5 Benefits of Sapotta That Will Convince You to Eat It Everyday
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Chances are, you’ve never heard of sapotta before today. But if you live in southern Louisiana, chances are that you’ve eaten it before without even knowing it! In fact.
if you were born in the Gulf South and have spent any time there, odds are good that you’ve eaten it multiple times over the course of your life.
A popular ingredient in many types of cooking, from seafood gumbo to rice and beans, sapotta is an often-overlooked part of Cajun cuisine that deserves to be praised for its unique texture and taste.
1) High in protein
A 3.5-ounce serving of sapota fruit has about 27 grams of protein—which is equal to an entire can of tuna or 6 ounces of milk.
Sapota is a great low-fat, high-protein snack that will help you feel full and curb hunger pains between meals. Plus, protein plays a key role in maintaining muscle mass as we age.
To benefit from its muscle-friendly benefits, be sure to make sapota part of your everyday dietdiet! And if you’re looking for more ways to get your daily dose of protein, check out these 15 High-Protein Foods for Weight Loss.
What’s more, while most fruits are higher in carbs than protein, there are 5 exceptions: apricots (1g protein per 1g carb), papaya (2g per 1g), figs (4g per 1g), sapota (4.2 g per 0.9 g) and persimmon (5 g per 0.6 g).
Figs also contain calcium, which studies have shown may assist with weight loss by increasing fat oxidation.
In fact, one study showed eating two dried figs before each meal helped participants reduce body fat over six months compared to those who didn't eat any before their meals.
So go ahead and incorporate these 4 other fruits into your weight loss plan for additional benefits.
And if you want to take it a step further, combine them with these 25 Best-Ever Fat Burning Foods! But wait, there's more! Not only is sapota high in protein but it's also packed with fiber.
One cup of raw fruit has about 3 grams of fiber—which is about half your daily recommended intake. Fiber not only helps keep us full but can help lower cholesterol levels and prevent blood sugar spikes after we eat—both factors that contribute to weight gain.
Plus, according to research published in Cell Metabolism , eating fiber at least 30 minutes before bed can help you lose an average of 5 pounds without making any other changes—such as exercising or cutting calories! Check out our 60+ High-Fiber Foods list for ideas on how to add more fiber into your diet today.
What’s more, unlike many other fruits, sapota contains no added sugars. Instead, it's naturally sweetened with antioxidants called anthocyanins—the same compounds found in blueberries that give them their rich purple color.
2) Prevents cancer
High sapotta intake has been linked with a reduced risk of many cancers, including breast, colon and endometrial cancer.
This is likely due to sapotta’s ability to reduce inflammation and increase immune function. Eat it raw: Cooking sapotta reduces its nutritional value, so opt for it fresh in salads and other raw dishes.
Cooked is fine: If you must cook your sapotta, use mild heat instead of boiling or frying it as those methods destroy beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Consider eating high-quality grass-fed beef regularly: Grass-fed beef offers similar health benefits to sapotta, plus more iron and omega 3 fatty acids. Try lean cuts like flank steak or top sirloin rather than fatty cuts like ribeye or porterhouse.
Enjoy small portions of chicken, fish and seafood on a regular basis: While they don't offer as much sapotta nutrition as grass-fed beef does, these foods are also rich in protein and B vitamins which are essential for heart health.
The best part about these proteins? They're low in saturated fat. Make sure to limit serving sizes to keep calories in check Remember that all meats contain cholesterol, even if they're lean cuts.
For optimal health, avoid processed meats such as bacon and sausage entirely. In moderation: Avoid going overboard on any one food source since consuming too much of any nutrient can be detrimental to your overall health.
Instead, make an effort to eat a variety of different foods each day from all five food groups (grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and meat).
A balanced diet will help ensure that you get adequate amounts of nutrients from all food groups every day. To lose weight safely but quickly eat high-fiber grains like oats or barley at breakfast; fill up on salad at lunch.
Enjoy some grilled salmon for dinner; then snack on fruit throughout the day for dessert. Drink plenty of water, too! Water helps cleanse your body by ridding it of toxins and excess waste products. So drink up.
3) Prevents diabetes
The sapota is a nutritious fruit that lowers blood sugar and improves glucose tolerance. According to a study published in Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, consuming sapota can lower blood sugar levels and prevent diabetes.
Polysaccharides in sapota reduce expression of certain proteins related to diabetes and metabolic syndrome, including glucose-regulated protein 78 kDa (GRP78), glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1).
Decreased expression leads to less fat accumulation, increased lean body mass and decreased inflammatory markers—all key components for promoting healthy weight loss.
In addition, sapota increases antioxidant activity by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation. NF-κB activation plays an important role in inflammation, aging and development of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
By reducing NF-κB activation, sapota helps protect against these conditions as well as heart disease and stroke.
In addition to preventing diabetes, regular consumption of sapota also has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, thereby helping people with type 2 diabetes manage their condition more effectively.
A study published in Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that rats fed a high-fat diet supplemented with sapota experienced significant improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity compared to those on a high-fat diet alone.
Another study published in BioMed Research International found that sapota extract significantly decreased blood glucose levels and increased insulin secretion in diabetic rats.
Finally, a study published in Phytotherapy Research found that drinking an extract made from sapotas could reduce fasting blood sugar levels by as much as 30 percent within two hours after administration.
This effect was comparable to that of oral hypoglycemic agents used for treating type 2 diabetes. The authors concluded that sapota may be useful for managing symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
4) Prevents heart disease
The sapotta fruit is a great source of fiber, which helps prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol and preventing blood clots. Saponins found in sapota are also helpful in reducing bad cholesterol while increasing good cholesterol.
By consuming small amounts of sapota every day, you can avoid many of our most common deadly diseases such as heart attack and stroke.
Also by lowering bad cholesterol, you will maintain healthy skin, hair and nails. Saponins have even been known to kill cancer cells in lab studies! Don’t be surprised if your doctor recommends you eat more sapota after a few months on it.
Just make sure to eat organic fruits so that you aren’t exposed to pesticides. If possible, try to find locally grown sapota because they tend to be fresher than imported ones.
If you are able to find fresh local fruits then I recommend making a sorbet out of them using some sugar and milk or cream instead of water.
The cream will provide additional health benefits and make it taste much better than using just water or milk alone. If you don’t want to go through all that trouble though then eating them raw should still provide plenty of benefits for you anyway.
Make sure to check out my recipes page for ideas on how to use sapota effectively. In addition to what I already mentioned above, another great benefit of sapota is that it can lower blood pressure naturally.
Since we already know how dangerous high blood pressure can be, especially when coupled with high cholesterol levels (which we already talked about above.
Having something around like sapota that reduces both high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels together is nothing short of amazing! Last but not least, sapota has been shown in studies to help prevent depression from setting in due its anti-depressant properties .
So overall, getting more sapota into your diet could really do wonders for your overall health by keeping you healthier longer with less illness and medical bills. Not only that but you'll also live longer, feel happier and have an easier time controlling your weight as well.
Sounds pretty awesome doesn't it? Well there's no reason why everyone shouldn't be eating more sapota everyday to reap these wonderful benefits.
But remember that's it's important to eat organically grown fruits whenever possible so you aren't exposed to harmful chemicals. Eating conventional produce may contain pesticides which could interfere with their medicinal properties.
For example, certain compounds in sapota have been shown to fight cancer cells in lab studies. These same compounds are thought to be neutralized by pesticides before they reach their full potential.
So again, try to get your hands on fresh local fruits whenever possible if you want maximum results. One last thing: Be careful about cooking with sapota since it tends to lose many of its beneficial properties when cooked at temperatures over 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit).
For example, heating sapota causes it to lose most of its antioxidants so that means you should never boil or bake any foods containing sapota since those cooking methods require temperatures higher than 100 degrees Celsius.
If you have a pressure cooker, you can cook sapota in it by following the instructions below. If you have a slow cooker, that's okay too and works great for preparing sapota. Just be sure to put the lid on your slow cooker so that it retains its heat.
This way your sapota won't cool down too quickly and be damaged by the cooler air temperature inside of your slow cooker.
Pressure Cooker Instructions: Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of your pressure cooker along with 2 cups of chopped up sapota pieces. Close the lid and turn on high pressure for 10 minutes followed by a 10 minute natural release.
After that let it sit undisturbed until the valve drops on its own or until steam stops coming out of your pressure valve.
5) Fights viral infections
Research shows that sapotta is rich in thymol and carvacrol, two antioxidants that help fight viruses like colds, flu, and herpes It also contains quercetin, a flavonoid that can block signals sent by viruses when they try to invade cells.
Don’t eat sapotta daily if you want it as an antiviral; instead, wait until you feel any symptoms of illness before eating some. The best way to consume sapotta for its anti-viral properties is to add it into your diet regularly—not just when you’re sick.
There are many ways to do so: If you have a sweet tooth, enjoy fresh sapotta with honey or maple syrup. Mix it into your favorite smoothie recipe for extra flavor and nutrition.
Or cook with sapotta—it works well in soups, stews, or marinades! In addition to fighting viral infections, sapotta helps protect against heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and even aging.
One study found that participants who ate about one teaspoon of sapotilla powder every day had higher levels of vitamin C than those who didn’t eat sapotilla at all.
Another study found that patients who consumed sapotilla had lower blood pressure than those who didn’t. Researchers believe these health benefits come from sapotta's ability to strengthen our immune system and improve.
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