Unless you really love okra, okra water doesn’t sound all that appealing. However, it offers some great benefits to improve your health and how you feel, especially for women. It’s simple enough to make as all you need to do is cut off the tops and bottoms of okra and add them to a pitcher of water to soak overnight.
If you want to learn more about okra water benefits for women and why it’s worth a try, continue reading below. You might be surprised by how much a glass or two of okra water a day can help.
12 Benefits of Okra Water for Women
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There are many benefits of okra water for women. Some have been studied thoroughly while others are remedies that have been passed down for generations. With okra having so many vitamins and minerals, it makes sense that okra water is so good for you.
1. Assists in Weight Loss
Okra is full of fiber. When you soak okra in water, some of that fiber mixes into the water. Fiber helps you to feel full longer and improves your metabolism so that you burn calories faster. The water itself is also low in calories.
When a filling nutrient is mixed with low calories, you get a drink that won’t put you over your daily calorie limit while also reducing your hunger signals so you don’t feel the need to eat as much. This supports the loss of weight over time without having to starve yourself.
2. Manages Diabetes
Multiple studies done with diabetic rats have shown that okra water helps to reduce and regulate blood sugar levels. It’s used in many cultures as a home remedy for blood sugar levels and studies are starting to show this is true.
While there’s no definitive reason as of yet why okra water helps to regulate blood sugar levels, it is likely that the polyphenols and flavonoids in the water play some part. Additionally, eight pods of raw okra have about 33% of your daily value of manganese, which is another vital nutrient in blood sugar regulation. While you might not get the same amount of manganese from okra water, it should still provide a fair amount.
While not specifically related to okra water, another study found that okra powder improves insulin resistance for better blood sugar management. Another study found that okra extract alters certain enzyme expressions to prevent nephropathy from diabetes.
It stands to reason that if powders and extracts from okra provide benefits, okra water would also provide a similar benefit. It may be at a lower amount, as you don’t get the concentration of nutrients you do with powders and extracts. However, regular drinking of okra water should build the nutrients in your system.
3. Reduces Inflammation and Keeps the Skin Healthy
Okra is full of several kinds of essential antioxidants. Antioxidants are important in reducing inflammation throughout the body and neutralizing harmful free radicals. These free radicals are what cause damage to your skin, making it look older and more damaged than it actually is.
By taking in a lot of antioxidants, you promote healthy skin cell production to keep your skin looking healthy and fresh. Antioxidants also decrease the oxidative stress that occurs in the skin and provides a little protection from the sun, though sunscreen is still recommended.
4. Boosts the Immune System
Okra water supports the immune system in many ways. It is full of Vitamin C, which is well-known to support the immune system and decrease the time you’re sick. It also seems like the sugars in okra improve the speed the immune system takes to react to threats and improves splenic function.
5. Reduces the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death throughout the world, especially for women. Okra is full of potassium to help regulate blood pressure and reduce the chances of hypertension.
The fiber in okra also increases heart health by managing cholesterol levels. Fiber reduces what is commonly referred to as “bad” or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol while increasing and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels.
Antioxidants also play a positive role against heart disease thanks to the fact that they fight against inflammation to add further support.
Vitamin K is present in okra as well, which helps increase blood coagulation for those that have thinner blood. On the other hand, this may be best to avoid if you’re taking blood thinners as it reduces the effectiveness of the medication.
6. Increases Pleasure During Sex
Okra offers a lot of benefits to women sexually. Okra and okra water have been found to help increase libido, sensitivity, enjoyment, and lubrication. It also improves fertility.
These benefits come mostly from the antioxidants in the okra. By reducing the oxidative stress and inflammation that occurs in reproductive organs, you improve your sexual pleasure.
Okra also maintains hormones like estrogen and hormonal balance to help improve sexual health and reduce pain during sex and sexual activities. Some people have mentioned that endometriosis-related symptoms, especially those to do with inflammation, also decrease with regular consumption of okra water.
The glycogen in okra is what causes the increased level of estrogen. Higher levels of estrogen increase sexual stimulation by increasing lubrication and helping the body reach orgasm faster.
7. Provides Necessary Nutrients During Pregnancy
Okra contains a lot of nutrients that pregnant women require, such as calcium and iron. It also contains vitamin B, specifically vitamin B9. This is also known as folic acid. Folic acid is extremely important for any woman of reproductive age, but especially pregnant women.
Folic acid helps to form the neural tube while the baby is developing. It also helps to prevent spina bifida and anencephaly by protecting the brain and spine of the growing baby. A cup of okra provides 15% of your daily needs, and while okra water doesn’t provide this much, it still provides a boost of this necessary vitamin.
Okra has been used in the past to reduce morning sickness and ease labor pains. It’s said to help soften the cervix wall, which is what makes labor easier.
8. Increases Milk Production
Even after you have your baby, okra water continues to come in handy. While there haven’t been definitive studies on it, it’s believed that okra water increases milk production.
There is something called mucilage in okra. This is essentially just a slippery, gel-like substance. It can be found in other foods as well, including aloe, chia seeds, seaweed, and marshmallow root. This slippery substance prevents you, and your baby, from getting infections while they are breastfeeding and helps to soothe sore nipples.
9. Improves Digestion
Because okra helps to fight against inflammation, it provides quite a bit of digestive assistance. After drinking okra water for a few days, you find it easier to regulate your bowel movements and reduce bloating.
It’s thought that okra helps to support a healthy gut microbiome by acting as a prebiotic. This helps to fight off cravings, and further improve gut health and digestion.
If reduced inflammation isn’t enough, okra is also full of dietary fiber. This fiber makes you feel full, helps you absorb other necessary nutrients, and further supports healthy and regular bowel movements. This is the case even when you’re menstruating and suffer from constipation normally.
It’s worth pointing out that while this is what many people experience, okra has been found to cause digestive issues for some people, especially when they eat too much okra or drink too much okra water. This is because okra is high in fructan, which causes digestive problems for some individuals.
10. Improves Symptoms of Menstruation
The antioxidant properties in okra not only fight free radicals but also regulate hormones. Women undergo levels of hormone changes quite a bit during their lives. Not only do you have hormone changes as you grow older, like when you start menstruation and then undergo menopause, but your hormones are on a regular cycle throughout the month.
Okra helps to regulate some of the more extreme hormone imbalances you may face throughout the month while keeping your body following normal and healthy cycles. It also fights against some of the more uncomfortable sides of hormone imbalance such as inflammation, cramping, and mood swings.
While okra contains properties to do this by itself, it contains vitamin C and magnesium as well. These essential nutrients provide additional support for menstruation by assisting in regulating and synthesizing necessary hormones.
Some people suggest that by keeping up with your vitamin C intake, you can also reduce how much you bleed when menstruating. Vitamin A and beta-carotene, also present in okra, help regulate normal hormones too.
11. Helps With Vaginal Health
The zinc and folic acid inside okra are said to help flush out mucus and toxins in the vagina, improving vaginal health. The anti-inflammatory properties of okra water mixed with zinc and folic acid help to fight and keep away yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis.
Though okra water helps to flush out mucus in the vagina, it doesn’t cause dryness. In fact, the mucilage in okra and okra water also provides proper levels of lubrication.
12. Supports Bone Health
Women have a higher chance than men of developing osteoporosis, a condition where the bones grow weaker and more brittle. This means that they need to take in more nutrients that aid in bone health. Two such nutrients are calcium and magnesium, which are found in high levels inside okra.
