10 Reasons to Eat Artichoke
Artichoke is a vegetable that is both delicious and versatile. You’ll find numerous natural health benefits within its leaves, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. In today’s article we’ll be giving you plenty of reasons to eat artichoke!
Artichokes are great for your health. During the Middle Ages, for example, it was one of the most expensive and delicious foods around. Catherine de’ Medici paid extremely high sums to acquire it in her time.
The artichoke has always been a highly appreciated food. We know that the Greeks and the Romans ate it often. During the Middle Ages, King Henry VII introduced it to England. Later, it crossed the Channel and converted Catherine de’ Medici into one of its most fervent consumers.
Artichokes, also known as cynaras, come in several varieties. Consumers can eat the every part of the vegetable. You can even find it in capsule form in natural stores. However, if you want to consume it in its natural form, it’s best to select the heaviest one in the supermarket. Look for the ones with the thickest light-green leaves, as some people say these are the healthiest.
See more: Lose Weight Effectively with the Artichoke Diet
Reasons to eat artichoke
- One of the best reasons to eat artichoke is that it has excellent digestive properties. These make it appropriate for people suffering from illnesses such as excessive uric acid, rheumatism, and problems with gallbladder stones.
- It reduces triglycerides in the blood, which may make it useful for people who are fighting cholesterol. On top of that, it reduces the “bad cholesterol” and increases the HDL, which is considered to be the “good cholesterol.”
- It helps control constipation and diarrhea.
- Some experts say artichoke may help with you have problems with stomach acid.
- Thanks to its ability to reduce cholesterol, artichokes are magnificent allies for improving problems such as arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure.
Dietary and diuretic
- The artichoke is also used in many diets. Experts favor it because some say its vegetable fibers can be very helpful in controlling the appetite. They absorb water in the stomach, helping you feel full.
- Artichoke provides you with an endless amount of vitamins and minerals. Among them are magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, A vitamins, B vitamins. This vegetable is without a doubt more than adequate for your daily diet.
- Another good reason to eat artichoke is that it has diuretic properties, and how it deals with water retention from the body. It can help eliminate toxins. For this reason, some people say it helps with gout, arthritis, liver disease, and circulatory problems.
- Some recent studies have shown the benefits of its caffeic and pantothenic acids, as well as its flavanoids. Some experts say these may help prevent and improve certain kinds of cancer.
How to eat artichoke
The best way to enjoy artichokes is steamed and cooked. You can then have it with a bit of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. They are as healthy as they are delicious.
Remember that to cook them, you should clean them and trim the stem and the exterior leaves. The stem by itself is very good in soups and salads.
If you want to enjoy them boiled, put them in a saucepan with water and later add the juice from 1 to 2 lemons. After that, cover the pan and when the water begins to boil, let it cook for 30 to 40 minutes over low heat. Then, remove from the heat and drain the water. After this, they will be ready to eat.
How to prepare a slimming tea with artichoke
Another one of the reasons to eat artichoke is its slimming properties. As we have pointed out earlier in the article, artichokes are often used in diets for losing weight. Thanks to its properties for satiating the appetite and eliminating liquids, it’s a great weight loss vegetable. One way to use it to lose weight is to make a tea with it. Here’s how to do it.
Ingredients
- 7 oz of artichoke leaves
- 1 cup of boiling water
Directions
Place the already-cleaned artichoke leaves in a pot of the boiling water. Then let boil for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from the heat, pour off the water, and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
How to drink artichoke tea to lose weight
- You can drink up to 3 cups daily.
- To take fullest advantage of the artichoke’s satiating effects, experts recommend that you drink 1 cup of artichoke tea 30 minutes before each meal.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our article today and that you’ll now have many great reasons to eat artichokes!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Ceccarelli, N., Curadi, M., Picciarelli, P., Martelloni, L., Sbrana, C., & Giovannetti, M. (2010). Globe artichoke as a functional food. Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12349-010-0021-z
- Llorach, R., Espín, J. C., Tomás-Barberán, F. A., & Ferreres, F. (2002). Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) Byproducts as a potential source of health-promoting antioxidant phenolics. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf0200570
- Salem, M. B., Affes, H., Ksouda, K., Dhouibi, R., Sahnoun, Z., Hammami, S., & Zeghal, K. M. (2015). Pharmacological studies of artichoke leaf extract and their health benefits. Plant foods for human nutrition, 70(4), 441-453. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26310198
