Makhana and Heart Health
Makhana, also known as Fox Nuts or Phool Makhana has become extremely popular across the globe for its taste as well as its medicinal value. Rich in nutrients, it is beneficial for managing many serious diseases. Traditionally used only for religious purposes, Makhana has found a strong foothold in India and other countries like China, Colombia, Japan etc.
Used for various purpose like traditional recipes of sweet dish, pastries etc., Makhana seeds and Pops are very popular across all age groups. Packed with Magnesium, Potassium, Phosphorous and other minerals, Makhana is used for making Ayurvedic Medicines. Apart from Ayurvedic Medicines, Makhana seeds and flakes have seen an exponential growth in the Chinese Medicine usage as well.
Makhana seeds also known as Lotus seeds are very popular in countries like Colombia, where they are consumed directly from local shops. China uses the seeds paste in making tasty pastries. Similarly even Japan uses Makhana seeds in making cakes etc.
Global usage of Makhana for both personal and Industrial use has seen a steep rise over the past decades. Owing to its miraculous benefits, Medical practitioners, dieticians etc. have started advising everyone to include Makhana in their diet.
Cardiovascular Diseases
Makhana has been known to cure diseases like cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. With the increase in stress in people’s life, bad eating habits countries are struggling to maintain high health standards. Consumers have realised the benefits of healthy eating. Hence, pushing consumers to opt for new super food Makhana.
Cardiovascular disease is a condition that involves narrowed or blocked blood vessels. If unattended, it may lead to chest pain, heart attack and stroke. Other reasons for heart diseases can be attributed to a number of factors like High cholesterol levels, diabetes, obesity, intake of saturated fats, genetic causes, smoking etc.
Taking a holistic view on Cardiovascular disease , researchers find that Heart related diseases are one of the world’s biggest killer and leads to death of 17.5 million all across the world.
In the U.S., Cardiovascular disease has been accounted for maximum deaths reported i.e. , 840,678 deaths in the US in 2016. In 2016, Coronary Heart Disease was the leading cause (43.2%) of deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease in the US, followed by stroke (16.9%), High Blood Pressure (9.8%), Heart Failure (9.3%), diseases of the arteries (3.0%), and other cardiovascular diseases (17.7%)
According to WHO, cardiovascular diseases are on the rise due to wrong eating habits and sedentary lifestyle among other factors. Human beings are becoming more and more prone to heart diseases due to wrong lifestyle options, genetic causes and bad diet that is followed by people. The State-Level Disease burden study by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study group estimates that 28 per cent mortality in India is due to cardiovascular disease.
Reasons for heart diseases
The diet of people across the world has changed a lot over the past few decades. In countries like India, traditional foods like Dal, roti, sabzi etc. have been replaced by processed foods like chips, ready to eat, packed cereals etc.
A lot of packaged food is generally made using a lot preservatives and artificial flavours to make it last long and tasty. Consumers prefer to eat Junk food with Colas that have zero nutritional value and only leads to serious health conditions.
Slowly but surely, consumers are realising the ill-effects of eating processed and junk food over a long period of time. Bad diet has led to increase in number of reported heart diseases. High in Sodium and fat, such food only leads to blockage of arteries, obesity, hypertension etc. Less fibrous food leaves the body with no vitamins and nutrition. In the era of stiff competition, people don’t have the time to cook fresh food, so prefer ready to eat food like Cup-o-Noodles, frozen Parathas, mixes, pickles etc. These unhealthy food items only add on to the heart related diseases.
Over the past 30 years, disease like High blood pressure, diabetes have increased manifolds. Currently in India, more than 75 million people have hypertension and diabetes respectively.
The usage of Tobacco has seen an upward moving curve with lakhs of Tobacco related deaths. Consumption of alcohol has been increasing in recent years.
Apart from diet, Tobacco, Pollution is also adding to the ill health of Heart of people in India and other countries.
Sedentary lifestyle of people like sitting all day in front of laptops due to desk jobs, kids playing video games all day etc. have led to increase a number of heart conditions. For a healthy heart, exercises are very important for pumping blood to heart. However, with the changing times, people are less mobile and more sedentary in their life patterns.
All the above mentioned factors put together have led lakhs of death dues to Heart attack, stroke and an alarming rise in Cardiovascular diseases in India.
The Elixir of Life, Makhana helps in Curing Heart Diseases
Makhanas seeds and flakes are known for having low sodium and high potassium which helps in overall health of people with heart conditions. The high potassium helps decrease the blood pressure levels among patients having High blood pressure.
Low sodium in Makhanas ensure that the blood pressure of consumers remain stable and does not exceed the normal level.
Makhanas are extremely helpful for weight watchers and people who are struggling with overweight. Free from saturated fats, it makes as ideal food, snacks for the people suffering with heart conditions.
With miraculous benefits, Makhanas are very good to improve the quality of blood and oxygen in the body. High in magnesium ensures that patients have health heart as well. Generally, heart patients are known to have low level of magnesium in their bodies.
Makhanas are also very rich in calcium that makes them extremely good for the bones. The Makhana seeds also contribute a lot to detoxification of the body and help in improving digestive health. Makhanas have anti-ageing properties that’s also help slow down the ageing process in the body. All these benefits helps in overall well- being of the heart of patients.
Having such benefits for patients with Cardiovascular diseases, patients are consuming this super food in different forms by roasting, baking and cooking. Globally, consumers are getting more and more ware about the innumerable qualities of Makhana seeds and flakes.