Taro is a tuber full of benefits and properties, ideal in a balanced diet for its richness in essential nutrients and its curative and preventive qualities. We reveal the most important ones.
With the name of Xanthosoma we know a genus of around 50 species of different tropical and subtropical plants that in turn belong to the Araceae family, native to America, and among which we find the delicious taro, a species that the Europeans found them when they reached the south of the continent, and they eventually carried them to Africa from where they later spread their cultivation.
At that time it consisted of a tuber which was consumed by the aborigines. However, the taro we eat today is not the same, being able to distinguish between three different taro varieties: white and yellow (both originating from a species belonging to both South America and Caribbean areas), and the island taro (Asian species).
However, depending on the country in which we are, its name will vary greatly. Thus, while in Colombia, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Spain it is known by the popular name of Malanga, in Venezuela it is known as Ocumo, in Panama as Otoe and finally in the Dominican Republic as Yautía.
Be that as it may, about its different culinary uses, the truth is that it can be eaten alone, boiled or fried with garlic, in soups, purees or sancochos. It can even be used to make desserts and fritters. But if we talk about a popular and classic recipe for the preparation of taro, it consists of its preparation seasoning it with garlic, parsley and fried in hot oil. Of course, it should always be eaten cooked since raw can be toxic.
The most important benefits of taro
The taro root is constituted as a wonderful tuber full of benefits and nutritional properties, ideal to add to a varied and balanced diet as a way to complement a much more complete and healthy diet.
Incredible nutritional wealth: high in vitamins and minerals
From a nutritional point of view, taro is very rich in vitamins and minerals, thus becoming a natural option to provide our body with those essential nutrients that we need so much every day:
- Vitamins: it stands out above all its content in vitamin C, vitamins of group B (especially B6) and vitamin E.
- Minerals: their contribution in potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese stand out.
Very rich in fiber
Taro is a food extremely rich in dietary fiber. In fact, a serving of taro provides 7 grams of dietary fiber (27% of the recommended daily amount).
Therefore, it becomes an excellent natural option when it comes to regulating intestinal transit in a totally natural way by helping to speed up the process and make it much more regular. In addition, it acts as a preventive and nutritional treatment for constipation.
Helps lower cholesterol
Precisely because of its content – and contribution – in dietary fiber, it is a good option when it comes to reducing high levels of fat in the blood, particularly high cholesterol levels.
Added to this quality is its low fat content, since a serving of taro root provides only 1 gram of fat, while it does not provide any cholesterol.
Ideal for people with hypertension
It could be said that taro is an ideal food to take care of our cardiovascular health, mainly because in addition to helping us take care of our heart by reducing high cholesterol levels, it is also interesting for people with high blood pressure.
In fact, a serving of taro only provides 20 milligrams of sodium, which is just 1% of the recommended daily amount of sodium.
Good for your digestive system
Since the digestion of taro by your digestive system requires and needs a lower amount of stomach acids (if we compare it with other tubers), it becomes a beneficial food for your digestive system, because it helps prevent the disease of gastroesophageal reflux, decreasing the burning sensation that appears both in the chest and in the throat.
