in a blender along with ½ lemon juice, 1 tsp grated ginger, few mint leaves, 1 cup water -and blend.Pour into your smoothie jar along with pulp. You can add in some ice cubes, ½ tsp honey if needed.“Consume every morning on an empty stomach or essentially after 30-40 mins of walk/exercise or with your usual breakfast and feel the difference within a week. You can also create some other versions of white pumpkin smoothie by combining it with ½ apple or few slices of pineapple, cucumber or add some black pepper, pink salt, cardamom to turn into an ultimate fat killer and innovative beverage,” she adds.
Apart from juice, Jain adds that you can also consume white pumpkin “in form of salads, stir fry with some other veggies, as part of a stuffing in chillas, chapatis, in sandwiches, or cooked as a completely delicious curry vegetable to be had along with rice/roti or khichdi as part of light dinner after cheat meals. Apart from that, it's super juicy and mildly sweet, so can be easily used in a porridge, pudding or turned into a lovely halwa/dessert during the upcoming festive season.”
