Health Turnip Benefits: Turnips (Brassicarapa) are a root vegetable and member of the cruciferous family, along with other vegetables like bok choy, Brussels sprouts, and kale.
They’re one of the world’s most important vegetable crops, as they’re used to feed both humans and cattle.
Health Turnip Benefits, The most common types of turnip are purple, red, or greenish on the outside and have a white-fleshed bulb — also called the storage root or organ — which grows above the ground and has a smooth skin without scars or side roots.
Both their roots and leaves, also known as turnip greens, are safe to eat, and like most cruciferous vegetables, they’re praised for their health-promoting effects.
Health Turnip Benefits, This article reviews turnips, including their nutritional content and health benefits.
Turnip nutrition
Turnips have an excellent nutritional profile.
Like other cruciferous vegetables, they’re low in calories but pack plenty of vitamins and minerals.
A 1-cup (130-gram) serving of cubed raw turnips contains:
Calories: 36
Carbs: 8 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 1 gram
Vitamin C: 30% of the Daily Value (DV)
Folate: 5% of the DV
Phosphorus: 3% of the DV
Calcium: 3% of the DV
Nevertheless, the leaves contain even higher nutrient quantities, with 1 cup (55 grams) of chopped turnip greens providing:
Calories: 18
Carbs: 4 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Vitamin K: 115% of the DV
Vitamin C: 37% of the DV
Provitamin A: 35% of the DV
Folate: 27% of the DV
Calcium: 8% of the DV
Health Turnip Benefits, Both the roots and leaves are great sources of vitamin C, which protects your body from free radical damage when levels of these molecules become too high in the body.
This nutrient also improves iron absorption and helps regulate blood cholesterol, among many other health benefits.
Health Turnip Benefits, Furthermore, turnip greens are rich in the fat-soluble vitamins K and A, the type that your body absorbs better when consumed with fats.
Vitamin K plays an essential role as a clotting agent, meaning that it helps prevent excessive bleeding. Plus, vitamin A is vital for eye, skin, and lung health.
Health Turnip Benefits, Additionally, the leaves contain high amounts of folate, which aids the production of red blood cells and helps prevent developmental irregularities in fetuses.
Health Benefits Of Turnips
Health Turnip Benefits, Due to their nutritional composition, turnips — and turnip greens — offer many health-promoting effects.
1. May Have Anticancer Properties
Health Turnip Benefits, Turnips contain several beneficial plant compounds associated with cancer-fighting properties.
Besides their high vitamin C content, which may help prevent the growth and spread of cancer cells, turnips are rich in glucosinolates.
Health Turnip Benefits, Glucosinolates are a group of bioactive plant compounds that also provide antioxidant activity, meaning they mitigate the cancer-promoting effects of oxidative stress.
Numerous studies have linked higher intakes of glucosinolates with a reduced risk of different types of cancer, including lung, colon, and rectal cancers.
Health Turnip Benefits, Furthermore, turnips contain high amounts of flavonoids — mainly anthocyanins — another type of antioxidant with proven anticancer effects.
Anthocyanins are present in blue and purple fruits and vegetables, such as turnips, and eating them is linked to lower rates of chronic and degenerative diseases.
2. May Help Control Blood Sugar Levels
Health Turnip Benefits, Managing your blood sugar is critical for health, especially for those who have diabetes, and animal studies suggest that turnips may have antidiabetic effects.
One 9-month study in rats on a high sugar diet found that treatment with 45 mg of turnip extract per pound (100 mg per kg) of body weight lowered blood sugar levels and increased levels of insulin, compared with the control group.
Health Turnip Benefits, The study also determined that the extract helped correct other metabolic disorders associated with diabetes, such as high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Similar results were found after testing the antidiabetic effects of turnip greens.
Health Turnip Benefits, One 28-day study in rats with diabetes observed that those fed a daily dose of 90–180 mg of turnip leaf extract per pound (200–400 mg per kg) experienced significantly reduced blood sugar, as well as lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
Both studies agree that the antidiabetic effects of turnip and turnip green extract may be due to multiple factors, including:
Increased blood sugar clearance
Lowered glucose (sugar) production by the liver
Reduced absorption of carbs
Health Turnip Benefits, However, given that the studies only tested different types of extracts on rats, it’s unclear whether fresh turnip and turnip greens have similar effects in humans.
3. May Provide Anti-Inflammatory Effects
Health Turnip Benefits, Inflammation is associated with many chronic diseases, such as arthritis, cancer, and high blood pressure caused by the hardening of the arteries.
Glucosinolates in turnips break down into indoles and isothiocyanates, both of which are bioactive byproducts with anti-inflammatory properties.
Health Turnip Benefits, One specific kind of indole in turnips is arvelexin, which studies suggest blocks pro-inflammatory compounds, such as nitric oxide, a type of free radical involved in the inflammation process.
For example, test-tube and animal studies have found that arvelexin significantly reduced inflammation and injury in human colon cells and the colons of mice by inactivating an inflammatory pathway.
4. May Protect Against Harmful Bacteria
Health Turnip Benefits, Turnips’ glucosinolates also break down into isothiocyanates, a group of compounds capable of inhibiting microbial and bacterial growth.
Studies have found that isothiocyanates fight common disease-causing bacteria, such as E. coli and S. aureus.
Health Turnip Benefits, One test-tube study determined that isothiocyanates from cruciferous vegetables had an antibacterial effect of up to 87% against antibiotic resistant strains of S. aureus.
Moreover, given the recent rise in cases of bacterial resistance, researchers have conducted test-tube and animal studies to evaluate the potential effect of combining isothiocyanates with standard antibiotics.
Health Turnip Benefits, The results suggest that together, they may exert a more significant effect in controlling bacterial growth.
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