Jaggery can offer you many essential nutrients like iron, magnesium and potassium
Popularly known as 'gur' in Hindi, jaggery has immense health benefits. You may have heard your grandmother talking about jaggery. Or may have seen her making laddus with jaggery and, at times, even using it instead of sugar while making tea. Many health experts, too, have time and again spoken about replacing sugar with jaggery in desserts, or any other food for that matter. But \many do not like the taste of jaggery. If you are one of these, nutritionist and fitness expert Munmun Ganeriwal has a solution for you. In an Instagram post she shared a bowl full of palm jaggery and listed the amazing health benefits it can offer.
Palm jaggery health benefits you need to know
"Jaggery that tastes like chocolate and is supremely healthy. Sounds too good to be true, right? Not many will know of this gem called Palm Jaggery," the nutritionist mentioned in the post.
It is originally made from the sugary sap of palmyra palm. She says palm jaggery contains many vitamins and minerals.
She revealed that she discovered this during her yoga teacher's training course in Madurai. Ganeriwal compared refined sugar to palm jaggery and said the minerals in jaggery remained intact even after the manufacturing process was completed. Whereas, it was not the same with sugar.
Palm jaggery, she said, is a storehouse of minerals like iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
She further went on to say that it's known as karupatti in Tamil. It is used in a variety of sweets, eaten as is, and used in karupatti filter coffee as well. Ganeriwal talks about a similar kind of jaggery made from the sap of the date palm that is also relished in Bengal. It is called 'nolen gur' and is used in the popular sweet dish 'sondesh.'
"A great source of energy with the presence of iron, palm jaggery is a great antidote for anaemia. It also has a much lower glycaemic index. The original karupatti is usually harder, doesn't dissolve instantly, is dull (not overly polished) and also features colour inconsistencies. Don't mistake these irregularities and choose something smoother, prettier or more even looking. Because remember the better it looks, the more refined it is," she mentioned in her Instagram post.
A few months ago, Ganeriwal told her followers about the type of carbs and fats that are beneficial to the body and those that people should stay away from. She posted a video on Instagram and captioned it, "Carbs are good. Processed carbs are bad...Fats are good. Inflammatory fats are bad." To find out more about the video, click here.
Coming to the health benefits of jagger, it also reduces acidity, bloating and gas, and is also beneficial for those with high blood pressure. Click here to know about a few health benefits of jaggery.
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.