benefits of cassava

If you require a gluten free food, cassava bread is gluten free. It is recommended for persons suffering from celiac disease. Cassava is a moderate source of some of the valuable B complex group of vitamins such as folates, thiamin, pyridoxine (vitamin B 6), riboflavin, and pantothenic acid.

For sustaining energy, cassava bread, high in carbohydrates is an excellent food. It is eaten while going on long forest treks. The carbohydrates are converted to glucose which is converted to glycogen and stored in the muscles. Cassava roots can be readily available in the markets all around the seasons. Buy well formed, hard, cylindrical tuber that is heavy for its size. Cleaned, and processed yuca available in the US markets, usually imported from the Central America is generally waxed, and therefore, appears bright and shiny.

Cassava flour does not contain gluten, an allergenic protein found in wheat, barley, oats and rye. Also known as tapioca flour, it can be used by gluten intolerant people to replace wheat flour. In the U.S., cassava flour is often used to thicken gravy but it has long been used in Asia to make savoury dishes and desserts, like cassava cake.

Cassava is the third largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics, after rice and maize. Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for over half a billion people. It is one of the most drought tolerant crops, capable of growing on marginal soils. Nigeria is the world s largest producer of cassava, while Thailand is the largest exporter of dried cassava.

Cassava is classified as sweet or bitter. Farmers often prefer the bitter varieties because they deter pests, animals, and thieves. Like other roots and tubers, both bitter and sweet varieties of cassava contain antinutritional factors and toxins. It must be properly prepared before consumption. Improper preparation of cassava can leave enough residualcyanide to cause acute cyanide intoxication and goiters, and may even cause ataxia or partial paralysis. The more toxic varieties of cassava are a fall back resource (a food security crop ) in times of famine in some places.

Cassava root is essentially a carbohydrate source. Its composition shows 60

In folk medicine, the cassava plant is promoted for treating snakebites, boils, diarrhea, flu, hernia, inflammation, conjunctivitis, sores, and several other problems including cancer. Cassava plants can produce the poisonous substance cyanide as a way to fend off animals trying to eat them. Chewing the plant causes it to release an enzyme called linamarase, and linamarase, in turn, converts a compound in the plant called linamarin into cyanide. Researchers have suggested that this ability might be useful as a form of gene therapy. First, the gene for linamarase could be selectively put into cancer cells. If linamarin were then introduced into the body, cancer cells would break it down and release cyanide only in the area around the cancer cells, killing them. Since normal cells would not have the linamarase gene and would not be able to convert linamarin into cyanide, they would not be affected.

In herbal remedies, the roots of the cassava are made into a poultice and applied directly to the skin as a treatment for sores. The leaf, root, and flour obtained from the plant can also be used in a wash that is applied to the skin. In developing countries, tapioca starch made from the cassava plant is used to help restore body fluids. Cassava leaves are sold in health food stores and on the Internet in capsule or powder form. Cassava root starch may be used in Vitamin C supplements.

Cassava has been used as a food source by many cultures for centuries. Today, it is consumed by millions of people in developing countries and is sometimes used as an herbal medicine. It has been theorized that the plant s ability to make cyanide may be useful as a type of gene therapy to treat cancer, but further research is needed to determine whether the technique will work in humans. This use would be quite different from the use of the cassava plant as an herbal remedy.

Available scientific evidence does not support claims that botanical products currently made from the cassava plant have anticancer properties. A British researcher identified the cassava genes involved in making hydrogen cyanide in the early 1990s. In collaboration with cancer specialists in Spain, she has conducted studies of the linamarase gene. They added this gene to a virus, which was then injected into rat brain tumors. These tumors were killed when the rats were infused with linamarin. Further research is needed to determine if this technique will work in people.