The nutritional value of taro is very high. The starch content in the tubers reaches 70%. It can be used as both food and vegetables. It is a tonic suitable for all ages and is a great vegetarian food in autumn. Taro is also rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, carotene, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, saponins and other ingredients. Taro

Taro, a plant of the genus Taro in the family Araceae, was first produced in hot and humid swamp areas such as China, Malaysia and the Indian Peninsula, and is now widely cultivated around the world. Its tubers are usually egg-shaped and rich in starch, and its leaves are egg-shaped. It is produced throughout the year and blooms in autumn. Taro is an important vegetable and food crop with high nutritional and medicinal value, and is known as the "Emperor's Offering". Classification of taro varieties

Multi-headed taro: The mother taro grows in clusters of tillers and has very few child taros. The dog's foot taro cultivated in Taiwan's mountains and the dog's claw taro cultivated in Yishan, Guangxi all fall into this category. Characteristics: The plant is short, with many leaf clusters growing on one plant, and many mother taros growing under it, which are combined into one piece. It is powdery and tastes like chestnuts.

Dakui taro: The mother taro is single or in small numbers, fat and delicious, with few child taros, tall plants, strong tillering power, and few child taros, but the mother taro is well developed, powdery, delicious, and has high yield. For example, betel nut heart, bamboo taro, red betel nut heart, betel nut taro, noodle taro, red taro, yellow taro, glutinous rice taro, fire taro, etc. are common in tropical areas such as Taiwan, Fujian, and Guangdong.

Multiple seed taro: There are many seed taros and they grow in groups. The mother taro is rich in fiber and tastes bad. This type of taro has strong tillering ability, and the taro is spindle-shaped with a thin tail end. It is easy to separate from the mother taro. The purpose of cultivation is to harvest the taro. Most cultivators in central and northern China fall into this category. Such as the early-growing white taro in Taiwan, the white-stem taro in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and the yellow pink taro in Cixi, Zhejiang. Varieties such as red top taro and black taro from Zhejiang and black persimmon taro from Taiwan also fall into this category with red or purple petioles. The value of taro

The tubers are edible: they can be made into soups, grain substitutes or starches. They have been regarded as important food subsidies or famine relief crops since ancient times. The Yamei people in Taiwan Province still rely on taro as their main food. The petioles can be peeled, cooked, or dried for storage. The whole plant is commonly used as pig feed. The tubers can be used as medicine to treat mastitis, aphtha, carbuncle, cervical lymphatic tuberculosis, burns and traumatic bleeding, and the leaves can treat urticaria and scabies.

Among the minerals contained in taro, the fluorine content is relatively high, which can clean teeth, prevent cavities, and protect teeth.

Taro contains a mucus protein that can produce immunoglobulin, or antibody globulin, after being absorbed by the body, which can improve the body's resistance. Therefore, Chinese medicine believes that taro can detoxify, inhibit and digest carbuncle poisons, including cancer poisons, and can be used to prevent and treat tumors, lymphatic tuberculosis and other diseases. Why is taro called natural insulin

In fact, taro does not have an effect similar to insulin. Of course, eating taro cannot lower blood sugar. However, as a potato-like food, taro is really suitable for Diabetic patients consume it.

First of all, the glycemic index of taro is much lower than that of rice and white flour, only about 47.7, but its satiety is not much worse than that of rice or steamed buns, so use taro to replace part of it. Staple food not only has a relatively small impact on your post-meal blood sugar, but is also very unlikely to cause hunger. Secondly, taro is very rich in dietary fiber, which is actually the main reason why yam foods are more resistant to hunger. Only, and more importantly, these dietary fibers can stimulate the peristalsis of your own intestines.

It can resist the hydrolysis of amylase in the intestine, making its conversion into glucose very inefficient. Therefore, the impact of foods rich in resistant starch on postprandial blood sugar is also It is relatively gentle and stable, and is very suitable for diabetic patients;

However, it is worth mentioning that the content of resistant starch is the richest in taro that is cooked and then cooled.

As for those who say that taro is a natural insulin, does it really mean that taro can lower your own blood sugar? But in fact, taro is a potato and is rich in a certain amount of starch.

This is a staple food that can raise one's own blood sugar. However, compared with the staple foods of white steamed buns and white rice that many people often eat, the intake of the same calories will raise blood sugar much more slowly. , but it is obviously not suitable to be called "natural insulin".