Daikon: the benefits and harm, especially use

For several centuries, daikon has remained the king of vegetables on the dinner tables of all families in Japan and China.From Asian countries, he moved to our kitchen, having fallen in love with many of his delicate taste, many beneficial properties and low calorie content. In Japan, daikon is eaten as often as in Russia - potatoes. His close relatives are radish, radishes, turnips and horseradish. It belongs to the cabbage family. Root crops can grow in length to more than 70 cm, and weigh up to 3 kg.

In Russia, daikon is called white or Japanese radish, because it is very similar to it in appearance, however, unlike Russian radish, this vegetable has a pleasant, soft, even slightly sweetish taste, because it contains no mustard oil, which and is responsible for bitterness. It also has a relatively neutral odor, unlike sharp-smelling radish. That allows every day to use this vegetable in your diet. The form has an elongated, looks like a long white carrot or a small zucchini with a pointed end. To taste, the root crop resembles a stalk of cabbage, only very juicy and sweet.

100 grams of vegetable contains only 20 calories, which makes it very popular with actively losing weight and watching their weight. It is completely absent fats, which has a positive effect on the shape and human health, and a lot of carbohydrates, giving a boost of energy and vitality.

Nutritional value and the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates per 100 g:

• proteins 1.3 g (5 kcal):
• fat 0 g (0 kcal);
• carbohydrate 4.4 g (15 kcal).

The energy ratio of BZHU: 24%, 0%, 76%.

Daikon is a record holder in the content of vegetable protein, which is easily digested and saturates tissues and cells of the body in a few minutes. And the enzymes contained in it contribute to the easy digestion of starch. Also in the daikon contains a huge amount of minerals, vitamins, micro-and macronutrients, vitamins C, PP, A, H, E, D, group B; mineral components - calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, iron, iodine, manganese, sulfur. The glycemic index is 15 units.

Due to the huge content of healing components and a balanced composition of daikon is very useful for the human body. It has a beneficial effect on almost all internal organs, and also cleanses the blood and strengthens the immune system. Daily use of infusion of daikon leaves has a positive effect on nervous activity. The leaves contain 5 times more vitamin C than in the root. To get the most benefit, you need to eat young vegetables, because with age, vitamins are drawn from fruit to leaves.

Daikon refers to only environmentally friendly products. It not only does not accumulate toxic compounds, heavy metals, chemicals, radionuclides, oxidations and other substances harmful to the body, but also contributes to their removal, being a plant indicator of the accumulation of chemical compounds hazardous to human health.

White radish contains a huge amount of antioxidants that slow down the aging process and have a beneficial effect on appearance and health in general. The higher the content of antioxidants, the better the state of health and longer life expectancy.

With regular use, it has a positive effect on memory, increases the level of brain activity and concentration, helps with remembering a large amount of information.

Daikon is also very useful for skin prone to inflammation and rashes. It is necessary to peel the vegetable, rub the flesh on a fine grater and apply this mash to the face, avoiding contact with the eyes and the area of ​​the moving eyelid, paying careful attention to acne and acne. After 15-20 minutes you need to gently wash the gruel with cool water.Within half an hour, you will see how the pimples dried out, the black dots disappeared, and the complexion evened out. It is necessary to make such a mask 2 times a week for a month, and you will see with your own eyes the tangible benefits of its impact. It has a slight whitening effect.

Few vegetables can boast such a huge iron content like daikon. With its regular use will increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood, which nourishes the body with oxygen, makes a person more durable, energetic, efficient.

The remarkable mineral composition of Japanese radish is very useful for the heart muscle because it strengthens the walls of blood vessels, normalizes blood pressure levels. It is a means of preventing heart attack, heart attacks, atherosclerosis, and premature aging because it removes excess cholesterol from the body, which negatively affects the heart’s activity, covering it with a layer of fat and slowing down its work, as well as reducing the risk of cancer due to the high content of isoiordanoic acid.

The high content of vitamins is an excellent assistant in the fight against colds and viruses. Beta-carotene helps to strengthen the protective properties of the body and increase the level of immunity. Phytoncides have an antibacterial and protective effect, and lysocin slows down the reproduction of bacteria and fungi. White radish is an excellent natural remedy for flu, sore throat and chronic bronchitis. To achieve the greatest healing effect, it is worth brewing it in warm water with honey and lemon and drinking before each meal for 5-7 days.

Nutritionists advise the inclusion of radish in your diet to those who suffer from insomnia, depression, nervous exhaustion. Vitamins and minerals will help relieve fatigue, stress, give a charge of good mood, saturate the body with serotonin - "the hormone of happiness." She settles the mood swings and normalizes the psychological background.

Also, this vegetable acts as an excellent diuretic, helps in problems with digestion of food, acting as a vegetable laxative. If you add radish to your diet at least a couple of times a week, you can forget what problems with stool and urination are. That is why nutritionists develop programs for detox and cleansing, necessarily including in them white radish and vegetable foodstuffs similar to it in properties.

A grated root vegetable, filled with warm water, is an excellent remedy for a hangover, as a vegetable rich in vitamin C increases the resistance of the immune system, causes the body to tone, relieving headaches and tremors. It also helps with nausea and gagging.

A large amount of fiber has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, helping to eliminate toxins, toxic substances and decomposition products from the intestines that interfere with proper digestion.

However, even such a useful vegetable as white radish, has a number of contraindications.

It should not be eaten by people with the following health problems:

• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• gastritis;
• gastric or duodenal ulcer;
• kidney and liver disease;
• flatulence;
• chronic diseases of the genitourinary system;
• individual intolerance;
• problems with metabolism.

This vegetable will not cause severe harm to health, but it will be able to upset the condition of patients with the above diseases a little.Therefore, it is important to use it in moderation. Eat a small piece and listen to the sensations in the abdominal cavity. If after a couple of hours no discomfort has arisen, then you can eat daikon from time to time, the main thing is not to overdo it, so that later you don’t have to go to a gastroenterologist or do a stomach wash.

Besides the fact that daikon can be eaten fresh, it is boiled, fried, steamed, added to vitamin cocktails and smoothies, it is brewed fruit in water, drink the infusion from the leaves. He enjoys special love and popularity among people who are actively losing weight, who monitor their weight and the state of the organism as a whole. There are many ways to cook this magical root, they are all quite simple and quick.

Let us dwell on the most popular and proven recipes for losing weight and healing the body.

• Drink in the morning on an empty stomach for half a glass of daikon juice. To do this, you need to rub it on a coarse grater, squeeze and strain the formed liquid through gauze. Eat this juice should be every morning for 2-3 weeks. If the taste is unusual for you, you can mix it with freshly squeezed juice of carrots, apples or add half a teaspoon of honey.
• Also remarkably cleanses the body and speeds up the metabolism of green cocktail with the content of Japanese radish. Mix in equal proportions a few slices of daikon, a couple of celery stalks, half a green apple, spinach, parsley, a few cucumber circles. Send all the vegetables to a blender and whisk until smooth. Pour the resulting gruel can natural mineral or just purified drinking water.

• In Asia, one of the most common dietary dishes is boiled radish, chopped into minced meat and mixed in the same proportions with brown rice and basmati rice. For dressing use soy sauce, flaxseed oil, a few drops of lemon juice and a little mustard to speed up the metabolism. If bitterness is felt, it can be neutralized by adding a teaspoon of low-fat sour cream. Despite the low calorie content of such a dish, the feeling of satiety after it will remain for several hours.
• There is a well-known "grandmother's" method of using radish for flu and cold. Cut the vegetable in half, make a recess about 3 cm in it with a knife or spoon and add a couple of teaspoons of honey to the hole. Put the root vegetable in a deep glass for greater stability. After a few hours, the honey will become liquid and will mix with the beneficial elements contained in the daikon. Drink the resulting juice before each meal, and the disease will be much faster and tastier.
• In Japan, a very popular Daikon snack called Takuan. It is used at the end of the meal, as it contributes to better digestion and secretion of gastric juice. For its preparation, chopped radish slices are roasted in the sun for a couple of weeks, then, in a wooden keg, they boil them with salt under a press. Sugar, chilli, kelp, daikon leaves, persimmon and rice bran are added. After all the manipulations, the snack acquires a distinctive yellow color and rich aroma.

Vegetables are better to take on the market or from a trusted manufacturer. Prefer the autumn harvest, rather than summer with a shorter shelf life. Choose medium-sized roots, elastic, without dents, spots and damage. A plus would be if the vegetable will be present tops. It will retain a greater amount of moisture in the plant. The vegetable itself must be white or cream colored. If it is greenish, it means that the fruit is not yet ripe.Put him in a warm place for a week, where he will mature himself.

Store vegetables better in a dark cool place: in a closet, underground or on the bottom shelf of a refrigerator at a temperature of up to +7 degrees. It is necessary to avoid direct sunlight, from them on the radish dark spots will begin to appear, the fruit will become withered and soft. Also, do not refreeze the vegetable, from this, too, most of the useful qualities come to naught.

Now you know what a “big root” is, after all, this is how “daikon” is translated from Japanese. Although this vegetable is the birthplace of Asia, in Russia it enjoys no less love and popularity. He remains the favorite of those people who dear to good health and chiseled figure. Add white radish to your diet at least a couple of times a week, and health problems and extra pounds will disappear forever from your life.

For more on daikon, see the next video.