What are the benefits of figs?

Answer 1

Figs can:

1. Help you lose weight. Figs are a good source of fiber, which may have a positive effect on weight management.
2. Fight cancer. The fiber in figs binds to cancer-causing toxins in your colon and keeps them away from the healthy colon cells. Fig leaves also inhibit the growth of certain types of cancer cells. Postmenopausal women who consume the most fruit fiber may reduce their Breast cancer risk by 34%.
3. Promote cardiovascular health. The fiber in figs reduces high cholesterol levels by binding with the bile acids that your body uses to make cholesterol. Fiber isn't absorbed, so when it exits the body in the feces, it takes the cholesterol-containing bile acids with it. As a result, your body ends up with less cholesterol, which your liver then pulls from your blood to make more bile, lowering your cholesterol levels. Eating a high-fiber diet not only reduces your total cholesterol, it also reduces your triglyceride levels (a form in which fats circulate in the bloodstream), and your Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL-the most dangerous form of cholesterol) levels. Fig leaves can also lower levels of triglycerides. Figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that regulates muscle contraction, including heart rythym, and lowers blood pressure by counteracting the detrimental effects of sodium and regulating fluid balance. The vitamin B6 in figs helps lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that is an intermediate product in an important metabolic cycle. Elevated blood levels of homocysteine are a risk factor for heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease.
4. Build strong bodies. Potassium in figs stores carbohydrates for muscles to use as fuel, promotes regular muscle growth, and maintains the density and strength of bones by decreasing urinary calcium loss. The vitamin B6 in figs supports a wide range of activities in your nervous system, promotes proper breakdown of sugars and starches. Manganese in figs activates enzymes for using several key nutrients, helps synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol, and facilitates protein and carbohydrate metabolism and formation of bone.
5. Fight free radicals. Manganese in figs is a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase, which disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within your cells).
6. Reduce insulin dependence in diabetics. Fig leaves have antidiabetic properties and can actually reduce the amount of insulin needed by people with Diabetes who require insulin injections.
7. Protect against macular degeneration. Eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.