Benefits of Eating Cassava

Benefits of Eating Cassava
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Benefits of Eating Cassava
Cassava is a starchy root tuber that is either directly eaten or ground into flour for use in the preparation of other different delicacies. Experts refer to it as Manihot esculenta Crantz scientifically. According to Mombo et al. (2016), the tuber is native to South America. Cassava facilitates global food security as it has been adopted as a staple food in the African, South American, and Asian continents. As a result, it ranks high among the most farmed foods globally after maize and rice. Dual et al. (2016) indicate that Sub-Saharan Africa ranks as the highest producer of cassava worldwide. The productions in Nigeria and Ghana uphold this ranking. The nation of Nigeria has effectively adopted cassava as its staple food. The depicted cultivation of cassava across the continents is due to its adaptability (Ilona et al., 2017). Cassava is drought resistant and grows even on poor soils and diverse environmental conditions. Cassava is a high-calorie food containing carbohydrates and vitamins. Its flour is gluten-free and fermented cassava has induced nutritious value. Thus, the significant characteristics of cassava lie in its nutritional value and health benefits.
Evidence affirms that calories are the measurement of energy utilized by the body. A specific amount of energy is required by any healthy person depending on occupation and body type, among others. An individual needs a particular amount or combination of food to attain the daily energy requirement. The calorie content of the consumed food will determine the amount of food consumed. In this context, high-calorie content foods are essential to the poor households that cannot afford to spend many resources on food. Deprived families will be inclined to acquire cheap and high-calorie foods. This aspect explains the popularity of cassava among the lower social classes. The costs of cassava food are relatively lower compared to other foods such as maize, sorghum, rice, and millet (Mombo et al., 2016). Notably, sufficient calorie consumption is not synonymous with a balanced diet intake. Eating enough cassava may satisfy the daily calorie needs, but the consumer would still be deprived of specific vitamins and minerals essential to body function. In this context, it is healthy to formulate a diet plan that incorporates other food substances that provides nutritional values not exhibited by the cassava.
Cassava is a primary source of carbohydrates. The high-calorie property of cassava food is due to its high carbohydrate content. Carbohydrates are known as energy-giving food, so it is conceivable that foods rich in carbohydrates will necessarily be high in calories. Thus, diets consisting of cassava foods are anticipated to integrate with foods such as meats for protein value (Filbert et al., 2016). Studies conducted in the African countries where cassava is the staple food showed that the children between two and five years old demonstrated that the children were deprived of essential micronutrients, including iron, zinc Vitamin A (Duah et al., 2016). Mombo et al. (2016) rank cassava as the fourth most essential carb...