7 Eggplant Health Benefits and Nutritional Information By Jillian Levy, CHHC
August 13, 2019
What Are Eggplants? | Eggplant Nutrition Facts | Types | 7 Benefits | How to Select and Store | How to Cook | Recipes | Risks and Side Effects
Eggplant nutrition - Dr. Axe
Eggplant has been enjoyed around the world for thousands of years as part of healthy, traditional Middle Eastern and Mediterranean diet. Today it is commonly eaten in such places as France, Italy, Australia, Israel, Egypt, the U.S. and just about everywhere else too.
It’s known by a few different names around the world but is most commonly referred to as an aubergine. In places such as South Asia, Southeast Asia and South Africa, eggplant goes by the name brinjal.
This veggie is especially loved for its bright purple color, fleshy skin, uniquely bitter-yet-pleasant taste — and of course the widespread benefits of eggplant nutrition.
What are the health benefits of eating eggplant?
It is a vegetable with a lot to offer: a high amount of antioxidants, special phytonutrients, including phenolic compounds, flavonoids, such as nasunin, and numerous vitamins and minerals too. And all of these eggplant nutrition benefits come at a low calorie count of only 35 calories per cup, thanks to its high fiber and water content.
What Are Eggplants?
Eggplant, a member of the nightshade and Solanaceae plant family, is considered by researchers to be a part of a < href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16989312">group of valuable crops due to their anthocyanin antioxidant compounds, which can be seen in its rich purple colors.
While most people think of this tasty food as a vegetable, it’s technically a fruit.
Why is eggplant a fruit?
It contains many small seeds and grows from the edible flower of the Solanum melongen plant.
What is the meaning of eggplant, and why are eggplants called eggplants?
According to most sources, because varieties of eggplant that were grown hundreds of years ago were smaller and often white, yellow or speckled in color, they were said to resemble hen, swan or goose eggs, hence the name. For a long period in history many people chose to stay away from eating it because it was thought of as a poisonous plant due to its deep color.
It took years before the health benefits of eggplant nutrition became known and understood like they are today
Is eggplant a superfood?
Researchers continue to learn more about the health benefits of eggplant nutrition. It may not be not the highest in many nutrients as some other superfoods, such as kale or berries, but it is certainly unique.
It contains a somewhat rare and extremely beneficial type of antioxidant known as nasunin. Nasunin is a type of anthocyanin antioxidant found in all types of eggplant varieties, in addition to other deeply colored fruits and vegetables.
Nasunin is one of the key contributors to the health benefits of eggplant nutrition. Like other antioxidants, it has the ability to fight free radical damage in the body, which is often the cause of disease development and the mechanism at which our bodies’ age.
Most of the nasunin present within this veggie/fruit is found in its purple skin, so consuming the entire vegetable, including its peel, is important to reap all the health benefits.
Eggplant Nutrition Facts
Click for Full Text!