Among vegetable plants, eggplants are interesting for their unusual taste. The bitterness of the pulp adds piquancy to dishes made from vegetable products. Many people love blue fruits for their high content of vitamins and microelements. When eating vegetables, people often don’t think about the benefits and harms of eggplant.
After all, the product has not only useful qualities. Some people absolutely cannot eat the fruit, while others have restrictions on eating eggplant.
Chemical composition
An annual plant with fruits and berries, often purple in color, is rich in its chemical composition:
- B vitamins;
- routine;
- nicotinic acid;
- potassium;
- magnesium
In addition, the fruits contain fiber. Small percentages of iron, phosphorus, calcium, and sodium were also found in them.
The benefit of eggplants is that they supply the heart muscle with potassium, which is 1.5 times more in blue berries than in cabbage, sweet peppers, and onions.
Vegetables are used for weight loss, since their consumption helps eliminate waste and toxins, and the caloric content of the product is low - 100 grams contain 34 kilocalories. Boiled fruits contain even less of them, but stewed ones contain almost 190 calories.
Useful properties of eggplants
Vitamins and microelements in the composition of the vegetable contributes to the benefits of eggplant for the human body:
- Potassium is necessary to normalize heart function, which is important for older people. It serves to supply the brain with oxygen, raising the level of physical and mental activity of a person.
- Magnesium helps calm the nervous system.
- Sodium and iron are involved in metabolic processes.
- To reduce blood cholesterol levels, B vitamins are needed; strengthening the immune system - ascorbic acid.
- Antioxidants in eggplant peel regulate iron levels in the blood and remove excess iron.
- Oncoprotectors in the form of phenolic compounds in eggplants inhibit pathological cell mutation.
- Nicotinic acid in berries helps quit smoking.
With as many vitamins as eggplant, you can cope with many diseases: atherosclerosis, spleen dysfunction, kidney failure.
For women
Eggplant is indispensable for women's health. By including purple berries in the menu, you achieve:
- reducing premenstrual syndrome;
- reducing the frequency of mood swings, tearfulness;
- removing excess fluid during pregnancy;
- normalization of intestinal function;
- improving skin condition and hair structure;
- weight loss.
Folic acid, contained in the pulp of the fruit, helps prevent pathologies in the human embryo. Therefore, you should pay attention to the inclusion of the product in the diet of a pregnant woman in the 1st and 3rd trimester of pregnancy.
For children
Dietary vegetable product has a positive effect on the children's body. It is useful when the child:
- tummy hurts;
- decreased hemoglobin level;
- The body lacks folic and pantothenic acid, which is necessary for a strong nervous system, brain development, and metabolic processes.
Eggplants are used in children's nutrition to prevent the development of cancer.
But you can give blue berries to a child from 3 years old, monitoring the child’s body’s reaction to the vegetable.
For men
About the usefulness of blue fruits in relation to the male body, it should be said that eggplants strengthen the nervous system and heart of the stronger sex. After all, men more often suffer from heart attacks and atherosclerosis.
The berry will prevent the development of prostate cancer, which is the cause of high mortality among the male population.
The content of nicotinic acid in fruits helps fight the craving for smoking. The low nicotine content in the fruits gives an impetus to quit the addiction.
What is important to know about cooking eggplants
To reap the benefits of eggplants, you need to cook them properly. After all, not everyone can take the product in its raw form. It retains its qualities in boiled or stewed form.But fruits fried in slices are considered heavy food, so this method of preparation should be abandoned.
Before cooking the fruits, it is better to peel them and sprinkle the cut slices with salt. The juice extracted from vegetable pieces has a bitter taste, as it contains solanine. Therefore, it is drained and the fruits are washed with cold water. It is better to dry the pieces by spreading them on a paper towel or napkin.
The way to prepare boiled eggplants is to place the whole fruit in hot water. After 10-15 minutes of cooking, take them out and carefully remove the skin. All that remains is to mash the boiled pulp with a fork, sprinkling with salt to taste, adding a little lemon juice and vegetable oil.
They try to stew the oval fruits chopped, with a minimum amount of fat or oil. They go well with tomatoes, sweet peppers, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. You can stew the fruits in milk with the addition of parsley.
It is useful to eat caviar from the vegetable, which perfectly satisfies hunger and is useful for accelerating metabolism in the body. It is eaten immediately or left for storage for the winter. In addition to this preparation, they make salads for the winter and marinate the product along with other vegetables.
For culinary processing, choose young, fresh eggplants with smooth skin and a small amount of seeds.
Medicinal use
Traditional healers advise cooking blue berries to reduce swelling. For this purpose, the oven-baked fruits are crushed, then poured with milk and stewed. For taste, sprinkle chopped parsley on top of the mixture. Eat a dietary dish every evening for 3 weeks.
The dried and powdered purple skin of the vegetable is beneficial. Taking a teaspoon of powder before meals helps normalize blood pressure.
Inflammation of the oral cavity and gums is eliminated by rinsing. The powder is diluted with warm water, taking 1 teaspoon per glass of water, and rinsed the mouth three times a day. You can add a teaspoon of salt to the solution.
To activate the secretion of bile, you need to prepare an infusion of blueberries. The peeled fruits are cut into cubes and placed in a container. Pour boiling water over and keep in a water bath for half an hour. All that remains is to cool and strain the solution. A glass of medicine is divided into 3 servings, drinking 30 minutes before meals.
Eggplant in the process of losing weight
Baked, boiled eggplants are an ideal product for losing excess weight. Nutritionists recommend going on an eggplant diet for 2 weeks. During this time, the body will be cleansed of excess water and toxins accumulated in the body. The result will be amazing - you can lose 6-8 kilograms.
During the diet, fruits are included in salads, soups, and vegetable stews. Only a varied menu will allow you to survive on a vegetable diet. Here are some dietary recipes:
- 2 pieces of eggplant, tomato, and onion are cut into circles, placed in layers on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil, sprinkled with chopped garlic, sprinkled with salt and pepper. Cover the top with foil and place in the oven.
- Chicken broth soup is perfect for lunch. Diced blue vegetable fruits and red tomatoes are poured with broth, sautéed carrots and onions are added. Bring the thick mass to a boil, add garlic and paprika. Use a blender to make the soup smooth. All that remains is to add salt to taste and simmer the puree soup until done.
- In the evening, you can make juice from purple fruits. The peeled pulp is grated and the juice is squeezed out.You need to drink 50 milliliters of the drink at a time.
But it is better not to use fried product. But if you really want to, then before cooking you need to soak the eggplant slices in cold water. Then, during processing, fat will not be absorbed into the vegetable pulp.
Harm and contraindications for use
Speaking about the beneficial properties of eggplant, do not forget that for some people the vegetable is absolutely contraindicated. Harmful effects from eating berries occur in those who suffer from:
- gastritis;
- stomach ulcer;
- stones in the bladder and kidneys;
- iron deficiency anemia;
- liver failure.
Women during pregnancy and lactation can eat eggplants, but in minimal quantities. It is not advisable to give them to children under 3 years of age.
When choosing blueberries for culinary processing, the emphasis is on ripe fruits with a green stalk. If the fruits are overripe, they can cause poisoning due to the accumulation of bitterness in them.
Poisoning is accompanied by vomiting, nausea, and dizziness. Pain in the abdominal area may occur. To bring the condition back to normal, you need to cleanse the stomach and give the patient several tablets of activated charcoal.
