Whether it is winter or not, Jaggery is a vital part of food routine, especially in Indian culture. Among its various types, Palm Jaggery enjoys a special place on the list of natural sweeteners. Reason? Palm Jaggery benefits a person in many ways to improve his overall wellness.
Are you searching for a healthy replacement for sugar for daily consumption? If so, you can try using Palm Jaggery (Karupatti). Not only does it taste well but it helps improve overall wellness significantly.
What Exactly is it and How is it Made?
Palm Jaggery is a natural sweetener that is made of the concentrated product of cane sugar and date palm tree.
What’s special about it? Well, it is completely natural and doesn’t contain any chemical agents. Therefore, it is full of natural minerals and it offers many Palm Jaggery benefits for better health if consumed within certain limits.
In the South Indian States, people prepare this sweetener using a traditional process. Though the process requires some patience, the end result is fruitful and sweet as one gets to taste a naturally sweet product.
List of Health Benefits it Offers:
How effective is it when it comes to improving the wellness of human beings? Very much! When the question about the health benefits of Palm Jaggery arises, the list is very long. Read below and know about the ways it benefits the human body in certain ways.
1. Liver Cleansing
One of the health benefits of Palm Jaggery is it helps cleanse the liver effectively. How? By removing the excess toxins from the body. Thus, it reduces the efforts of the liver significantly by taking out harmful toxins present in the body. That’s why it is wise to intake some amount of jaggery on a daily basis.
2. Remove Toxins from the Body
Palm Jaggery helps remove harmful elements from the body. Hence, it purifies the blood and helps build strong immunity in the body to fight against diseases.
As a natural detoxifier, it cleanses the respiratory system of the body completely. Therefore, a person consuming this organic sweetener gets clean lungs, bowels and belly which help the body function efficiently.
That’s why most people who work in polluted areas with dusty air consume this jaggery daily to cleanse their inner body parts. As a result, it leads to an overall improvement in bodily functions.
3. Detoxifies Blood
Daily consumption of palm jaggery helps in the cleansing of blood to keep the body disease-free. This organic sweetener helps in detoxifying plasma and hence it removes toxins from the blood to keep the body healthy. Also, it helps increase the haemoglobin quantity in the blood which also benefits a person.
4. Palm Jaggery for Weight Loss
When it comes to losing weight, palm jaggery is a vital ingredient you could opt for. Because of the presence of a high amount of potassium in it, it helps maintain the electrolyte balance in the body.
Moreover, it enhances muscle size and boosts metabolic activity. Thus, it lessens the water intention in the body and helps a person shed excess weight in a limited time.
5. Helps Get Rid of Digestive Problems
Are you suffering from constipation or poor bowel movement? If so, you could consider consuming palm jaggery regularly in limited amounts.
Palm Jaggery benefits a person in cleansing the stomach and helps him get rid of digestive issues such as constipation. It helps promote the removal of toxins which ensures the better absorption of food of any kind.
6. Boosts Immunity
Palm Jaggery contains antioxidants and multiple types of minerals such as zinc and selenium. Thus, it nullifies the effect of free radicals and boosts resistance against disease.
7. Advantageous During Pregnancy Period
Intake of palm jaggery during pregnancy helps in fulfilling the nutritional needs of the body. Regular consumption of the organic sweetener gives folic acid and iron. And it keeps sufficient levels of red blood cells that prevent the condition of anemia in pregnant women.
8. Levels Up the Overall Body Energy
Compared to sugar, palm jaggery is a category of carbohydrates that supplies energy steadily to the body over time. Hence, it doesn’t shoot the sugar levels instantly and keeps the body energetic over a period of time. Also, it helps remove body fatigue significantly and keeps the body energetic greatly.
9. Helps Fight Cough and Cold
Among all the health benefits of palm jaggery, a major one is the prevention & cure of cough as well as cold. So, if you have a tendency to suffer from a cold and cough easily, you should consider consuming it regularly.
Especially during winter, it serves as a great inhibitor of cough and cold. You can use palm jaggery in your tea to get a sufficient amount of body heat and get rid of colds & coughs or any other viral infections.
10. Palm Jaggery for Skin Health
Palm Jaggery contains essential minerals and vitamins such as magnesium, iron, calcium, etc. And you might have an idea how these minerals benefit a person in improving his overall skin.
So, it helps keep the skin healthy by removing the blemishes to yield unmarked skin. Also, it prevents pimples, sagging of skin and dark patches due to the many useful ingredients present in it.
11. Relief from Joint Pain
Since the sweetener contains calcium, palm jaggery benefits a person by boosting overall bone density. Additionally, if bone or joint issues like joint pain trouble you, you can consider the intake of palm jaggery with a glass of milk. And you will see a massive improvement in your bone strength.
12. Fulfills Nutritional Needs
Consuming palm jaggery regularly fulfills the nutritional requirements of the human body. It contains magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium and other important minerals and vitamins. Thus, it keeps the body healthy by supplying it with the required nutritional value.
13. Naturally Cures Menstrual Problems
Palm Jaggery contains plenty of vital nutrients that help cure menstrual problems. Simply put, the benefits of palm jaggery for periods are many. And the list includes relief from mood swings, menstrual cramps, or period pain.
Not just this, but regular intake of this organic sweetener helps prevent premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in women. Basically, what it does is provides the body with a sufficient amount of endorphins which results in calming the mind greatly.
14. Remedy for Migraine Headaches
Migraine headaches can leave anyone in great trouble. If you are also a victim of it, you can consume palm jaggery daily to get rid of this medical issue. If not completely, it could help you prevent migraine attacks significantly.
15. Maintenance of Normal Body Temperature
Palm Jaggery helps in removing heat from the body by keeping up with the body temperature. Especially during summer, it keeps the heat away from the body if one consumes jaggery drink regularly.
16. Diabetes
Searching for an alternative to sugar that doesn’t boost blood sugar levels? If so, you can consider using Palm Jaggery. As compared to other sweeteners, this black jaggery has a lower value glycemic index which prevents instant spikes in blood sugar levels.
However, before consuming it as a replacement for refined sugar, you should first consult a doctor for recommendations.
Uses of Palm Jaggery
Popular as the king of sweetener, Palm Jaggery has many uses which allows a person to intake it in many ways. Here are some of the options to use palm jaggery:
- You can use it in coffee and tea to make them naturally sweet.
- Palm jaggery is useful for adding to the curry to add flavor to it.
- You can consider it for topping in ice cream and toast or syrup to make it taste delicious.
- Add it to a hot milk beverage when it is cool to increase the intake of natural sugar.
- Consider drizzling it on pancakes and crepes for a sweet flavor.
So, you see it is possible to use this natural sweetener in multiple ways. In short, you can use it as a replacement for refined sugar in any dish to add sweetness to it.
Nutritional Facts
Being a sugar replacement with a low glycemic index, palm jaggery is a rich source of health and nutrition. Here is a list of ingredients that you can find in this sweetener:
- Potassium
- Copper
- Magnesium
- Zinc
The presence of these essential nutrients makes palm jaggery a healthy and chemical-free replacement for sugar. Interestingly, you can consume it at any time during the day but you must use it within certain limits.
Efforts are being made to optimize the production of palm jaggery by using various techniques. Many studies have worked on this subject greatly.
Conclusion
Finally, it is fair to say that palm jaggery is a rich source of vital nutrients for healthy living. You read above how Palm Jaggery benefits a person significantly due to its regular consumption. And it doesn’t carry the side effects that come with refined sugar.
Speaking of its extraction, Karupatti is derived from the sap of palm saplings and kept in earthen pots. To prevent the fermentation of the sap, it is covered with slaked lime.
The juice that one gets is filtered, boiled, and left for cooling. After that, farms set it in coconut moulds to consume it.
At last, I will ask you if you have consumed this magical and natural sweetener or not. If no, you should definitely go for it to derive the maximum health benefits palm jaggery offer.