Rhubarb is a vegetable that visually looks similar in texture to celery, but its color and taste are what differentiate the two.
Rhubarb is very tart and is rarely eaten on its own due to its sour taste. It is often mixed with sugar to make sweet treats such as pies and jams.
Rhubarb is often used in desserts, but it actually has many health benefits.
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Although combining rhubarb with sugar may not be the healthiest way to do it, there are many other healthy ways to reduce the acidity of rhubarb.
Read below to learn more about the health benefits of rhubarb and how you can easily incorporate it into your diet.
Rhubarb is packed with health benefits. It’s a vegetable often used in desserts, but you can also use it in a healthy way to maximize its benefits. (Getty Images)
- improve bone health
- Rich in antioxidants
- aids digestion
- Helps regulate blood pressure
- May lower bad cholesterol levels
1. Improve bone health
Rhubarb contains various vitamins.
One of them is vitamin K, which plays an important role in blood clotting as well as overall bone health.
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“Just one cup of rhubarb provides almost half of the vitamin K you need,” Lori Wright, R.D., associate professor of nutrition at the University of South Florida, told FOX News Digital.
Wright says most people are no longer taking Coumadin to thin their blood, but vitamin K and Coumadin don’t interact well, so people taking the drug should be especially careful about consuming rhubarb. He added that it was necessary to do so.
Rhubarb is a vegetable, but because of its sour taste, it is often combined with fruits such as strawberries in desserts such as pies. (Natasha Breen/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Rhubarb also contains calcium, which also contributes to bone health, and vitamin C, which is great for boosting immunity.
“They’re also rich in calcium, which helps with bone health, and vitamin C, which boosts immunity and contributes to collagen production for healthy skin and tissues,” says Wright.
2. Rich in antioxidants
Rhubarb is rich in antioxidants.
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The antioxidants found in rhubarb do more than just give the vegetable its color.
“Rhubarb is very rich in antioxidants, which are the types of compounds that give rhubarb its reddish color, but these compounds in the body also calm inflammation and protect cells from damage. It helps protect…some of the cells from damage that can eventually lead to cancer,” Wright explained.
Rhubarb is similar in texture to celery, but its color and taste are very different from the vegetable. (Christoph Soeder/Photo in partnership with Getty Images)
3. Aids in digestion
Rhubarb is a vegetable rich in dietary fiber.
”[Rhubarb is] It is rich in dietary fiber, which aids in digestion. [It] It’s a pretty good source of fiber per serving,” Wright told FOX News Digital.
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That said, the amount of fiber in rhubarb shouldn’t cause any gastrointestinal problems, Wright added.
The important part of vegetables is the leaves. Rhubarb stems have amazing health benefits, but leave the leaves alone.
“In fact, the leaves contain oxalic acid, which can be toxic if eaten in large quantities, and can also cause kidney stones in some people. So, before cooking rhubarb, be sure to Cut off the leaves,” Wright pointed out.
Rhubarb contains a moderate amount of fiber. It has a digestive effect but does not cause digestive problems. (Rey Lopez for The Washington Post, via Getty Images; Food Styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post, via Getty Images)
4. Helps regulate blood pressure
Rhubarb has the potential to regulate blood pressure.
Wright told Fox News Digital that the high potassium content in vegetables greatly contributes to this potential health benefit.
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“It’s rich in potassium,” Wright says. “Potassium helps regulate blood pressure [and] Helps better control blood pressure. ”
5. May lower bad cholesterol levels
Rhubarb stalks may help lower bad cholesterol levels.
“Studies have actually shown that rhubarb stalks can help lower LDL cholesterol, or bad cholesterol…just a little bit, but there’s some promise there,” Wright said.
If you want to incorporate rhubarb into your diet in a healthy way and see all of its potential benefits, one easy way is to use it as an ingredient in salsa.
Rhubarb is one of the many ingredients blended into delicious and nutritious smoothies. (St. Petersburg)
“One really interesting idea is [to] “Add rhubarb to the salsa. Dice the rhubarb along with the mango, red onion, lime juice and cilantro,” Wright said. The result is a very tangy salsa, perfect for serving over grilled fish or chicken. ”
Another easy way to incorporate almost any fruit or vegetable into your diet is to blend them into smoothies.
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“Add rhubarb to a smoothie with strawberries, Greek yogurt, a little honey, and spinach for a nutritious and super fun mix of flavors,” Wright explains.
Nutrient-rich smoothies are a super easy way to get the vitamins and minerals you need for people who have trouble meeting their daily recommended intake of fruits and vegetables.
