There are so many varieties of herbs that you could find the marketplace today, some of them are really coming with great benefits, while others are only used to encourage herbs sale. One of the herbal plant that recently is gaining its popularity is Konjac. Some people thought konjac falls to the second category of herbs which is only used to increase herbs sale, however the fact is, konjac is actually having a lot of benefits for human health. Its benefits have even mentioned in some old Chinese histories as medicine and food.

What is Konjac?

Among others herbs from the same family, konjac is not really popular yet though its benefits have been discovered from thousand years ago but in modern world, people are only finding out about konjac recently. Konjac has scientific name Amorphophallus konjac and since it is native to Asia like Japan and Korea, the name konjac is actually derived from those two languages, konnyaku (Japan) or gonyak (Korea).

Since it is only able to be cultivated in subtropical and tropical climate only, konjac is only popular in some part of eastern Asia like Japan, Korea and Indonesia. Konjac is very famous because of the unique appearance of the flowers but it is actually the root that has a lot of benefits for health.

Nutritional Value of Konjac Root

For the nutritional value of konjac root, there is no exact information yet or studies that have been conducted intensively, however it has been known that konjac root is rich of soluble fiber and excellent source of carbohydrate but relatively low in calories.

From the appearance of the root, most people are mostly mistaken it with yam though the fact is, those two plants are coming from completely different family. To find out more about the health benefits of konjac, the list below will help you finding out more information about this herbal plant.

1. Helps to Improve Digestion

It is no secret that konjac is rich of fiber. The only solution to help you improving your digestion or to promote so it works optimally is by consuming foods that are rich of fiber and konjac is one of the herbal plants that are rich of soluble fiber to improve digestion.

2. Controls Blood Sugar Level

Diabetic patients must have known that doing their medication is much easier than controlling their diet. Well, once you have diagnosed with diabetes, you should really careful with everything you should eat. However, consuming food that could help you controlling the blood sugar level in your blood might ease up the condition a bit.

3. Optimizes the Mineral Absorption

To make sure that your body is getting enough minerals, you should not only consume foods that are rich of minerals but you should also consume foods that could help in optimizing the mineral absorption. There is no point of you if consuming minerals but body cannot absorb them optimally. However, you have to be careful as well in consuming foods that could interfere the absorption.

4. Contains Anti-Bacterial Properties to Promote Oral Health

Toothache is not going to be fatal but it could be really annoying, especially when it comes in important situation. Konjac which contains some anti-bacterial properties is good for oral health. To help you deal with the toothache temporarily before you meet your dentist, you could use konjac as mouthwash to sooth the ache.

5. Natural Immunity Booster

Immunity system in human body is like a layer of protection that will provide a fulltime protection. It means immunity system could be weaker and also be stronger; it depends on how body metabolism is. Consuming foods that rich of properties that could boost immunity is one of the way to maintain your health.

6. Source of Some Powerful Antioxidants

Antioxidants could be considered as one of the most powerful compounds required by human body. Its main role is to fight free radical that could cause some fatal conditions like cancer. Since body cannot produce enough antioxidants, people still need to find the replacements from foods they consume.

7. Controls Blood Pressure

If you could control your blood pressure level, it means you could maintain your heart health as well. There are a lot of natural solutions to control blood pressure and much better than taking certain pills, one of them is just by adding konjac to your daily diet.

8. Promotes Eye Health

One of the fatal conditions that could be cause by inflammation is eye problem. Just by adding konjac to your diet, it could help you fighting condition like macular degeneration that is attacking optical health.

9. Energy Booster

As one of the foods that are rich of carbohydrate, konjac is great energy booster. However, you don’t need to worry about gaining weight because though konjac is a great source of carbohydrate but it is relatively low in calories.

10. Eases Up PMS Symptoms

Only women will understand that there is no easy way to ease up PMS symptoms. However, perhaps those women just don’t know that konjac is actually effective and natural solution to deal with PMS symptoms.

11. Contains Some Anti-Inflammatory Properties

One of the amazing compounds found in konjac is some anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammatory is actually the root of some fatal conditions, so instead of temporary solution, you should deal with the root of the problem.

12. Promotes Healthier Skin

Right now there are a lot of cosmetic products that are made from konjac as well. It is because konjac is one of the natural sources of antioxidants that are great for skin cell regeneration and could fight some skin problems like acne and oily skin.

13. Solution to Weight Loss

What’s more health benefits of konjac? Nowadays, there are a lot of weight loss supplement you could find in the marketplace made from konjac. Some studies have proven that konjac indeed has significant role in weight loss but you have to be careful with weight loss supplement which is only claiming to be made from konjac but not.

14. Reduces Cholesterol Level

It is a common knowledge that fiber is the solution to control the excessive amount of ‘bad’ cholesterol while at the same time is making sure the optimal production of ‘good’ cholesterol. Konjac is the natural sources of soluble fiber which could make sure the significant reduction of cholesterol level.

15. Improves Bowel Movement

There are some factors that could cause the bowel is moving slower. However, no matter what are the factors that cause it, konjac could improve the bowel movement. Healthy bowel movement means healthy body metabolism.

16. Great Source of Soluble Fiber

Fiber is probably one of the most important compounds essentially required by your body. It has significant role in keeping your healthy intestine while at the same time is binding some unnecessary properties to be washed off and konjac is the natural source of soluble fiber.

17. Natural Solution to Constipation

As mentioned in previous point, konjak is a great source of soluble fiber and it is one of the best solution to treat constipation. If you have done almost everything to deal with this condition but still no significant result, why don’t you give konjac a try?

18. Natural Prebiotic

Probiotics are essential for gut health but do you know from where they’re coming from? Well, they come from certain compound called prebiotics, when prebiotics are entering your colon, they will be turned into probiotics. Konjac is one of the prebiotics you could find in nature.

Cautions of Konjac

The rumor about konjac is only used to increase herb sale is not without reason because there are some cases reporter regarding some cosmetic products that are claimed to be made from extracted konjac but with no significant effect at all. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with konjac and the list above have told you just how beneficial this herbal plant is actually. However, don’t close your eyes with the chance of cautions that might occur, especially for those who have preexisting conditions.

1. As mentioned above, konjac is a great source of soluble fiber but consuming it in large amount without professional recommendation could cause fatal condition like blockages of esophagus, throat and intestine. In worst case, to deal with this condition a surgical removal is required.
2. In large amount, konjac could cause some condition in gastrointestinal. Though the effects are not going to be fatal but could be really annoying like diarrhea, bloating, flatulence and many more.
3. Konjac is already proven to be effective in reducing cholesterol level and blood sugar level. However, it could be a bad news for those who have been taking special medications to maintain cholesterol and blood sugar because the double effect could be harmful for the patients.
4. It is better to not give konjac to children or elderly because some fatal choking hazard cases have been reported regarding this matter.
5. Besides children and elderly, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are not recommended to take konjac as well.
6. If some symptoms like difficult breathing, skin rashes, itchy skin, rapid heart rate, problem swallowing are appears after taking konjac, you should stop taking konjac and contact your doctor immediately.
7. If you are diabetic patients who are taking insulin medication should avoid konjac completely because it is not only high blood sugar level that is dangerous for your body but too low blood sugar level could give fatal effect as well.

Due to some fatal cases caused by some produces made from konjac as mentioned above, there are some countries that are banning konjac. That’s why is important for you to find out more information about the product before you decided to take or use it. However, that’s all the health benefits of konjac.