What Is Asafoetida and How Does It Work? Benefits, Drawbacks, and Applications

The dried fluid collected from the roots of Ferula plants is known as asafoetida (Ferula asafoetida). Although it is native to Afghanistan and Iraq, asafoetida is widely used in Indian cuisine, where it is dried and powdered into a spice known as hing. Aside from flavouring food, asafoetida has been used for millennia for its purported health benefits all throughout the world. Asafoetida's benefits, drawbacks, and applications are discussed in this article.

What is asafoetida and how does it work?

Asafoetida, which is technically a gum-resin, is a hard material taken from the Ferula plants' enormous, carrot-shaped roots. It's usually dried, pounded into a coarse, yellow powder, and utilised for culinary or medicinal reasons once it's been removed. Because of its high concentration of sulphur compounds, asafoetida has a strong, pungent odour as a spice. This seasoning is commonly referred to as stinking gum because of its foul odour. When cooked, however, its flavour and scent become considerably more appetising, and it is frequently compared to leeks, garlic, and even meat. Asafoetida has been employed in traditional medicine for generations, in addition to imparting a particular flavour to dishes. Hing, for instance, is used in Ayurvedic medicine to help with digestion and gas, as well as to treat bronchitis and kidney stones. The dried gum was sometimes worn around the neck to help ward off infection and sickness throughout the Middle Ages. Despite being used for thousands of years, modern science has yet to confirm many of the traditional applications of asafoetida.

Asafoetida's potential benefits

While research on asafoetida is scarce, hing peda online may have some health benefits too.

Antioxidant-rich source

Antioxidants have been discovered to be abundant in asafoetida. These plant components protect your cells from free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can cause cell damage. Antioxidants may thus aid in the prevention of chronic inflammation, heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Asafoetida, in particular, has been shown to have high levels of phenolic components including tannins and flavonoids, which are recognised for their powerful antioxidant properties. While asafoetida has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities in test tubes and animals, more research on its potential antioxidant effects in humans is needed. Furthermore, because asafoetida is used in such small amounts in cooking, it's uncertain if the spice's potential health advantages are still present.

It could be beneficial to your digestion.

Indigestion relief is one of the most prevalent uses of asafoetida. When compared to the placebo group, those taking 250 mg capsules containing asafoetida twice a day reported significant improvements in bloating, digestion, and general quality of life in a 30-day study of 43 persons with moderate to severe indigestion. Because this study was supported by the supplement's manufacturer, the results may have been influenced. Asafoetida has also been demonstrated to aid digestion by enhancing digestive enzyme activity. It has the potential to stimulate the release of bile from the liver, which is required for fat digestion. While the spice is also commonly used to prevent or minimise post-meal flatulence, there is currently no study to back up this claim.

IBS symptoms may be alleviated using this supplement.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic GI disorder marked by stomach pain or discomfort, bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhoea, or both. Asafoetida is suggested to help relieve symptoms associated with IBS because of its potential digestive benefits. After two weeks of using asafoetida pills, two short studies in persons with IBS indicated a significant improvement in reported IBS symptoms. Another study indicated that the supplement had no effect on IBS symptoms. Overall, there isn't much evidence that asafoetida is useful for treating IBS symptoms.