Okro or Okra is a vegetable that adorns the soups of many homes in the country. Traditionally, Okro is made into a soup either alone or in combination with some other leafy vegetables like bitter leaf and ugu. Sometimes, it is mixed with ogbono. Either way, the presence of okro in accompaniment of traditionally swallowed meals like eba, fufu, semo, and amala is such that even our fore-fathers recognised its ability to regulate the gastrointestinal environment because it is able to block the adhesion to and colonization of the walls of the stomach by Helicobacter pylori, thereby helping to combat the nuisance of that organism in causing peptic ulcers and gastritis. This way, okra helps to support the gastrointestinal system. It also contains mucilage, a slimy substance that reduces irritation in the stomach especially in the intestinal tract as a whole.
Okro is also known as ladies’ fingers, and is a warm-season vegetable, popular in the southern parts of the United States, the Caribbean, South America and parts of Africa and the Middle East. In all these places, the pattern of preparation of okro differs widely.
measures the average effectiveness of blood sugar control by a person in the previous three months. By doing all these, okro can help to reduce the speed with which weight is gained, or prevent it from happening in the first place. It helps to prevent insulin resistance in this way. The fibre it contains stabilises blood sugar by slowing the rate of absorption of sugar from the gastrointestinal system. By slowing the uptake of glucose from the intestines, it reduces the severity of craving for sugars in the body. This improves the level of satiety in the body and protects the beta cells of the pancreas when glucose is not allowed to rise rapidly in the blood. In this way, the stress levels of the pancreas are reduced.
The circulating levels of cholesterol are also controlled when it prevents that substance from binding to bile. This contributes to the regulation of the cholesterol levels in the blood. Cholesterol is regarded as an accelerator for the development of cardiovascular diseases. This includes the formation of artherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. These are potential causes for a heart attack or stroke in many individuals as some future complication. The people who are most at risk of these often fatal complications are those who indulge in heavy cigarette smoking, or those who are obese or have already developed hypertension or diabetes or both. Okro is easy to cultivate, nurture and harvest. It helps to improve and maintain healthy living among family members.
Written by DR. SYLVESTER IKHISEMOJIE
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