About food. Yams.
Ordinary products-vegetables, fruits, nuts, juices and berries – are not just our taste preferences. That's what makes us who we are. It also enriches and enriches the elements necessary for life. But what if we make changes to our usual diet? After all, each product is a storehouse of certain substances that affect the body. Our health, well-being and mood depend on what we eat. And the task of each of us is to learn this information and learn how to use it.
Yams
Yam belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae. According to legend, the name comes from the name of Dioscorides, an ancient Greek healer. It was a slender, beautiful, and flexible, like a Liana, a girl who had the ability to heal. As well as the graceful figure of the girl, yams has a thin, long grassy stalk.
In each country, yams has its own characteristics: in Africa, white and yellow yams are common, in China, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean yams are growing, in Asia – the so-called "winged" and edible yams.
Yams has a strong, very branched root system, lateral shoots (stolon’s) have thickening at the ends. These thickenings are called tubers, which are eaten.
When maturing Yam aboveground part of the plant turns yellow and dries. This is a sign that it can be dug up. In the soil, the tubers are very deep, sometimes up to half a meter deep. They are very gentle, have a rounded shape-elongated or similar to a spindle, reach a length of 2 meters, and the weight can reach up to 50 kg.when digging them, care must be taken not to damage the roots. After the harvest is collected, the tubers are well dried and laid for storage.
How to choose
When buying yams should pay attention to the integrity of the skin, its elasticity and the absence of rotten spots. Also, it should not be sluggish.
How to store
Keep yams should be in an uncleaned form in a dark cool place. It is best in the cellar or the General Department of the refrigerator.
How to eat
The skin of the yams is rough and smooth, very difficult to clean. But when cooked, it is softened. The color of the peel can be white, pinkish or dark brown. When cut yams flesh, which is also called "meat", light, with a yellowish tint. A very ripe plant flesh can be orange, it is mucous, and because of this it is absolutely impossible to clear the tubers from the skin. Use the plant in raw form is impossible, because it contains toxic substances that are destroyed only by heat treatment.
In cooking
The nutritional value of Yam tubers is very high, they contain a lot of starch and protein. Have a sweet taste. "Sweet potatoes" - the second name of yams, and use it similarly to potatoes: fry, cook, and bake. But most often the tubers are dried and ground into flour. From flour prepare delicious fresh flat cakes, add its and in sauces, which give dishes a special spicy taste of. African people consider yams bread and it is their main food. In preparation for cooking with yams should work in gloves because of the possible occurrence of skin irritation and redness.
Calorie content of yams
Nutritious product, the caloric content of which in raw form 118 kcal. It is not very fat, so it can be used even for those who care about their figure, but not in very large quantities. Yams boiled, baked or dried with salt contains 114 kcal. It is rich in carbohydrates and contains virtually no fat, which will allow them to be satisfied without harm to the figure. And the most low-calorie type of cooking yams-for a couple, you can salt. Its calorie content is only 82 kcal.
Nutritional value in 100 grams:
| Proteins, gr | Fat, gr | Carbohydrates, gr | Ash, gr | Water, gr | Calorific value, kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The composition and availability of nutrients
Yams has high nutritional and therapeutic properties. It is rich in fiber, vitamin C, B vitamins, macronutrients contains phosphorus (55 mg), magnesium (21 mg), potassium (816mg), calcium (17 mg), and sodium (9 mg), from trace elements: zinc and copper, iron, selenium, manganese.
Useful and therapeutic properties
The famous herbalist Rosemary Gladstar in his book "Herbal treatment for women" believes that yams "the most widely used in the world medicinal plant." According to statistics, every year more than 200 million drugs containing derivatives of this plant are sold in the world.
Since the 1st century ad, people began to use the medicinal properties of this plant. Yam roots reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, strengthen the walls of blood vessels. It is practically proved that regular consumption of the plant improves blood, blocks the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and normalizes blood pressure.
Yam tubers contain phytoestrogens that normalize hormonal balance in the woman's body, relieve menstrual pain, promote proper menstrual cycle, help in the menopause: delay the onset of menopause, i.e. prolong youth.
Until recently, this plant was the only source of diosgenin, which is used in the manufacture of contraceptive pills.
In modern medicine, the roots of the plant are used in biologically active additives. They were first used in the United States as a remedy for intestinal colic, gout and rheumatoid arthritis. They have shown a good effect when used after strokes and heart attacks, as a preventive measure for various diseases of the cardiovascular system and to strengthen the immune system.
From tubers yams at home make tincture that relieves headache and dizziness, helps with tachyarrhythmia and angina, taken with cataract.
Yams can not be used in raw form, because the substances that are part of the plant can cause diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys.
In medicine, the side effects of yams are minimal, but if you do not follow the instructions and exceed the dose, the use can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
Alcohol tincture of yams should be used only on the recommendation of a doctor, as active substances in the roots of the plant can cause irritation of the gastrointestinal tract. It is necessary to limit the use of tincture in gastric or intestinal ulcers, with cholelithiasis, acute pancreatitis, cholecystitis and hepatitis.
Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C. Yam is a versatile vegetable. Thanks for sharing this useful post.
Thanks for reading. :)