Jaggery (Gur)

Jaggery / Gur (گڑ) is made from the juice of sugarcane, which is heated to produce thick crystals. It contains sugar in sucrose form and is used in many food products as a sweetening agent. It is considered healthier than refined sugar as certain plant phytochemicals and minerals are preserved in it.

Many people avoid jaggery as its raw appearance is not very appealing. However, it may be time to start making this food a regular part of your diet as it provides many essential nutrients and is an effective remedy for many ailments. By adding jaggery to your diet, you gain a wide range of health benefits that you may not have thought that this food could provide.

Health Benefits:

1. Jaggery is rich in many vital vitamins and minerals, allowing it to provide nourishment to every part of the body, including the skin. When your skin gets proper nourishment, it can stay glowing and healthy.

2. Jaggery helps in treating and preventing many skin problems such as acne and pimples. Hence, it helps in keeping the skin blemish-free. It also delays the signs of aging such as wrinkles, dark spots, etc.

3. Jaggery helps in the maintenance of proper functioning of the digestive system. This, in turn, prevents many digestive problems and improves digestion as well.

4. Jaggery stimulates digestive enzyme secretion, and it also gets converted into acetic acid. Therefore, it speeds up the process of digestion, as the load on the digestive tract is significantly reduced.

5. One of the most well-known benefits of jaggery is its ability to purify the blood. When consumed on a regular basis, it cleanses the blood, leaving your body healthy.

6. Jaggery helps in boosting the total count of hemoglobin in the blood. It also boosts the immunity that, in turn, helps in preventing a wide variety of blood disorders and diseases.

7. Jaggery is rich in iron and folate that help in preventing anemia by ensuring that a normal level of red blood cells is maintained. This is especially beneficial for pregnant women. It also provides instant energy that prevents fatigue and weakness of the body.

8. Jaggery, due to its richness in many essential nutrients, is an effective natural treatment for many menstrual problems. It also helps in providing relief from cramps and stomach ache that are associated with menstruation.

9. Jaggery is a rich source of potassium, which is a mineral that helps in the balance of electrolytes as well as the building up of muscles and improving the metabolism in the body. These factors play an important role in effective weight loss, making jaggery effective in aiding in weight loss.

10. Water retention is a major problem when you are trying to lose weight. As mentioned earlier, jaggery contains many essential minerals, especially potassium. This mineral helps in the reduction of water retention, thus managing your weight.

11. Jaggery contains potassium and sodium, which play an important role in the maintenance of acid levels in the body. It also makes sure that a normal level of blood pressure is properly maintained.

12. This food has many natural properties that help in keeping the nervous system functioning normally and staying healthy. This, in turn, keeps a wide range of nervous system disorders at bay.

13. If you often suffer from aches and pains in your joints, eating jaggery can provide you with the much-needed relief. Experts recommend eating it with a piece of ginger to alleviate joint pain. Drinking a glass of milk with jaggery every day is also recommended to help strengthen the bones, thus preventing joint and bone problems such as arthritis.

14. Jaggery helps in controlling the temperature of the body. This is especially beneficial for patients who suffer from asthma as they require a normal body temperature to be maintained at all times.

15. If you are feeling weak or lethargic, eating a piece of jaggery can provide instant energy. The best thing about it is that it is gradually digested and absorbed by your body, unlike white sugar. This means that the levels of blood sugar do not get raised immediately.

16. One of the main functions of the liver is to rid the body of harmful toxins and other impurities. As jaggery can naturally cleanse the body, it reduces the workload of the liver and detoxifies it as well, thus regulating its function.

17. If you have a case of having excessive hiccups, eating jaggery can help. All you need to do is mix it with dried ginger powder. Experts recommend eating this mixture with a glass of warm water to gain relief. Mix 3 grams of jaggery with 500mg of ginger powder to get rid of this problem.

18. According to Ayurveda, eating jaggery that is mixed with amla powder can help in the improvement of the quality of sperm. It also helps in boosting the sperm production. It also helps in lowering the weakness of the body and treats and prevents urinary problems among men.