Is cassava especially good for children who need to grow taller?

Recently, on social networks, it is said that a common root vegetable, cassava (jicama), can bring a series of "golden" health benefits, especially good for women over 40 years old and children who need to grow taller. Is this true?

Cassava - Illustration photo

Ms. NTHM (40 years old, living in Gia Dinh ward, Ho Chi Minh City) said that she recently read an article on social networks stating that a common tuber, cassava (jicama), can bring a series of "golden" health benefits such as supporting digestion, endocrine, cardiovascular, bone and joint health, beautifying the skin, increasing calcium absorption, especially good for women over 40 years old and children growing in height.

She has a 10-year-old daughter. This is the golden stage for height development, so knowing this information, she often buys jicama for her child to eat with the hope that this is a food that helps her child develop optimal height.

Doctor Ngo Thi Bach Yen   (Examination Department - Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Traditional Medicine) said In folk medicine, cassava - also known as bean root - is a familiar dish on summer days thanks to its sweet, cool, crunchy, and easy-to-eat taste.

According to traditional medicine, cassava (radish root) is sweet, cool, and enters the Lung and Stomach meridians. It has the function of clearing heat, producing new fluid, quenching thirst, and laxative. It is often eaten fresh or squeezed for juice to help quench thirst, prevent dehydration due to summer heat, soothe the throat, reduce dry mouth, support laxatives, and reduce mild constipation.

Cassava contains almost no fat and very low levels of protein and calcium. Therefore, the use of "increasing calcium absorption" or "strengthening bones" has no clear scientific basis.

Thanks to its rich fiber and inulin content, cassava helps to nourish beneficial bacteria, improve intestinal motility, and reduce constipation. However, this is a common effect of many fiber-rich vegetables, not exclusive to cassava.

There is no research to prove that cassava directly affects the endocrine system or regulates hormones.

Potassium in cassava can help regulate blood pressure. However, the amount of potassium in 100g of cassava only meets 5-7% of the recommended daily needs, so it should be combined with many other foods.

Cassava contains very little calcium. There is no compound proven to increase calcium absorption significantly. If you want to supplement calcium, you should prioritize milk, dairy products, small fish with bones, shrimp, crab, combined with sunbathing to synthesize vitamin D.

Vitamin C in cassava helps with anti-oxidation and collagen synthesis - a factor that is good for the skin. However, to have a clear effect, the amount of vitamin C from cassava alone is not enough, it needs to be combined with many other food sources.

Doctor Bach Yen noted that in addition to the usable root part, the skin, stem, leaves, flowers, and fruit of the jicama plant all contain rotenone - a highly toxic substance often used as a pesticide , which can cause poisoning if eaten, with symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, and difficulty breathing. Therefore, you should only eat the peeled root flesh.

People with acute diarrhea and stomach ulcers should limit eating raw cassava because its cooling properties can increase symptoms.

Cassava is a cool, healthy food, rich in water, fiber and vitamin C, suitable for cooling and supporting gentle digestion. However, cassava should not be considered a "miracle drug" for bones, joints, hormones or height.

To have strong bones, you need a diet rich in calcium + vitamin D, exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

Cassava should be used as part of a varied diet, without relying too much on a single food.

THUY DUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cu-san-co-dac-biet-tot-cho-tre-em-dang-can-phat-trien-chieu-cao-20250820194750273.htm