Asparagus - useful properties and contraindications

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Until recently, asparagus was considered a simple product with no special gastronomic value. Now it is a delicacy, because because of the price, it is not available to everyone. Let's find out what useful properties it has and whether it can harm the body.

Appearance, varieties, potential benefits

Asparagus belongs to the asparagus family. The use for decorative purposes (for decorating flower bouquets and flower beds), in cooking and dietetics is not the main one. It is a herbaceous plant with a wide distribution area.

It is grown in Europe, in the north of the African continent and in Southwest Asia. This prevalence is explained by the long-term tradition of using it as a medicinal plant.

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It is used to treat pathologies of the urinary and circulatory systems. The beneficial properties of asparagus have long been used to resolve problems with potency, normalize hormonal levels and have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. And in ancient Rome, asparagus was used exclusively as a medicinal plant because of the bitter taste characteristic of the culture.

Young shoots eaten in spring and summer are full of valuable biological compounds, vitamins and minerals. Without much exaggeration, they can be attributed to medicinal plants and prescribed instead of chemical and synthetic drugs.

The beneficial properties of asparagus are determined not only by its belonging to a well-known family, which includes more than 200 species. The acquisition of a pleasant taste is achieved by special methods of processing the obtained raw materials and growing.

Nowadays, several types of asparagus are used in cooking:

• green, or medicinal, growing on the sea coasts, it has the widest range of valuable compounds and useful components;
• white - the subject of a special fondness for gourmets of the European continent, the complexity of cultivation of which is compared with obtaining truffles and artichokes;
• purple, with whimsical color pigmentation due to growing in the mode of alternating darkness and bright light;
• legumes - better known as asparagus beans, a popular variety with different colored fruits;
• marine - salty due to germination on salt marshes and sea coasts, with a slight taste of iodine, which is easily drowned out when processed.

The beneficial properties of asparagus and the preparation of culinary delights with it are distantly related to each other. The most valuable medicinal properties and biologically active components are preserved in the raw plant or with minimal cooking.

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On sale you can find plants with strongly regrown shoots, but only the youngest are considered useful, at an early stage appeared from under the soil layer. As soon as the shoots are compacted and the leaf buds have blossomed, the culture is considered unfit for human consumption. This feature determines the high cost of asparagus.

Even the cultivation of high-yielding male hybrids requires a significant acreage. But even at the peak of their fruiting, they give no more than 10 shoots that do not have the value of an ordinary cultivated or wild plant.

Composition

Asparagus is called a product created for dietetics. Having a low calorie content, it contains a lot of valuable food components, biologically active compounds, vitamins and minerals, dietary fiber, protein and lipid compounds, carbohydrates and amino acids.

It contains:

• mono- and polysaccharides, ash elements, vegetable fiber;
• in different types there are vitamins E, K and PP, C and B2 (riboflavin), B3 (nicotinic acid), B9 (folic acid), beta-carotene (vitamin A);
• micro- and macroelements: calcium, magnesium, sodium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, iodine (in the sea);
• antioxidants - lutein and zeaxanthin;
• glutathione and prebiotics, phytocomponents, coumarin and saponin, anticarcinogenic folates.

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Depending on the need for use, a certain variety of asparagus is shown: soy contains a lot of vitamins B, D and E, choline, white - A, B1, C, E, calcium, potassium and phosphorus, green contains additional manganese, copper and selenium, vitamins B2, B4, B9, C and K.

The use of a certain type of valuable plant for food allows you to achieve positive dynamics in pathological processes, prevent the development of painful conditions, and exert the necessary effect on the human body.

Application and useful action

The rich composition allows this food product to be used for different purposes. Asparagus has a healing effect not only on the urinary, reproductive and circulatory systems. It can be used in food and to obtain other equally important effects:

1. Anticarcinogenic - saponins inhibit growth and abnormal cell division, folate is essential for the prevention of cancer of the prostate, esophagus, intestines and pancreas.
2. Antibacterial - to destroy sources of inflammation and infection of the urinary system.
3. Diuretic - with the development of diseases, one of the symptoms of which is the accumulation of excess fluid in the tissues.
4. Anti-inflammatory - for cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, joint diseases, gout and rheumatism.
5. To relieve pain during the menstrual cycle, normalize hormonal levels during the climacteric period.
6. In order to maintain the normal state of the bone skeleton and prevent the development of osteoporosis, normal condition of hair and skin, prevent rapid aging.
7. Firming and anti-sclerotic - for problems with the cardiovascular system.
8. Stimulating - for energy, brain health, elimination of irritability, aggression and depression, resorption of atherosclerotic plaques.
9. Normalizing - in case of digestive problems, the development of dysbiosis, to get rid of bloating and flatulence.
10. Immune-strengthening - due to prebiotics and antioxidants, which ensure the full functioning of the immune system and natural detoxification of the body.

Eating asparagus in food strengthens vision and bones, protects against cataracts and increases insulin production.

Its beneficial properties for pregnant women are undoubted. During a difficult period for a woman carrying a child, the consumption of asparagus will help to cope with negative symptoms in the systems and organs without the use of drugs.

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Potential harm

Despite all of the above useful properties, there are contraindications for women and men, as with every medicine. So, it should not be used in acute stages of inflammation and exacerbations of chronic diseases of the genitourinary and gastrointestinal systems. Cystitis and prostatitis in acute form, as well as peptic ulcer and 12 duodenal ulcer, is not the best time to consume a vegetable.

It is not recommended to eat asparagus with a tendency to allergies, if it is not known in advance that there is no individual immunity to individual components of the plant. Only fresh asparagus has beneficial properties.

Outcomes

Asparagus is a useful plant that has long been used for medicinal purposes. It contains a rich set of valuable components. It can be recommended as a medicinal and dietary herb. Has a beneficial effect on men and women. There are contraindications for eating that need to be considered.