Are Karupatti Sweets Good for Health?
Karupatti sweets or palm jaggery sweets are popular snacks from Tamil Nadu. They are made of gram flour, rice flour and palm jaggery syrup. Palm jaggery is free of any chemical agent and so has all the natural nutrients and minerals intact without any preservatives. However, since it is a sweet item, you might be wondering, is Karupatti sweet good for health?
Karupatti or palm jaggery, one of the primary ingredients in Karupatti sweets, is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It not only adds sweetness to your dish but also feeds your body with iron, vitamins and necessary minerals. So, having Karupatti sweets can have several health benefits.
Palm jaggery has a surprisingly high potential to aid in weight loss. As it is a potassium provider, it aids in maintaining the electrolytic balance in the body and decreases water retention. These elements work together to help in weight loss.
Palm jaggery has been often considered a healthier alternative to white sugar. Regular intake of palm jaggery has been proven to boost immunity, improve bodily functions and even help in reducing weight. Karupatti, being made of palm jaggery, can be quite beneficial in many ways.
Due to its inherent nourishing qualities, you can include Karupatti sweets in your regular diet without any worry.
What are the Health Benefits of Karupatti Sweets?
There are multiple advantages of including Karupatti sweets in your diet. According to dieticians and health experts, Karupatti sweets have the following health benefits:
1. Acts as an Antioxidant
Your digestive system may benefit from a cleansing, detox and antioxidant action from palm jaggery. Additionally, it might aid in eliminating toxins from the body, leaving you fit and healthy!
2. Relieves Constipation
The dietary fibres in jaggery palm are abundant. These fibres alleviate constipation and indigestion.
By removing harmful substances like toxins and bad cholesterol, fibre helps to cleanse the body. Furthermore, it promotes bowel movements.
3. Helps in Reducing Migraines
The most painful type of headache is a migraine. Palm jaggery's natural medicinal components aid in easing this discomfort. One teaspoon of palm jaggery may help to relieve migraine symptoms.
4. Energy Booster
Because it is rich in carbohydrates, palm jaggery is simpler to digest. Daily consumption releases energy, sustaining your activity and vigour for hours. If you want a strong start to your day, incorporate some palm jaggery sweet into your diet.
5. Reduces Common Ailments
Most experts believe that palm jaggery is excellent for treating colds and coughs. It also helps with digestion and relieves hiccups. Palm jaggery is high in magnesium, so it calms our nervous system.
6. Beneficial during Pregnancy
Palm jaggery assists in the growth of the foetus and also protects it from any harmful impacts during the pregnancy period. Palm jaggery is usually included in the diet from the seventh month of pregnancy to deal with any pregnancy issues.
Be aware that some of these advantages are supported by anecdotal evidence and demand more study.
The benefits of palm jaggery are various. Its abundance of vitamins and minerals can help to improve general health. Additionally, it can improve digestion and support the control of anaemia and haemoglobin levels.
Palm jaggery also includes magnesium, which has advantageous effects on the neurological system. This complex carbohydrate works well to increase energy.
Additionally, it aids in the removal of toxins from the body, and the dietary fibre in palm jaggery eases constipation.
You can opt to include delicious Karupatti Laddu and Karupatti Mysore Pak into your diet to reap the health benefits of palm jaggery.
Karupatti laddu is a wonderful delicacy that combines the deliciousness of palm jaggery with the popularity of laddu. These laddus make for thoughtful gifts, especially when you are gifting someone elderly, or those who like to eat healthy even during festivals and occasions.
The karupatti mysore pak is another sweet that is quite the best-seller. Those with a sweet tooth can indulge guilt-free in this sweet made of karupatti, gram flour and clarified butter.
Is Palm Jaggery Better than Sugar?
Palm Jaggery has a lower glycaemic index than cane sugar, which means it does not quickly spike blood sugar levels. On the other hand, cane sugar has a glycaemic index of 60, compared to 41 for palm jaggery. The glucose content is lower in case of palm jaggery.
Furthermore, palm jaggery has recently been marketed as a healthy sugar substitute.
The primary distinction between palm jaggery and cane sugar is where each type of sugar comes from. Palm jaggery is manufactured by reducing the sap from palm, whereas cane sugar comes from reducing the sugar from cane juice.
Palm jaggery is significantly less sweet than cane sugar - the second distinction between the two. Some experts say it is 75% less sweet than cane sugar. Notably, palm jaggery is loaded with many beneficial minerals and vitamins, while cane sugar doesn’t have many nutrients in them.
Is Karupatti Good for Diabetes?
Since Karupatti has lower glucose level and low glycaemic index, it has been declared safe for diabetic patients. You get the sweetness of sugar without its harmful health impacts. Add palm jaggery syrup while making sweets like halwa, rasagulla and payasam and continue enjoying them without worrying about increasing your blood sugar levels drastically.
If you have a diabetic patient at home, all you have to do is swap out sugar with palm jaggery.
Karupatti smells different, something that not everyone will appreciate. But you must fully reduce your sugar intake to manage your diabetic symptoms and their adverse effects.
One tablespoon of palm jaggery or palm sugar contains 54 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrate and 15 grams of sugar. Experts recommend that although the sugar content is comparatively low, one needs to be careful with the quantity of intake.
Is Karupatti the Same as Palm Sugar?
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXuwAZ8CWu8
Palm sugar and jaggery are believed to be the healthiest substitutes available in the market today. The extract from palm trees is used to make jaggery, also known as Karupatti in Tamil. It is refined and unbleached, which allows it to retain all its nutrients that help in promoting bodily functions.
Although considered to be similar, Karupatti and palm sugar are essentially different. Palm sugar is made from the sap in the flower buds of coconut palm trees. They are usually granular. Palm jaggery or Karupatti, is made from the sap of date palm trees. There’s a particular way for storing Karupatti so its flavour and aroma are kept intact.
First, you can store liquid palm jaggery in an airtight container. Once opened, this jaggery should be kept in the fridge. Use a clean, dry spoon to scoop the jaggery out of the jar at all times.
On the other hand, blocks of palm jaggery should be kept in airtight, sealed containers, as per our advice.
There should be minimal contact with air and moisture. While eating, it is best to crush the jaggery to enjoy its taste.
How Can You Use Palm Jaggery?
You can use Karupatti as a sweetener. Most people prefer to use it as a sweetener for drinks such as Sukku Kaapi and Panagam. It can also be used to make Karupatti sweets. You can also make Palm Jaggery Tea by just boiling water, filtering and adding a few drops of lemon juice. It is that easy!
You will need to use more jaggery to achieve the same results as cane sugar because it is less sweet. This can be problematic if you're cooking something that needs to be extremely sweet, like a dessert. Palm jaggery is preferable if you only need to slightly sweeten something.
However, you must be curious to know how Karupatti is made. Well, keep reading to know about this.
How is Karupatti Made?
Karupatti, or palm jaggery, is prepared during winters by cutting the palm sapling and placing an earthen pot to collect the extract of the sapling. A step-wise method is described in the following section.
The step-by-step guide is given below:
Step 1: A palm sapling is cut skilfully under which an earthen pot is to be placed.
Step 2: Usually, during the colder seasons of the year, these pots are filled with the sap that drips from the sapling.
Step 3: To prevent the sap from fermenting, the pots are coated with slaked lime. In iron vats, the unfermented juice is filtered before being cooked until it bubbles.
Step 4: Once it has cooled, it is poured into moulds, most of which are made of coconut shells. Karupatti or Karuppu (black) Patti is prepared for consumption once it has "set" in these moulds.
Karupatti's high iron content is one of the reasons it has become a well-liked sugar substitute among health-conscious people.
Karupatti has originally been sourced from Vembar, a small Tamil Nadu town that has become popular due to the quality of palm trees.
Indeed, this natural process of manufacturing Karupatti without using any preservatives makes it highly beneficial for health.
Refer to this guide if you have been asking whether Karupatti sweets are good for health. Now that you know Karupatti sweets are beneficial for health, make sure to include them in your daily diet and let the goodness of palm jaggery play its magic on your health!