By DEVON VAN HOUTEN MALDONADO
The News
In Mexico, the nopal cactus, known as prickly pear cactus in the United States, has been an important element of the local diet since pre-Hispanic times. Traditionally food of the poor, nopal has made a comeback in gourmet cooking and health culture as a versatile superfood.
After several thousand years of cultivation in Latin America, only recently has the world been turned on to the nutritional and medicinal uses of the nopal and its fruit, known in Mexico as tuna. The prickly cactus pad can be prepared any number of ways and the fruit can be eaten raw.
In addition to human consumption, nopal sustains wildlife, is sacred to indigenous groups and has been used for erosion control throughout the Americas. The coat of arms on the Mexican flag even shows the primitive food in the talons of the eagle.
The cactus is the ecosystem that sustains the cochineal insect, from which crimson dye and food coloring is extracted. Indigenous people used the dye for clothing, now it is used mostly for food and makeup. The cochineal deters other invasive species from taking over the cactus, so there is little need for pesticides.
While the cactus doesn’t seem immediately appetizing while it brandishes sharp spikes, once they are removed everything that remains is edible and nutritious. Unlike other modern crops which demand a high volume of water, fertilizer and space, nopal grows like a weed. The cactus can reach human heights. Even in the harshest environments and droughts it perseveres.
The cactus is the ecosystem that sustains the cochineal insect, from which crimson dye and food coloring is extracted. Indigenous people used the dye for clothing, now it is used mostly for food and makeup. The cochineal deters other invasive species from taking over the cactus, so there is little need for pesticides.
While the cactus doesn’t seem immediately appetizing while it brandishes sharp spikes, once they are removed everything that remains is edible and nutritious. Unlike other modern crops which demand a high volume of water, fertilizer and space, nopal grows like a weed. The cactus can reach human heights. Even in the harshest environments and droughts it perseveres.
In the last decade, many reports about the dietary composition of the cactus have been published. While western nations with growing alternative health cultures tout the nopal as a miracle plant, in Mexico it continues to be a subtle staple of the poor. While marginalized Mexicans continue to eat nopal because of tradition and sometimes necessity, they also consume more and more sugary drinks, fat and processed food.
Economic growth and globalization has contributed to an increase in processed sugar and fat in Mexican’s diets, making the country one of the most obese on earth. In fact, in 2013, Mexico overtook the United States as the world’s most obese developed nation with more than 32 percent of the adult population suffering from the affliction, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Mexican Diabetes Federation said that an estimated 10 million Mexicans, one-sixth of all adults, suffer from diabetes. Diabetes and heart disease are the two leading causes of death in Mexico.
What does that have to do with nopal? Well, recent studies have shown that the under-appreciated cactus and its sweet fruit actually have the ability to reverse diabetes, control blood sugar and combat obesity.
There are more than 100 types of nopal cactuses in Mexico, according to the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco). Mexico is the world’s largest producer and consumer of the cactus. In Mexico City alone, over 300,000 tons of nopal are produced every year, Profeco’s Adriana Hernández Uresti said.
One particular type of the cactus has been studied for its positive effect
on hypoglycemic patients with type-two diabetes: Opuntia Streptacantha.
“There is experimental evidence that supports the anti-hypoglycemic activity of Opuntia Streptacantha,” reads a National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) medical researcher report.
With doses starting at 100 grams for normal diabetes patients and 300 to 500 grams for “acutely hypoglycemic” patients, nopal shows to be an effective anti-diabetic, the UNAM researchers said.
Economic growth and globalization has contributed to an increase in processed sugar and fat in Mexican’s diets, making the country one of the most obese on earth. In fact, in 2013, Mexico overtook the United States as the world’s most obese developed nation with more than 32 percent of the adult population suffering from the affliction, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Mexican Diabetes Federation said that an estimated 10 million Mexicans, one-sixth of all adults, suffer from diabetes. Diabetes and heart disease are the two leading causes of death in Mexico.
What does that have to do with nopal? Well, recent studies have shown that the under-appreciated cactus and its sweet fruit actually have the ability to reverse diabetes, control blood sugar and combat obesity.
There are more than 100 types of nopal cactuses in Mexico, according to the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco). Mexico is the world’s largest producer and consumer of the cactus. In Mexico City alone, over 300,000 tons of nopal are produced every year, Profeco’s Adriana Hernández Uresti said.
One particular type of the cactus has been studied for its positive effect
on hypoglycemic patients with type-two diabetes: Opuntia Streptacantha.
“There is experimental evidence that supports the anti-hypoglycemic activity of Opuntia Streptacantha,” reads a National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) medical researcher report.
With doses starting at 100 grams for normal diabetes patients and 300 to 500 grams for “acutely hypoglycemic” patients, nopal shows to be an effective anti-diabetic, the UNAM researchers said.
Interestingly, as it ages, the cactus features an evolving nutrition composition, according to a report called “Chemical Analysis of Nutritional Content of Prickly Pads (Opuntia ficus indica) at Varied Ages in an Organic Harvest” by a mixed group of researchers from UNAM and other Mexican universities.
“The best stage of prickly pads for calcium content was found to be 135 days old,” the report said. “The results indicate that older prickly pad powder can be a good source of calcium for populations where the availability of dairy products is complicated, and also in people with difficulties digesting dairy products,” the researches concluded.
Nopal has also been shown to improve dental health, lower cholesterol, gastrointestinal health, colon health and bone health, Profeco said.
Lucky for Mexico, what ails it may be cured, along with professional medical help, by a steady diet of this perserverant cactus. An excellent source of fiber, calcium, protein, vitamins and energy, unlimited in ways to prepare it, the remedy turns out to be a cheap cactus that’s easy to find in any market in Mexico.
“The best stage of prickly pads for calcium content was found to be 135 days old,” the report said. “The results indicate that older prickly pad powder can be a good source of calcium for populations where the availability of dairy products is complicated, and also in people with difficulties digesting dairy products,” the researches concluded.
Nopal has also been shown to improve dental health, lower cholesterol, gastrointestinal health, colon health and bone health, Profeco said.
Lucky for Mexico, what ails it may be cured, along with professional medical help, by a steady diet of this perserverant cactus. An excellent source of fiber, calcium, protein, vitamins and energy, unlimited in ways to prepare it, the remedy turns out to be a cheap cactus that’s easy to find in any market in Mexico.
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