Going on a weight loss journey means not only getting more exercise and physical activity each day, but also tailoring your diet into one that is not only calorie-restricted but also nutritionally balanced. Any expert will tell you that adding plenty of dry fruits and nuts along with fresh fruits and veggies in your diet is a sure-shot way to keep the calorie count low while also getting all the nutrition you need. One of these additions you must make in your diet is the inclusion of figs or anjeer, in either fresh and seasonal form or in dry form.
Anjeer or figs are a bell-shaped purple or dark magenta fruit that comes from the Ficus Carica tree of the mulberry family. The plant is widely cultivated across many parts of India for its unique taste, chewy texture and small seeds that look too pretty to eat sometimes. Maharashtra’s Pune and Nashik areas, Gujarat’s Junagadh and Jamnagar regions, Uttar Pradesh’ Lucknow and Meerut districts, Rajasthan’s Jodhpur and Bikaner areas, Karnataka’s Mysore and Belgaum areas and parts of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh are well known for their fig produce.
And while people across these regions are able to enjoy fresh figs for most parts of the year, in others, using dried figs is the norm. When dried, figs look like flat, brown, seedy discs with concentrated flavours of anjeer. Along with concentrated flavours, these figs also have more concentrated nutrients, so adding this fruit in any form can help with not only weight loss but your overall health too.
Wondering how eating dried or fresh anjeer can help with weight loss and overall health? Here are some benefits of anjeer you should know about.
Video Credit: YouTube/Sanjeev Kapoor Khazana
1. Nutrient-Dense Superfood
A nutritional powerhouse, figs are loaded with vitamins, minerals and many more essentials needed for weight loss and overall health. While fresh figs have more dietary fibre and water content, dried figs have more concentrated vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
2. Digestive Health
Because figs are loaded with dietary fibre, they add bulk to our stomach contents and help with regularising digestion as well as bowel movements. Get enough anjeer in your diet and you won’t just have a well-functioning digestive system, but also be able to prevent bloating and constipation.
3. Heart Health
Whether they are dried or fresh, figs have plenty of potassium. This mineral helps balance sodium levels and regulate blood pressure, which in turn promotes healthy blood vessel and heart function. Additionally, it also reduces the risk of hypertension and heart disease.
4. Antioxidant Boost
Figs contain bucketloads of antioxidants and bioactive compounds like vitamin C and polyphenols—and this is especially true for fresh figs. These antioxidants play a huge role in preventing cellular damage, chronic diseases and improving skin and hair health too.
5. Blood Sugar Control
Both dried and fresh figs are loaded with soluble fiber, which helps slow down the absorption of glucose and insulin in the body. So, having figs can improve your insulin sensitivity and help regulate your blood sugar levels. This is especially beneficial for those with diabetes and other metabolic syndromes.
6. Bone Strength
A rich source of calcium and phosphorous, both fresh and dried figs are considered to be great for bone health and also teeth health. Another vitamin found in figs, vitamin K, also helps with calcium absorption and bone mineralisation, making anjeer doubly beneficial for bones.
7. Satiety Improvement
Figs are high in fibre and have a mildly sweet taste, both of which combine to improve feelings of satiety and fullness. This feeling of satisfaction can go a long way in preventing cravings and binge-eating, which can really help wih your weight loss goals.
8. Skin Health
The fact that anjeer, especially fresh ones, are loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants helps immensely with skin health. This is because these bioactive compounds are known to protect the skin from oxidative stress and damage caused by UV radiation and pollution. So, eating figs can indeed provide you with more radiant skin and reduce signs of ageing too.
9. Anaemia Prevention
Iron-deficiency anaemia is a huge health problem in India, especially among women. Anjeer, which is loaded with iron, can not only prevent iron-deficiency anaemia with regular consumption, but also help with the production of haemoglobin to counter fatigue, body aches and weakness.
10. Immune Support
As mentioned before, figs or anjeer are nutritionally dense superfoods that can help bolster the immune system against health issues like flu, infections, etc. With plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, eating figs can help keep seasonal illnesses at bay while also improving overall health parameters including blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc.