Horse Gram - A Nutritious and Miraculous Lentil

It is rightly said that if people want to become healthy, they should incorporate lots of fluids, green veggies, fruits, legumes and whole grains into their daily routine and diet because of their high protein and vitamin contents. Horse gram is one of the lesser known beans and is quite useful as cattle feed. It's also a popular ingredient in Indian cuisine, particularly in Southern India.

Horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) is a healthy and nutritious lentil and is readily available in most stores. It has many names all over the world, which serves as an evidence that it's known and used globally. It's known as cowpea, the Bonnavista bean, the hyacinth bean, kulatha kalai in Sanskrit, the bian dou in Chinese, habbul kulth in Arabic, kuntikali in Bengali, kulthi in Hindi, kollu in South India and gahat/muthira/kulath in other parts of India. It can tremendously help in making our quality of life richer and more fulfilling.

Horse gram is rich in taste and at the same time provides us with many health benefits. 

• It has miraculous properties that can cure kidney and gall bladder stones.
• The horse gram plant exhibits the properties of astringent, diuretic and antioxidant.
• It is prescribed for persons suffering from jaundice or water retention, and as part of a weight loss diet by decreasing the cholesterol levels in the body. It helps to fight obesity
• It is considered helpful for iron deficiencies, and is considered helpful for maintaining body temperature in the winter season; and prevents and cures the arthritis.
• It aids in curing the menstrual problems like irregular periods and heavy bleeding, leucorrhea and bleeding during or after the pregnancy period.
• The high amount of dietary fiber present in it balances the blood pressure and sugar glucose levels.
• Its plant treats the patients who are suffering from weak liver, spleen enlargement and colic with its medicinal properties.
• It has been used by the Ayurveda as a cure for issues such as conjunctivitis, worm removal, rheumatism, and piles.
• Certain tests have also proven that lipids extracted from horse grams are known to heal rats with peptic ulcers.

Soak two or three tablespoons of horse gram overnight in sufficient amount of water, in the following day make it in to paste and consume it for two times a day. You can also drink the soaked water for the added benefits. Add it to your daily diet whether in the form of sprouts, soups or boiled water to watch the results.

Also Read Horse Gram Health Benefits in Weight loss-Diabetes-Low sperm count

By Bharati Bhattacharya Nandi