Without knowing if there are any health benefits of Tiger nuts, I took up eating them recently. I just wanted to relive the childhood experience of eating them with relish. Somehow, I got hooked to them.
Tiger nuts taste very nice like coconut water if they are fresh. Well, apart from the taste, the other reason I got hooked was because it helped with bowel movement every morning. Going to toilet has never felt this good I tell you.
While I was eating Tiger nuts in blissful ignorance, I did not know they had a very ancient and proud history. A recipe of Tiger nuts meal was found in the tomb of an Egyptian King. Apparently he loved it so much the recipe was written on the walls his tomb so the meal would be made for him in the afterlife.
If they were good enough for a King, then the benefits of Tiger nuts must be huge. My little research showed I was ignorantly doing my body a lot of good while eating them.
What are Tiger Nuts?
Tiger nuts belong to the Cyperus family and are known scientifically as Cyperus esculentus. Not many would know them by that name of course.
If you live in the north of Nigeria, you’d call it aya. The Yorubas in the West call it Ofio. Spanish people around the world refer to it as chufas while in India, they are known as nagarmotha in Hindi.
Other names for Tiger nuts include Yellow nuts sedge, Earth almonds and Zulu nuts. So wherever you are, I bet you recognize them from one of their names.
Tiger nuts are normally planted in low marshy ground. So growing them requires a lot of water from irrigation. The nuts grow into the ground like tubers. In actual fact, they are not really nuts but small tubers.
Properties and Contents of Tiger nuts
It is here Tiger nuts begin to get very interesting. They are known to have very good antioxidant properties and contain soluble glucose which is beneficial to the body.
Tiger nuts have high contents of vitamins E, C and B-complex and some important amino acids.
In addition to all that, Tiger nuts contain significant amounts of chromium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron and manganese. All these essential minerals can only indicate that the health benefits of Tiger nuts are very many and significant.
The Health Benefits of Tiger nuts
The health benefits of Tiger nuts are so numerous it would take a lengthy piece to really do justice to the topic. One thing I like best about them, apart from the taste and the fact it helps with bowel movement which I mentioned earlier, is the fact I can use them to kill any craving for food in between meals.
These days, after eating Tiger nuts, I am reluctant to eat food because the nuts fill you up in no time, effectively killing hunger.
Here are some other notable health benefits of Tiger nuts:
- In a type of holistic medicine developed in India known as Ayurveda, Tiger nuts are used either for the prevention or treatment of mental problems, all sorts of skin disorders and allergies, digestive issues and as an aid for pregnant women during childbirth to improve uterine contentions.
- Medical research and trials show they have very good anti-inflammatory properties. It can also be used to also stimulate the immune system.
- They are useful for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, an arterial disease caused by too much fat in the blood
- Eating Tiger nuts is also good in managing diabetes
- In the heart, it is indicated in the prevention of heart attacks;
- They help in blood circulation by preventing thrombosis, which is the formation of clots in the blood that restricts blood circulation
- The high presence of soluble sugars in Tiger nuts means that they are good in decreasing the risk of getting cancer of the colon.
- In some parts of Asia, people use them to increase the size of the female breasts. And in related benefits of Tiger nuts, several cultures around the world use them as very good aphrodisiac, especially for women.
- Those who love fresh water fishing, collectively known as Anglers, have found that Tiger nuts are very good baits for fish.
And you know what? Tiger nuts are so cheap. I prefer the dry ones. Though some like them fresh. What I do is to wash the dry nuts with hot water and soak them over night in water.
When I eat them, I swallow the fiber as that is what gives most of the benefits we talked about.
So go get yourself some Tiger nuts and join the fun. If you have anything to add, we will welcome your comments. Just hit the comment section below or click the social media icons to take you to our Twitter and Facebook pages. Cheers.
