Lotus seeds benefits your body’s several parts. Lotus seeds are indeed highly nutritious food, packed with essential components including proteins, fibers, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They offer numerous advantages for human health such as improving sleep patterns, promoting weight loss, managing diabetes symptoms, enhancing nervous system activity, and slowing down aging. Lotus seeds are an ideal addition to the diet to boost physical and mental wellness. Here we are going to discuss the benefits of lotus seeds.
Lotus Seeds Benefits
Enhances Digestion
Being rich in fiber content, lotus seeds help keep the digestive tract in order. It regulates appetite, controls untimely cravings thus accelerating weight loss. Lotus seeds also detoxify the kidneys and liver, eliminating food wastes and preventing their accumulation in the body, thus maintaining gut wellness.
Augments Heart Health
Lotus seeds contain abundant magnesium in it. Magnesium being the greatest channel blocker improves the blood, oxygen, and the flow of other nutrients. Low levels of magnesium can leave your body more prone to heart attacks. Such great is the content of Lotus seed that it leads to a dramatic difference in the heart condition. Its nutrition content of magnesium and folate brings down the risks associated with coronary heart diseases and other heart-related conditions.
Promotes Sleep
Lotus seeds are supposed to have calming effects and are antispasmodic, which means, your nerves relax better and you get better sleep. It also helps the dilatation process of the blood vessels and helps immensely in alleviating depression and anxiety. This is thanks to the presence of isoquinoline alkaloids in Lotus seeds.
Helps Manage Diabetes
Lotus seeds inherently have a low glycemic index. Hence, they restrict a sudden spike in blood sugar levels. Lotus seeds also monitor insulin response in the body, maintaining glucose content in the bloodstream within the normal range. Consuming lotus seeds dried or roasted as an evening snack is ideal for a diabetic diet. As diabetes patients have a high risk of hypertension or high blood pressure, lotus seeds also contribute to stabilizing blood pressure levels in the body.
Uplifts Kidney Functions
Lotus seeds are bestowed with potent phytonutrients that possess astringent properties. This helps in eradicating toxins and wastes from the system, reducing acidity, and preventing the formation of kidney stones. Moreover, the strong diuretic qualities of these tiny pits aid in smoothly eliminating urine and other fluid wastes from the kidneys, and bladder, thereby enhancing renal health and averting infection, and damage to the kidneys.
Promotes Sexual Wellness
Imbued with plant-based bioactive compounds, lotus seeds are an excellent aphrodisiac that vastly improves sexual drive, and libido in both men and women. They stimulate blood circulation to the reproductive organs, thereby delivering vital nutrients and energy to those tissues and augmenting sexual health and fertility. Consuming a few roasted lotus seeds as part of the regular diet significantly promotes desire and sexual performance and effectively treats conditions like erectile dysfunction in men and low sex drive in women.
Prevents Inflammation
One of the most pronounced benefits of consuming Lotus seeds is that it is very helpful in preventing inflammation. It is known to contain a certain kind of naturally occurring flavonoid known as kaempferol. This flavonoid is also commonly found in coffee and it is very effective in preventing inflammation as well as aging issues. Not only that, but lotus seeds can also work excellently as a substitute for coffee when they are roasted. Moreover, lotus seeds are packed with disease-fighting nutrients known as phytonutrients which include alkaloids, gallic acid as well as saponins.
Low Glycemic Index
Another very important factor that makes lotus seeds an extremely good choice for your diet is that they have a significantly low glycemic index than most other carbohydrate foods including bread, rice, and so on. Owing to this property of the lotus seeds, they hold some beneficial effects on the health of diabetic individuals. Therefore, lotus seeds serve as the appropriate food for them.
Gluten-Free Supplement for Protein
For anyone who needs an alternative item for their protein supplement needs that is also gluten-free, lotus seeds are the best choice. In addition to that, lotus seeds are an excellent potential nutraceutical and pharmaceutical source as well. Grounding it and blending it with other nutritionally rich legumes including daals and soybean and can act as excellent food. This combination is an excellent way to develop a gluten-free but low-cost protein-rich food supplement that can be very helpful in fighting malnutrition.
Anti-aging Properties
Finally, a certain enzyme is found in lotus seeds. This enzyme plays an active role in boosting the health of the proteins found in the body. Moreover, they can also be very effective in repairing the damaged proteins of the body. Thus, with the healing effect, lotus seeds can stop the signs of aging from showing on your skin.
Key to Weight Loss
In addition to all the points, Lotus seeds also stand out to be an excellent option if you are looking for a snacking option that aids in weight loss as well. Being low in calories, lotus seeds are an excellent choice to tackle your hunger pangs without disrupting your diet.
100g Lotus Seeds Nutrition
- Energy 332 Kcal 17% Percent of RDA
- Carbohydrates 64.47 g 49% of RDA
- Protein 15.41 g 27% of RDA
- Total Fat 1.97 g 10% of RDA
- Cholesterol 0 mg 0% of RDA
- Folates 104 μg 26% of RDA
- Niacin 1.60 mg 10% of RDA
- Pantothenic acid 0.851 mg 17% of RDA
- Pyridoxine 0.629 mg 48% of RDA
- Riboflavin 0.150 mg 11.5% of RDA
- Thiamin 0.640 mg 53% of RDA
- Vitamin A 50 IU 1.66% of RDA
- Vitamin C 0 μg 0% of RDA
- Sodium 5 mg <1% of RDA
- Potassium 1368 mg 29% of RDA
- Calcium 163 mg 16% of RDA
- Copper 0.350 mg 39% of RDA
- Iron 3.53 mg 44% of RDA
- Magnesium 210 mg 52% of RDA
- Manganese 2.318 mg 100% of RDA
- Phosphorus 626 mg 89% of RDA
- Zinc 1.05 mg 9.5% of RDA
Lotus Seeds Side Effects
Lotus seeds and powder residues are usually well-tolerated by most people in minute doses. In some cases, it triggers gut problems like indigestion, constipation, and stomach cramps and hence must be consumed only after consulting with a medical expert.
How to Eat Lotus Seeds?
When it comes to eating Lotus seeds, there are several ways that you can follow to consume them. No matter how you wish to have it, be it raw, grounded, roasted, boiled, or in the form of a paste or syrup; lotus seeds or ‘makhna’ can fit every need efficiently. Lotus seeds find their needs most commonly in the form of pastes. This paste form finds extensive use in Japanese desserts as well as Chinese cuisines and pastries.
On the other hand, dry lotus seeds can also be consumed regularly. All you will have to do is, soak the lotus seeds in water overnight, and then, you can directly add them to soups, salads, or any dish of your choice. Apart from that, lotus seeds are also used as puffed seeds. Especially when these puffed seeds are drily roasted, they make an amazing. Puffed seeds can be used in several other dishes such as curries, puddings, kheers, and so on.
