Tag: potassium

Benefits of Watermelon

Watermelon is a delicious and nutritious fruit that is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It is a good source of:

Vitamin C: Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps protect your cells from damage. It is also essential for the formation of collagen, which gives your skin its strength and elasticity.

Vitamin A: Vitamin A is important for vision, growth, and immunity.

Potassium: Potassium is an important mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and heart health.

Lycopene: Lycopene is an antioxidant that has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer.

Citrulline: Citrulline is an amino acid that may help improve exercise performance.

Watermelon is also a good source of hydration. It is made up of about 92% water, which can help you stay hydrated during hot weather or after exercise.Here are some of the health benefits of watermelon:

Hydration: Watermelon is a great way to stay hydrated, especially during hot weather. It is made up of about 92% water, which can help you stay cool and prevent dehydration.

Reduced risk of cancer: Lycopene, an antioxidant found in watermelon, has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Improved heart health: Watermelon is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and heart health.

Improved exercise performance: Citrulline, an amino acid found in watermelon, may help improve exercise performance by increasing nitric oxide production.*

Aids in weight loss: Watermelon is a low-calorie fruit that is high in water and fiber. This makes it a good choice for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

Improved skin health: Vitamin C, an antioxidant found in watermelon, helps protect your skin from damage. It is also essential for the formation of collagen, which gives your skin its strength and elasticity.

Reduced inflammation: Watermelon is a good source of antioxidants, which help fight inflammation. Inflammation is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Conclusion: Overall, watermelon is a healthy and delicious fruit that can offer a variety of health benefits. It is a good choice for people of all ages and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways.

Chillies and their Spiciness

Chillies are an inseparable constituent of any cooked vegetable and meats. The spiciness adds to the taste of vegetables and meats. It is also a fact that chillies are very rich in vitamin C, Magnesium, vitamin B6, iron, and potassium and have very good health benefits.Degree of spiciness or the heat of a chilli will be directly proportional to its capsaicin content. The sensation also masks the taste of other chemicals present in the chillies for a while.

The Scoville scale is a measurement of pungency (spiciness or “heat”) of chili peppers and other substances, recorded in Scoville heat units (SHU), based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicin is the predominant component. Capsaicin is a chemical which is an irritant and neurotoxins for animals including humans. It induces a burning sensation in the tissue which comes in its contact.

The chillies should be enjoyed in the other recipes not by themselves. Ingesting the chillies with very high SHU will induce sweating, nausea, watery eyes and vomiting. If ingested and reaction is too much, then drinking cold milk is the solution to alleviate the condition. Water on the other hand spreads the capsaicin and causes more problems.

Scoville heat units have been measured of almost all the chilli peppers occuring around the world. Bell Peppers which don’t have any capsaicin in them are sir at Zero or the bottom of the scale. Extreme hot chillies are Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and 7 pot douglah having SHU values around 1.5 to 2.2 million. You can imagine how hot these are when Jalapenos with SHU around 2000 to 8000 feel so fiery for us. While many varities with extreme heat are naturally growing some are being genetically modified.

In India the extreme hot variety is Naga chilli also called Bhoot Jhalokia found in the North East states of Assam and Nagaland. From the chart you can see that their SHU is around 1 million.

Full scale of many chillies is given in the following chart taken from the website Scoville Scale.

Bitter Melon!??

Karela aka Bitter gourd is bitter but it is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. Bitter gourd contains iron, magnesium, vitamins, and potassium. The calcium and potassium content in it is twice that of spinach and banana.

https://www.organicauthority.com/live-grow/why-bitter-melon-needs-to-be-in-both-your-garden-and-your-kitchenter
Bitter Melon

Are you surprised to know that it is not a vegetable but a fruit. It belongs to the family of Melons which are known for their sweetness and are popular all over the world. It is called “BITTER MELON“

melonshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/07/19/melons-tips-watermelon-cantaloupe-honeydew/

Karela is a native of Indian subcontinent and now it has been established that it contains a insulin like compound polypeptide-p which helps in regulating the blood sugar.

Karela contains potassium which helps to reduce the blood pressure by replacing some of the sodium responsible for increasing blood pressure.

It improves the skin and hair. It is rich in antioxidants, vitamins A and C.


Even USA is going to take its farming in a big way recognising it’s benefits.

https://sakasaka.net/bitter-melon-juices-7-health-benefits.html

Perhaps when God was distributing goodness to the family of Melons, all the sweetness was bestowed upon its brothern. It was feeling sad as it’s taste was very bitter and it was ruing the fact that due to the bitter taste nobody will like it.

But God blessed it and said “My son, I can’t make you sweet but i will bless you with so many nutrients and medicinal properties that you will outshine all your siblings and become a darling of the human beings”

Spying on the leaders

It was when Russia was USSR and soviet state was pushing hard to become at par with US. A top erstwhile spy told that Russian Soviet dictator Stalin, used to spy on the visiting world leaders like Mao to know their hidden personality traits. They even used scientific methods for this. Soviets used to analyze the excreta for Potassium and Amino acid tryptophan to know the state of mind of the leaders. Tryptophan is used by animals for synthesis of proteins essential for growth. Studies indicate that it acts as an antidepressant.

For example, if they detected high levels of amino acid Tryptophan,“ he explained, “they concluded that person was calm and approachable”. On the other hand, potassium ion regulate the blood pressure. The diets rich in Potassium help reduce the high blood pressure. But a lack of potassium in poo was seen as a sign of a nervous disposition and someone with insomnia.

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