Improves sex hormones, brain function… benefits of palm wine

When palm wine, the whitish sap tapped from palm trees, is tapped fresh and not fermented, it is considered a fruit juice as it contains no levels of alcohol, making it highly nutritious and beneficial to the body.

Palm wine is a good source of amino acids, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron and vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6.

Below are many reasons you should drink palm wine.

Promotes good heart health

The potassium content in palm wine helps to reduce high blood pressure, prevent heart disease and stroke. It also protects against inflammatory bowel disease.

Palm wine also contains polyphenols, an antioxidant that prevents heart-related diseases.

Aids growth

Palm wine contains amino acids, said to be the building blocks of life, needed to build, repair cells and tissues.

Boosts immunity

The presence of zinc in palm wine helps to boost the body’s immunity against diseases and infections. Zinc deficiency can lead to the development of respiratory, gastrointestinal infections like pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Relieves fatigue

Palm wine is a healthy source of iron.

Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin, which is a substance in red blood cells that transfers oxygen from the lungs to the tissues.

Iron supports metabolism and is also necessary for growth, development and synthesis of some hormones and connective tissue. Iron helps eradicate different causes of fatigue. Iron is also necessary to maintain healthy cells, skin, hair, and nails.

Improves brain function

Palm wine contains vitamin B1 and B6, also called thiamine and pyridoxine respectively, which are needed for good brain functioning.

These vitamins help the body make several neurotransmitters; chemicals that carry signals from one nerve cell to another.

They are also needed for normal brain development and function, and help the body make the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which influence mood, and melatonin, which helps regulate the body clock.

Deficiency of vitamin B6 may lead to muscle weakness, nervousness, depression, short-term memory loss, and difficulty in concentrating.

Boosts sex hormones

The niacin content of palm wine helps the body make various sex and stress-related hormones in the adrenal glands and other parts of the body.

According to a 2011 study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, a daily dose of niacin, also known as vitamin B3, improves erectile function in men with high cholesterol, and also promotes sperm production in men.

Replenishes lost energy

Palm wine contains riboflavin, a vitamin that helps the body convert food carbohydrates into glucose which is used to produce energy.

In addition to producing energy for the body, riboflavin works as an antioxidant, fighting damaging particles in the body known as free radicals, thus keeping diseases like cancer at bay or helping to prevent some of the damage they cause.

Good for lactating mothers

Palm wine helps to improve lactation in nursing mothers. It stimulates the production of more breast milk for the baby’s consumption.