It’s a beautiful Tuesday to find out more about the health benefits of talong.
You may be unfamiliar with this vegetable if it’s called talong so the other terms for this are eggplant, Berengena, Brinjal, Solanum melongena, Aubergine, and Baigan.
This is my list of the many health benefits of talong that I would like to share with you.
1. Talong Contains Different Important Nutrients
Let’s start with the nutrients you can get from eating talong.
Talong has vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin B9, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K.
You get minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc from consuming this purple vegetable.
The daily percentage values aren’t as good as other vegetables but it still helps with having a good variety of healthy foods to eat every day.
It is high in fiber and you get also protein from it.
2. Helps With Your Digestion
Just like any other high in fiber foods, talong is able to improve your digestion.
It can optimize the processing of foods that you eat as well as the absorption of nutrients.
It can also help prevent digestive disorders like constipation and diarrhea.
3. Talong May Help Manage Blood Sugar Levels
Consuming talong may be helpful to you if you’re always cautious about a spike in your blood sugar levels.
Because talong is a good source of fiber, it can slow down the rate of digestion and absorption of sugar in your body.
This means that it can prevent blood sugar level spikes.
In some research like this, they noticed that polyphenols in talong help in reducing sugar absorption and increasing insulin secretion. Both of which can help decrease your blood sugar levels.
4. Helps Improve The Health Of Your Bones
Talong contains nutrients like calcium and iron which are good for your bones.
Furthermore, talong, in particular, is a vegetable with phenolic compounds.
These compounds give vegetables their unique coloration and it’s also linked to getting stronger bones, increased bone mineral density, and reduced risks of osteoporosis.
5. Talong Is A Good Source Of Antioxidants
Talong contains antioxidants that are helpful in fighting free radicals that can cause damage to your body.
It has the ability to prevent different chronic diseases like heart diseases and cancer.
In particular, talong contains the antioxidant anthocyanins. It’s the pigment substance that gives talong its color which also is an antioxidant.
This test-tube study shows how effective anthocyanins in talong as an antioxidant.
6. Helps Treat Body Pain And Fever
There have been studies that showed dried talong juice extracts have analgesic and antipyretic properties.
The researchers noticed that the extract contains alkaloids, flavonoids, and tannins which makes it effective in treating body pains and fever.
7. Talong May Help You Lose Weight
Probably the best foods to eat when you’re trying to lose weight are those that are high in fiber, contain many nutrients, and are low in calories.
Talong fits all of these categories.
There are some recipes online that you can check to make talong as part of your regular meals or as snacks.
8. Has Antifungal Qualities
The leaves of talong are traditionally used to treat fungal infections on the skin.
Researchers found that the extracts from the talong leaves have significant activity against certain skin bacteria and fungus.
9. Talong May Help Reduce Cholesterol Levels
Regularly eating talong may help you improve your cholesterol levels.
In a study conducted with rabbits, researchers noticed a decreased levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides after feeding them with juice from talong.
10. Reduces The Risk Of Anemia
Anemia is caused by a deficiency in iron. Talong is also a source of iron.
Although talong doesn’t contain that much iron, it still can be eaten to add up to your body’s daily iron needs.
Having a normal amount of iron in your body can prevent symptoms of anemia like difficulty in breathing, fatigue, headaches, and weakness.
Iron is also needed by your body in producing red blood cells that carry nutrients and oxygen to the different parts of your body.
11. Talong Improves Brain Functions
Nasunin, which is an anthocyanin found in talong has been observed to be able to help protect brain cells from free radical damages.
Nasunin can also help transport nutrients and remove waste out. These observations were noticed from this animal study.
Anthocyanins can help prevent inflammations and help in normal blood flow in the brain. These are useful in preventing age-related mental decline and memory loss.
12. Helps Protect Your Heart
Talong can be very good for your heart.
It contains vitamin B6, vitamin C, and potassium which are nutrients that have effects in keeping your heart healthy.
The antioxidants present in talong can help keep chronic diseases that affect your heart at bay.
It’s also able to prevent two blood markers, which are bad cholesterol levels and triglycerides, that can lead to increased risks of heart diseases.
There’s even a study with animals that showed feeding them with cooked and raw talong helped improved their heart functions.
13. Talong Is Good For Your Eyes
Besides anthocyanin, some articles will tell you that talong also contains other antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin.
In particular, lutein has been linked to preventing macular degeneration which can lead to blurry eyesight no vision at all.
If you’re more into fruits, you should eat dates. These are also good for your eyes.
Check out my article about the health benefits of dates here.
Conclusion
These are some of the health benefits of talong. There are lots more but too little details to add to my list.
I honestly only eat talong when it’s fried. I don’t really like its taste that much.
From the list of health benefits of talong, my favorite would be that it contains antioxidants.
Especially for us aging people, we’ll need this one.
What do you need the most from the list of health benefits of talong?
Just to be sure, remember to always discuss things first with your doctor or medical professional if you’re allowed to eat talong.
Don’t forget to please share this article with someone you think should know about the health benefits of talong. Thank you!