8 Amazing Health Benefits of Eggplant

People love eating eggs, they love eating plants, but not everyone loves eating eggplants. Somehow they often get forgotten. Maybe it’s their distinct color. Maybe the idea of an egg growing into a plant sounds scary (luckily that’s not what happens). I really don’t know why eggplant gets left out.

What I do know, however, is that it shouldn’t. There are countless good reasons why you should be eating more eggplant. They’re full of minerals, vitamins, and phytonutrients. They may not actually be made of eggs and plants, but they’re certainly as healthy as the two combined.

8 Eggplant Health Benefits

1. Lower Your Risk of Diabetes

Eggplants are full of fiber which helps to regulate your blood sugar. Some studies have shown that regularly eating foods that are high in fiber can reduce your risk of diabetes by up to 20%.

2. Lower Your Calorie Count

I’m not a big fan of counting calories, and we now know that not all calories are created equal, but even so, eating eggplant is amazing because so many nutrients are crammed into so few calories. There are just 35 calories in one cup of eggplant. That’s hard to beat.

3. Lower Oxidative Stress

Eggplants contain a lot of bioflavonoids which help protect your cells against free radical damage. This can lower the oxidative stress on your body, which is known to cause cancer.

4. Higher Brain Cell Strength

The colorful skin on eggplants are full of a nutrient called nasunin, which is a powerful antioxidant. In particular, it helps prevent free radicals from causing damage to your brain cells.

5. Higher Heart Health

For similar reasons, eggplants are great for your heart. Once again the nasusin works to improve the health of your system. A study on the effects of eggplant juice showed that it could help lower bad cholesterol levels, improve the health of artery walls, and relax blood vessels.

6. Higher Weight Loss

Any nutrient dense food is great for weight-loss really. All the fiber helps to make you feel full for longer, while also reducing your cravings. Drinking eggplant juice before a meal is even thought to help your body absorb fewer fats. Though I wouldn’t recommend doing this all the time because your body needs healthy fats to function properly.

7. Lower Blood Pressure

Anthocyanins, once again, are great because they have been shown to lower blood pressure. That’s really all there is to it.

8. Another Antioxidant

A finally benefit comes from yet another antioxidant in eggplant – chlorogenic acid. This antioxidant is thought to be one of the best for preventing free radical damage, helping to lower your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Eat More Eggplant!

With all the health benefits, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be eating more eggplant. There are all kind of delicious recipes out there nowadays. Some are spicy, others are sweet. You can throw them on a grill or make them into a lasagna. They don’t taste like a weird mix of egg and plant, they just have all the benefits and more!