Turnips, unobtrusively hidden in the shadow of more popular vegetables, are a nutritional behemoth and chameleon unto themselves. A root vegetable and crucifer, turnips belong to the same family as Brussels sprouts, kale, and broccoli. Turnips are available in many sizes and shapes but with identical peppery taste and mother lode of valuable nutrients that are the key to good health.

Whether you’re looking to improve your diet, explore new cooking ingredients, or manage specific health conditions, turnips can be a smart addition to your meals. From turnip soup benefits to the anti-inflammatory properties of turnips, this humble vegetable deserves a regular spot on your plate, especially during the winter months when its hearty flavor and warming qualities are most appreciated.

In this new world, where all are searching for healthy food to lead a healthy life, turnips are again on demand. They are affordable, easily available, and can be added with any type of dish, so they are a very good choice in ancient food as well as in present food.

What is Turnip?

Turnip or, in fact, Brassica rapa is a root that is grown all over the world for leaf and root. White with purple top most often, it exists in other forms as well, and leaf and root are both edible. Root is crumbly and subtly sweet and earthy in flavor, but the flavor of the latter is overpowered when cooked.

Turnips are found to be ubiquitously common on the menu in most of the globe, particularly South Asia. Turnips in Pakistani cooking, for example, find themselves being used in extended applications in curries, stews, and even pickling, evidence of the gastronomical usefulness and cultural ease of turnips.

Turnip greens, which all of us want to throw away at home, are highly nutrient-rich and can be cooked quite close to mustard greens or spinach. They contain plenty of vitamins and minerals and a hassle-free quantity of vegetable not to throw away.


Know About Turnip Nutritional Profile

Turnips are calorie-low and nutrient-rich foods and hence an apt option for chronic diseases or weight-management diet patients. After is the nutritional value of turnips per 100 grams raw root:

  • Calories: Around 28
  • Carbohydrates: 6.4 g
  • Fibre: 1.8 g
  • Protein: 0.9 g
  • Fat: 0.1 g
  • Vitamin C: 21 mg (35% daily value)
  • Folate: 15 mcg
  • Calcium: 30 mg
  • Potassium: 191 mg
To everyone's surprise, turnip greens are more nutritious than the root. Turnip greens are rich in vitamins A, K, and C and minerals such as iron and calcium. Consume the turnip leaves nutrition and root together and relish an equal ratio of nutrition.

Turnips have antioxidants that lower the oxidative load on the body. Antioxidants together with vitamins and dietary fiber turn turnips into a valuable input in prevention mechanisms for health.

Various Uses of Turnips

Turnips are a perfectionist crop in medicine as well. Turnips have four significant means of utilization:

  • Preparation in Curries and Stews: Turnips possess the wonderful quality of absorbing spices, and thus find good use in big dishes. Turnips are cooked primarily with meat and spices in Pakistani cuisine to produce food soft crumbling along with a hint of sweetness.
  • Preparation of Turnip Soup: Turnip soup is a nutritious, warm, and easily digestible winter vegetable. Turnip soup is typically eaten in combination with lentils, carrots, or potatoes, which bring heat along with nutrition. Nutritive value of soup of turnips and digestion and immunity.
  • Salads and Roasted Vegetables: Raw green turnips are added to salads to get crunchiness, and roasted turnips are a nutritious potato substitute with less calorie and increased antioxidants.
  • Pickling and Fermentation: Turnips are pickled in all societies because of their digestibility and acidic taste. Fermented turnips are rich in probiotics, so it is good for digestion and the immune system.
Turnip greens can be cooked in garlic and olive oil or can be added to soups as nutritious content. Lemon or vinegar dressing counteracts bitterness.

Some Amazing Benefits of Turnip

Turnip calories are not only low, but also healthy and come with a great array of health benefits. Six functional health benefits of turnips you must learn about are:

  • Helps Digestive Health: Turnips contain almost 2 grams of fiber per 100 grams and help maintain smoothness of normal bowel movement and all-around digestive health. Fiber keeps the health-sustaining bacteria of the intestine in optimal overall digestion.
  • Aids in Weight Loss: Since it is made up of high water content and few calories, turnips for weight loss would aid in weight loss as a powerful foods. They provide bulk and weight but not calories.
  • Anti-inflammatory Activity: Turnips contain bioactive substances like glucosinolates that have plant-based anti-inflammatory activities. The bioactive substances reduce the body's level of inflammatory markers, which can be quite beneficial in preventing diseases like arthritis and metabolic syndromes.
  • Good for Diabetics: Do you ever wonder, "Is turnip good for diabetes?" Yes! Turnips are low-glycemic veggies, wherein they release sugar into the blood very slowly. It does not trigger the rise of blood glucose level, and therefore, they are diabetic-safe food.
  • Encourages Heart Health: Potassium and antioxidant-rich turnips for heart health can claim their space by reducing blood pressure and eliminating oxidative stress, two of the most important causative factors of heart disease.
  • Enhances Immunity and Antibodies: Due to the presence of vitamin C, turnips can be utilized in improving immunity as well as in the prevention of common cold and infection. This is especially helpful during winter, as asserted by the position of turnips during winter food in their use in diet.

Conclusion

Turnips will never grace newspaper headlines, but nutrition content and density cannot be ignored. With its nutrient-rich bundle of strength and convenience on the plate to prepare, as a weight loss agent, cardiovascular disease inhibitor, and digestive comforter, turnips are an utilitarian part of any diet in pursuit of wellness.

Whether it's your use of turnips, is it savoring a relaxing bowl of turnip soup, being daring with turnips in Pakistani cuisine, or perhaps just searching for an alternative veg to spice things up in your life, their root veg contains it all. Don't forget the greens, those are even higher in nutrients than the root!

On turnips vs radishes, both possess both, but turnips earn points for culinary uses, sweeter flavor, and higher nutrition profile. Incorporate turnips in winter diet this year, and enjoy the benefits of nutrition and flavor that they provide.

Please book an appointment with the best Nutritionist in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and all major cities of Pakistan through InstaCare, or call our helpline at 03171777509 to find a verified doctor for your disease.