Healthy living is one of the goals mostly found in 2018’s resolution. Well, if you are among those people who really want to achieve this goal, you could start by consuming varieties of vegetables and fruits. It means, you cannot just depend on the common vegetables you love to eat but also other types of foods that are packed with vitamins and minerals. Cowpeas are probably not common bean or vegetables you find but adding it to your daily diet is highly recommended. However, among the other peas or vegetables, most people are not really familiar with the health benefits of cowpeas.
What Is Cowpeas?
Uniquely, the name cowpeas are not widely used to call this legume instead black-eyed peas or yardlong bean are widely used to call this herbaceous legume plant which has botanical name Vigna unguiculata. The name cowpeas itself is used in some countries because this peas used as forage to feed cattle, especially cow. Cowpeas may be well known as legume or peas which the seeds used to be made into paste, curries or stews but in most Asia regions, cowpeas well known as vegetables. Don’t be mistaken, asides from the fact that this pea used as forage, it has nothing to do with cow at all.
Nutritional Value of Cowpeas
Asides from its strange name and its correlation as forage, the nutritional value found in cowpeas is actually super impressive for human health. Cowpeas are excellent source of fiber, packed with certain vitamin B complex including thiamine or vitamin B1, cowpeas are also loaded with minerals especially magnesium and iron. Below is the list of health benefits of cowpeas you should use as reasons to add this pea to your daily diet.
- Healthy Digestion
Consuming cowpeas could help maintaining digestive health because it is rich of fiber. It is a common knowledge that one of the health benefits of fiber is to solve almost all stomach issues because of its ability to improve the bowel movement and absorb water when it is needed.
- Promotes Heart Health
Based on some scientific research studies, cowpeas contain thiamine or vitamin B1 in quite high amount. Vitamin B1 benefits are very essential in promoting heart health. Furthermore, antioxidant flavonoid also found in cowpeas which help optimizing heart’s function.
- Maintains Cholesterol
Another benefit of fiber is to bind unnecessary cholesterol to be washed off from your intestine and support the main function of good cholesterol. It means, consuming cowpeas could help maintaining cholesterol level naturally.
- Regulates Blood Pressure
Not only maintaining cholesterol, cowpeas are also able to help regulating blood pressure. It means when you could avoid hypertension, the risk of stroke and heart attack could be reduced significantly.
- Recommended for Diabetic Patient
Those who have been diagnosed with certain types of diabetes must find it out very hard to manage their diet. Still for your healthy living goal, consuming wide varieties of foods are still highly recommended. Cowpeas are considered safe diet for diabetic patient.
- Fights Cancer
The existence of flavonoids, one of the powerful antioxidant is the evidence about the ability of cowpeas in fighting cancer. Moreover, cowpeas are also loaded with folate which has role in promoting the regeneration of cells to replace the dead cells.
- Vegies for Weight Loss
You have a lot of reasons to add cowpeas to your weight loss diet program because it is low in calories with zero fat but packed with vitamins and loaded with minerals.
- Promotes Healthy Hair and Skin
All kinds of vegetables are good for skin and hair but cowpeas are the best choice in this matter because besides antioxidants, you could enjoy the vitamin C benefits as well as vitamin A, vitamin B complex.
- Treats Anemia
One of the minerals found in cowpeas besides magnesium is iron. Iron is essential for the red blood cells production. When the amount of RBCs is normal, condition like anemia could be treated naturally.
- Natural Solution to Insomnia
If you want to reach your healthy goal resolution, high quality sleep is a must. However, you have no idea how to deal with your insomnia. Insomnia occurs when your brain is unconsciously busy caused by stress or anxiety. Cowpeas contain tryptophan, an organic compound that has role to enhance mood and relieve stress. If you are in a good mood, sleeping is an easy task.
- Prevent Depression
The symptoms of depression is not something you could deal in lightly way. It is a serious condition and cowpeas contain a certain type of amino acid well known as phenylalanine which in modern medical world used as depression therapy. Furthermore, cowpeas also contain tryptophan which has role in improving mood.
- Treats Diarrhea
Fiber in cowpeas could help absorb excessive water in the digestion when diarrhea occurs. Furthermore, cowpeas also contain some antibacterial agent that will kill bacteria which cause the diarrhea. Though meeting a doctor and drinking a lot of water to avoid dehydration are still highly recommended but at least it could help reducing the worst symptoms of diarrhea.
- Natural Immunity Booster
Whenever you need a strong immunity booster, just add cowpeas to your diet may help. For example is during recovery after illness, eating cowpeas may help accelerating the recovery process.
- Promotes Strong Bones
Just like all types of legume, cowpeas also packed with calcium which is essential for the bones health. Besides calcium, cowpeas also loaded with phosphorus, magnesium and iron which are responsible to bone density.
Cautions of Cowpeas
Though so far there is no specific cases reported regarding the cautions of cowpeas but still some cautions below should be taken into account.
- There are always the perks in taking advantages of health benefits of organic fruit and vegetables. It means you should know from where your cowpeas came from and if not you should make sure to wash off all the chemical contamination during the cultivation or transporting process.
- Allergic reaction may occur to those who are allergic to certain types of beans or nuts.
- Though there are some people who claimed consuming cowpeas could cause gout but as long as it is consumed in moderate amount, such claim could not be supported scientifically.
If you are living in Asia region, cowpeas are one of the common vegetables that are quite easy to be found. Asides from the impressive health benefits of cowpeas, this legume is also very tasty and could be cooked in various way such as fried, steamed, boiled and the young cowpeas are very crunchy when consumed raw.