Sambar is one of Indian cuisines which include vegetables such as pumpkin and okra with the spicy and sour broth. Some of you might see sambar simply as vegetable stew. Sambar is a good match for dosa, or rice in India.
Not only hit your tongue with its sour and spicy taste, sambar can also provide the health benefits of sambar. The health benefits of sambar are mainly contributed by the beneficial ingredients in this cuisine.
Who would deny a delicious food with abundance of health benefits in it? Read through the page to find out what are the health benefits presented by sambar? Also, how to make the healthy and tasty sambar in your own kitchen?
The Nutritional Information Of Sambar
Sambar is a cuisine combines vegetables such as drumstick, pumpkin, brinjal, okra, tomatoes into a thick reddish delicious broth. The appetizing broth itself is cooked by including some beneficial spices such as spicy turmeric and cayenne pepper with its Health Benefits of Turmeric and Cayenne Pepper. Therefore, from a bowl of sambar, at least we can get the following nutrition:
- Carbohydrates
- Dietary fiber
- Sugar
- Protein
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B
- Vitamin C
- Folate
- Iron
- Zinc
- Magnesium
The Health Benefits of Sambar
There’s no doubt that sambar can present the precious health benefits only from a bowl of it. Here are some of the health benefits of sambar we can get by consuming this Indian cuisine:
- Aid muscle growth
Although it is mainly composed by vegetables, sambar is able to provide the sufficient protein for your body. This way, the consumption of sambar is able to aid your muscle growth. It is also suitable for vegetarian and vegan, as the can have enough protein intakes from the non-animal product. Not only aid muscle growth, the protein can also boost the recovery process.
- Prevent diabetes
Sambar is a dish with low glycemic index. Therefore, it is suitable for those who try to control the blood sugar level. Not only good for diabetes prevention, sambar is also good for diabetic.
It is good for diabetic especially if it is the homemade sambar with such customization so that it is suitable for those with high blood sugar level.
For the better health benefits, you can substitute the white rice for sambar with brown rice. Brown rice is known to be beneficial for health, especially for those with diabetes.
- Manage weight
By consuming a bowl of sambar, you can get the excellent amount dietary fiber contributed by the vegetables in it. The fiber keeps your stomach full for a quite longer. This way, you can prevent cravings and control your weight. Such an amazing health benefits women would love. Â
- Natural laxative
The dietary fiber content in sambar is not only beneficial to maintain weight. It is also present a good job as natural laxative. The ingredients of sambar such drumstick is able to present the health benefits as natural laxative, from the well-known Health Benefits of Drumstick Seeds.
Therefore, the regular consumption of this south Indian dish may avoid you from getting digestive problems such as constipation.
- Improve immunity
A bowl of sambar is able to present the impressive good amount of antioxidants. As we know, antioxidants are the main actor of body immunity.
Therefore, by improving the consumption of food with high antioxidants level, we can improve our immune system and avoid many diseases, such as cancer and premature aging. This health benefit is also contributed by   Health Benefits of Crookneck Pumpkin in sambar.
- Good for heart
The high level of dietary fiber in sambar is excellent for heart health. It is possible as the fiber is able to significantly reduce bad cholesterol level. The reduce bad cholesterol is able to improve the heart health and avoid heart from developing some dangerous diseases such as coronary heart.
- Healthy dinner menu
Having a bowl of sambar along with the rice provides you with filling vegetables and rice. However, it feels light that it doesn’t bother your sleep while keeping you full until the next morning. Sambar can also be the answer for a question about What Should a Diabetic Eat for Breakfast and Dinner? It is possible since sambar is filling, yet having the low glycemic index.
- Detoxifying
The flavorful broth of sambar is made of the detox friendly spices. This way, the consumption of sambar is able to improve the waste, toxins, and the other unwanted material removal.
What an amazing health benefits of sambar. It is also recommended to consume the low salt sambar to enhance its beneficial point as body detoxifier.
The other health benefits of sambar you can get are:
- Prevent colon cancer
A preclinical study in India found that the spices used for sambar are all having the quality as antitumor genic. It means that the spices are beneficial to prevent and inhibit the growth of cancer cell, especially for colon cancer.Â
What a meaningful health benefits just from a bowl of Indian traditional cuisine.
- Nourish skin and hair
- Nourish digestive tract
- Good for cold recovery
- Good for children
- Prevent inflammation
- Improve cardiovascular health
Precautions In Consuming Sambar
Sambar is identic with its refreshing sour taste from tamarind. Besides the Health Benefits of Tamarind Fruit, we need to consider the possible side effect from tamarind. Some of the side effects from excessive tamarind consumption are allergy reactions, damaged teeth enamel, and gall bladder stones.
We should also watch the consumption of salt when we eat sambar. It is good to add some more salt to sambar, especially when we eat it as a side dish for rice. The excessive consumption of salt may increase sodium content. The high sodium intake may cause some health problems such as high blood pressure or hypertension. Nevertheless, it is better to eat homemade sambar than buying sambar from restaurant or hotel.
In addition, although the instant seasoning for sambar in now widely available on store, it is better for you to cook sambar by employing the original natural spices as it will enhance the health benefits of sambar.