The benefits of Jaggery are many. Various types of jaggery are gaining popularity just for their health benefits, making them a natural choice over refined sugar. Embraced as a sweetener over table sugar, jaggery also supports our body's energy needs upon consumption.
It comes in the form of a block, liquid, or granule. The lavishness of its looks is thanks to its generous brown or golden color. Its taste is somewhere in the middle of rich molasses and caramel toffee. Jaggery and Dates are two natural sweeteners that have replaced refined sugar.
Health Benefits in Different Types Of Jaggery
Health benefits of jaggery are numerous. There are varied reasons why people prefer jaggery over refined sugar. Jaggery is recognized as a superfood rich in minerals and other nutrients, underscoring the significant benefits of jaggery nutrition. The nutrient content of jaggery includes molasses, a healthy by-product of the sugar-making process.
The process of making white sugar removes the molasses. Due to this white refined sugar loses its nutritious value and is left with empty calories. Being rich in iron content, jaggery aids in the purification of the blood.
Also, the jaggery preparation process is chemical-free, unlike the process of refining sugar which involves chemicals.
You can eat Jaggery in control in a variety of ways. Let's explore the advantages of consuming jaggery in different ways.
Benefits of Jaggery Water
Jaggery being rich in antioxidants detoxifies and purifies the blood. A touch of jaggery in warm water can enhance skin radiance by detoxifying the body gently.
If you intake nutrient-rich Jaggery with warm water regularly, it increases your metabolic rate, and in warm water. It also helps to normalize blood pressure in the body due to its high potassium and sodium levels.
Having Jaggery in warm water raises the haemoglobin level in the body. This way jaggery can benefit anaemic people and pregnant ladies. It also improves digestion by stimulating natural digestive enzymes. The benefits of jaggery water are numerous, from improving metabolism to aiding digestion.
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Benefits of Jaggery In Weight Loss
Jaggery after meals aids digestion by activating digestive enzymes—a notable benefit. Jaggery also eliminates toxic toxins from the body, speeding up the weight reduction process.
Jaggery aids in maintaining electrolyte balance and alleviating water retention. All these factors help in your weight loss journey.
Process of making jaggery
The process involved in the making of Jaggery from any obtainable sucrose sap remains pretty much the same. It employs – the boiling of sap to its concentrated form where the so-called baby state of jaggery. It has dough-like- attains a structureless, vague solid form – called Amorphous.
The extent of boiling along with the sugar content of the sap determines the color of jaggery ranging from golden yellow to golden brown to brownish.
Other names- Called Guda in Sanskrit. Also known as Gur, Gul, Guide, Mitha, Mithoi, Bella, Bellam. ‘Vellam’ in Tamil Nadu has other names too- Karupatti, Panai Vellam, Panam Kalkandu.
Types of Jaggery
For a long time, the term jaggery refers to the molasses obtained from sugarcane juice. Today, it's also the name given to the sap extracted from palm trees. So Let's look at types of Jaggery in India and find the differences.
1) Sugarcane Jaggery
Very sweet, vaguely structureless, golden to dark brown in color.
It is prepared by boiling the sugarcane juice.
2) Date Palm Jaggery
Very sweet, amorphous, with the distinguishing aroma of the Date Palm somewhat like the Dark Chocolate. This is golden brown to dark brown in color.
Boiling the sap of the Date Palm produces Date palm Jaggery.
Very soft and melts even at room temperature.
3) Palmyra Jaggery
Very sweet, unstructured, off-white to pale yellowish-white.
Prepared by boiling sap of Palmyra palm.
Hence the typical aroma of the Palmyra palm is somewhat like white chocolate.
Soft and typically more expensive than the above two types of jaggery.
4) Toddy Palm Jaggery
Immensely sweet, golden brown with the typical aroma of its source- Toddy Palm.
Boiling the sap of Toddy Palm yields jaggery
Other Palm Jaggery include the now in trend sap from the Sago Palm and Coconut Palm.
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How is Jaggery Sourced
We get Jaggery from the sap (juicy fluid insides) of sugar cane, date palm, Palmyra, and toddy palm.
Jaggery is a staple of the South Asian pantry and finds its use in festive preparations in India.
Why should one use Jaggery?
Coz it is proving to be a healthier alternative. Traditionally jaggery preparation does not involve any refinement or distilling. In jaggery, there are no additives or chemicals; its natural goodness remains intact.
As a result, it includes traces of fiber and minerals such as magnesium, iron, calcium, and phosphorus. The darker the color, the richer it is in mineral content -particularly iron- the better for your health. It also has an earthy sweetness and flavor.
Because of the origin of its production, jaggery contains a major amount of sucrose. But, it releases energy slowly over a long period of time, not at once spiking insulin levels. This is Jaggery's advantage.
Uses of Jaggery
Jaggery's surging demand is due to its superior health benefits compared to sugar. Jaggery's rising popularity stems from its myriad health benefits, surpassing those of regular sugar.
Jaggery is extremely rich in various minerals like phosphorus calcium, magnesium, iron, and potassium and is also rich in vitamin B. Ayurveda also makes use of Jaggery for its medicinal use.
A few other uses of Jaggery are as stated below. We may use it to sweeten tea and coffee and can also use it as a brown sugar alternative. Also to baking and cooking, jaggery has a lot of other uses.
- Sweetener and flavoring agent in households.
- Food and beverage industry.
- In chocolates, candies, sorbets, traditional health Tonics, syrups.
- Viable as a sugar substitute though doctors advise diabetics to avoid jaggery, yet it is definitely superior to white sugar.
- In rural Maharashtra, Karnataka, etc, water and a piece of jaggery are given to a person arriving home from work under the sun.
- It’s in Western countries that jaggery finds its use as a sugar substitute in a huge way.
- In many a home remedy, for local use, sugarcane jaggery finds a superior place in concoctions that keep seasonal cough and cold at bay.
- Palmyra jaggery, made as a drink by dissolving in water, makes for a cooling refresher on our body during hot summers.
- Date Palm Jaggery has a warming effect on the body during cold winters and is pretty nutritious.
Cultural Significance
Jaggery is an integral part of our lives because of its wider cultural significance in many Indian households. It also has a spiritual connection in many ceremonies and customs. Because of the many benefits of Jaggery, Jaggery has also found its use in ayurvedic medicines.
Parts that make up
1. Rice cooked with sugarcane jaggery and a dash of cardamom in a sweet dish is a traditional harvest festival offering to the Gods in Southern India. Sakara Pongal, Milk Pongal, Payasam, Obbattu/ Holige, Mango Rasayana, Panakkam (a combination of water, jaggery, and peppercorns offered during Rama Navami), Sambhars, Halwa
2. Flavorful foods like Puran Poli are cooked with sugarcane jaggery and freshly harvested sesame, groundnuts, rice, and wheat flour to honor the harvest.
3. Rice cakes, rice puddings, porridge, milk, and coconut sweets made with rice flour, milk, coconut shreds, and date palm jaggery, Sweet dishes like Pithas and tea, are examples of sweet dishes from Eastern India which make use of Jaggery.
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Nutritional Benefits Jaggery
If you despise the use of artificial colors in everything else, we propose buying unadulterated types of Jaggery and enjoying nature's gift at its finest.
Jaggery (organic). Jaggery, like the majority of other pantry items, is now made organically. Expert people prepare this with the most dexterity.
Information on nutrition (credit to Healthline)
per 100gms (1cup) of Jaggery goes so:
Consumption of a tablespoon (20gms) or teaspoon (7gms)
Jaggery nutrition is impressive, but you would have to eat a lot of jaggery for the above-mentioned nutrients. Hence, we recommend it's best to resort to other food sources for the same.
Credits to - Meenakshi Nagdeve of , Wikipedia, Healthline, Quora journals