Ficus carica, a plant that belongs to Mulberry family, produce figs, one of the healthiest fruits known on earth. This fruit comes with an ostiole which is used to communicate with the environment which gets the fruit a combination of unique properties and a variety of different textures, colours, and taste. It is commonly available as an all-season dry fruit which is good for human health, but its fresh form which is seasonal has its own additional benefits.
The fruit contains a large number of nutrients like vitamin A/B1/B2, calcium, iron, manganese, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and chlorine. It is often used as a treatment for illnesses or ailments like cough, constipation, indigestion, piles, diabetes, cough, bronchitis or asthma, and sexual dysfunction.
Some impressive health benefits of fig that will compel you to eat more figs:
Weight loss/gain: Fig can help reduce obesity when consumed raw, but when consumed in large quantities with milk, it can instead increase your weight. So, you may eat fig accordingly for your own purpose.
Lowered Cholesterol: Pectin, a soluble fibre which is present in fig in a significant quantity, can clear-off excess oil clumps from body while passing through your digestive system thereby lowering the cholesterol deposit in your body.
Prevents cancer: Certain types of cancer diseases like colon cancer, breast cancer, and abdominal cancer can be prevented by consuming figs as part of regular diet.
Help Diabetic Patients: Figs contain potassium in large amounts which can reduce the fluctuations of sugar content as well as the amount of insulin in the body thereby helping diabetic patient get cured. However, dried figs have more sugar in them and thus, their consumption must have remain limited. Use of fresh fig is recommended for diabetic patient to get best results.
Prevent Hypertension: Low potassium combined with high sodium levels cause hypertension. Fig being high in potassium and low in sodium can thus serve as a defence against hypertension in your body. It also brings calmness to your mind keeping it productive and healthy. Triglycerides, the large particles, can be the major causes of a heart disease when they get to float around the human bloodstream. Figs help reduce their content which is how heart disease can be prevented. Free radicals that have the potential to cause coronary artery blockages are also reduced with the consumption of figs. Thus, fig can be very useful for maintaining the health of your heart .
Improve Digestion: Fig being a natural laxative can help solve common digestion problems like constipation and irritable bowel syndrome in you. The fibres inside fig maintain bowel movements making digestion easy when consumed on regular basis.
Cures Anaemia: Dried figs can fill 2% of the daily iron requirement of your body. This leads to an increase in the levels of haemoglobin thereby preventing problems of anaemia.
Improved reproductive health: Fig was used as an aphrodisiac by ancient Greeks and was considered as sacred. They associated figs with love and fertility. A scientific explanation behind this belief is the existence of minerals like zinc, manganese and magnesium in fig that enhance libido and increase fertility in humans thereby improving their reproductive capabilities. Young girls can also use figs for solving their PMS problems. Young women can use it for tackling with hormonal imbalances. Aging women can eat the fruit to avoid post-menopausal problems like breast cancer.
Strong Bones: 3% of the daily requirement for calcium in human body can be fulfilled by eating just one dry fig. The density of strength of your bone can be improved with addition of more figs in your diet.
Figs take care of your internal body functioning in many ways and this is the reason it is counted among the healthiest foods in the world. So, how do you include the fruit in your daily diet? Just 2-3 oz of dry figs everyday would keep you healthy big time. Further, if you can manage to take a few servings of seasonal fresh fig in summers or spring, nothing better you can do for your body.
