The healing power of tapioca flour or cassava flour

Cassava flour is often referred to as tapioca flour in Spanish-speaking countries. Tapioca flour is a handy kitchen product with some medicinal properties. You can use it in various ways. Medicinally, it is especially good for diabetics. In addition, a thin coating of tapioca flour on cut fruit can prevent browning. Tapioca flour has many interesting uses.

Fiber content of tapioca flour

There are a lot of fibers in tapioca flour. These are largely not digested. Yet they have an important function. Fiber improves the functioning of the digestive system so that more nutrients are ultimately absorbed. Due to its fiber supply, tapioca is a relatively healthy flour. Fiber is good for blood pressure and for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

An edible substance is sprayed onto prepackaged salads so that the cut pieces of vegetable do not spoil. In 2010, Taiwanese researchers saw that a coating based on tapioca supplemented with an extract of green tea leaves has a beneficial effect on bacterial growth. Tapioca has more uses than just in the culinary field. In any case, it is good that the scientists are using a natural substance to prevent the discoloration of cut fruit. Perhaps this will become widespread and tapioca coating will reduce the consumption of undesirable synthetic discoloration agents.

Tapioca flour has a therapeutic effect for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus, Japanese researchers conclude. This type of flour appears to lower insulin resistance. Tapioca flour has been shown to enhance afla-amylysis and increase the absorption of insulin. The study used rats.

Tapioca flour increases the excretion of bile. Bile is one of the substances the liver needs to function. Higher bile production allows the liver to work more efficiently. This is the conclusion of a Japanese research team in 2006. The researchers saw that there is a lower risk of high cholesterol if tapioca flour is eaten. The study used female rats that had been given hormone deficiency.

The leaves of the cassava plant or tree are even healthier than the root that is normally eaten and from which the powder is made. The leaves contain a lot of proteins but also other phytonutrients such as minerals, vitamins and polyphenols. Recently, people in Africa have started to eat cassava leaves more and more, which has been done for centuries in many Asian countries. Brazilian researchers investigated cassava flour enriched with cassava leaves in 2013. It was seen that when ordinary cassava flour was enriched with 2.5% cassava leaf powder, the end product, such as bread, was tastier.

A Nigerian study in 2014 saw that in terms of nutritional value tapioca flour and durum flour complement each other very well. The researchers go so far as to say that nutritionally, it would be desirable for dough products such as pasta to be made from a combination of cassava flour and durum flour. Cassava is currently one of the most important foods in Africa.

You can make a milk from cassava flour by boiling it in plenty of water as you see fit. Then you let it cool down and put it in the refrigerator so that it is always ready to use. You can keep it in the fridge for two to three days. It is good to see the production of alternative milk as a variation. Milk, we don't really need the white hazard, but we do need nutrients from alternative milks like almond milk, rice milk, chickpea milk and oatmeal milk.

Not everyone knows tapioca flour. This is a versatile product. The list below is not exhaustive. It's just an indication for what you could use it all for. On the basis of this list your own creative capacity can gain inspiration.