Okra fruit supports diabetes treatment

Okra fruit contains a lot of amorphous powdery mucus, which has the effect of lowering blood sugar, supporting the treatment of diabetes.

Okra. Photo: babaucone

Dr. Vo Van Chi, author of the Dictionary of Vietnamese Medicinal Plants, said that okra is also called bup corn or muop tay. The scientific name is Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench, belonging to the Malvaceae family.

Okra is a large, erect herb, 1.8 to 2.5 m high. The stem is thick, strong, and hairy in the upper parts. The leaves are broad, palmately lobed, usually with 7 irregularly toothed lobes and variable in size. The petiole is long. The flower stalk is axillary, 1 to 3 cm long. The bracts are 8 to 12, linear, densely hairy and deciduous. The calyx is stellate, with 5 lobes divided to half. The petals are yellow or slightly yellow, with a purple spot at the base. The capsule is angular, 8 to 15 cm long, with a long pointed tip.

This is a plant species grown for its fruit, which is processed into food. Okra flowers from May to September. In Vietnam, this plant species is widely distributed, most in the southern provinces.

Pharmacological analysis shows that okra fruit is rich in pectin, mucilage, iron and calcium. Fresh fruit also contains thiamine, riboflavin, ascorbic acid and niacin. Okra mucilage is an amorphous powder with a molecular weight of about 15,000 and a protein content of about 9%. This substance has a hypoglycemic effect and can treat diabetes.

The experiment recorded that the liquid extract of the plant stem has the effect of lowering blood sugar in mice at a stable dose of 30 g per kg of body weight. When compared with insulin, okra does not cause a sudden drop in blood sugar like insulin, is more stable and does not have the risk of causing blood pressure to drop below normal levels.

In Oriental medicine, physicians use the whole okra plant and fruit as medicine. The fruit, leaves, and seeds all have soothing, mucilaginous, and diuretic properties. The green fruit is used as a decoction to treat pain caused by bleeding, hot urination, and difficult urination caused by gonorrhea. The mucilage from the fruit and seeds is used as a poultice to treat gonorrhea.

Dr. Vo Van Chi introduces some remedies for diabetes from okra as follows:

- 500 g fresh okra or 100 g chopped dried plant, cook with 2 liters of water until there is one liter left. Drink during the day.

- Use 2 okra, cut off some of the top and bottom, then cut in half lengthwise, soak in a glass of cold water, cover tightly, leave overnight. The next day before breakfast, remove the 2 okra, drink all the water. Treatment lasts 2 weeks.

According to Health and Life