Every nutritionist will tell you that small additions to your diet can make a big difference. Whether it’s scattering vitamin-rich seeds over your morning porridge or spooning prebiotic-filled yoghurt on the edge of your evening meal, tiny additions can diversify our food intake – a brilliant way to keep our gut microbiome happy – and help us achieve our daily intake of all the important nutrients we need every day.

It’s no wonder, then, that we’re searching for additional herbs, spices and fruits that can elevate our meals into nutritionally rich dishes. This is where tamarind comes in: internet searches for the tropical fruit have shot up 60% in the last month, and you may have noticed videos on how to incorporate it into your diet cropping up on your social feeds. But, what exactly is it?

Tamarind is a fruit that’s native to Africa but also grown in other topical climates, especially India. It produces bean-like pods filled with seeds and pulp, which have a sweet-sour taste. You might be most familiar with tamarind paste, which is a mainstay in Asian cooking, but it can also be bought as raw pods, in concentrate or as whole dried seeds in some health food shops, which people can easily add to stir-frys and marinades or dissolve into water and drink.

So, why the sudden interest in the fruit? Tamarind has been used in traditional medicine for centuries, and modern research suggests these tiny pods are nutritional powerhouses, packed full of vitamins and plant compounds that can have a range of health benefits. Here are five reasons why tamarind could be the next small addition to your meals that could make a big difference to your diet. 

1. It’s high in magnesium

Magnesium is an incredibly important mineral. It’s essential for supporting a whole host of bodily functions and is essential for the body to run properly. “Magnesium is an essential mineral,” says registered dietitian Tai Ibitoye. “It’s crucial for muscle and nerve function, to regulate blood glucose and blood pressure levels and for healthy bones.”

Magnesium can also help the body handles stress. “Magnesium helps regulate neurotransmitters that affect your mood, like serotonin,” says Dr Naomi Newman-Beinart, a health expert and nutritionist. “It also works on GABA receptors in the brain, which help calm you down. Studies show that low magnesium can increase anxiety and stress.”

It’s so vital for good health that it’s the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body. However, studies show that many people in the UK have lower than recommended levels of magnesium, especially young women. Those with low magnesium may notice muscle cramps, fatigue, irritability, mental fog and trouble sleeping. Severe deficiency can cause more serious issues like abnormal heart rhythms and numbness or tingling.

Every 100g of tamarind contains around 92mg of magnesium, meaning one serving will give over a quarter of our recommended daily amount of magnesium. This means tamarind can help improve a whole host of our bodily functions and regulate our mood by helping us boost our magnesium levels. 

2. It’s rich in antioxidants

Tamarind pulp is packed with antioxidants. These are naturally occurring compounds that counteract unstable molecules, known as ‘free radicals’, that can damage our cells and DNA. Much of the antioxidants in tamarind come from phytonutrients, which are especially concentrated in the fruit’s pulp. 

These potent antioxidants can have several benefits, including enhancing the efficiency of the body’s natural defences and reducing inflammation. Studies have shown that tamarind fruit pulp has a “significant amount of phenolic and flavonoid content” which “possesses antioxidant activities”.

Tamarind is also rich in vitamin C, another antioxidant. There’s around 3.5mg of vitamin C in every 100g serving of tamarind, which is also essential for maintaining healthy skin, blood vessels, bones and cartilage. 

3. It contains heart-friendly nutrients

Tamarind fruit pulp contains a huge number of polyphenols, such as flavonoids, which studies suggest can help regulate cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is present in the blood. An excess of ‘bad’ cholesterol, of LDL, in the body can form plaque on our arterial wall, which restricts blood flow. This increases our risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. It’s recommended that levels of bad cholesterol should be 3mmol/L or less.

One study, which fed tamarind fruit extract to hamsters with high cholesterol, found that it lowered total cholesterol in the hamsters studied. Another animal study found that the antioxidants in the fruit can help reduce LDL cholesterol. While more studies need to be conducted with human participants to reveal the full effect of tamarind on cholesterol, it seems its antioxidant, polyphenol-rich make-up could be beneficial for those seeking a heart-healthy diet. 

Tamarind pulp is also high in potassium – there’s around 628mg of potassium per 100g – which is extremely beneficial for control heart rate and blood pressure. A study published by Amsterdam University Medical Centers and published in the European Heart Journal, found high potassium diets were associated with lower blood pressure, especially in women who ate higher amounts of salt. ​​The researchers found that as intake of potassium went up, blood pressure went down, meaning high-potassium tamarind could be a brilliant food source for those looking to up their potassium intake. 

4. It’s good for your gut

Tamarind, especially the pulp, has many qualities that are beneficial for our gut health. Firstly, it’s high in dietary fibre, which is incredibly important for our gut diversity. Both insoluble and soluble fibre should be part of a gut-healthy diet. Insoluble types aid digestive health and prevent bloating and constipation. While soluble fibre feeds good bacteria in the large intestine, helping to nurture our immune systems and hormone functions.

Health experts recommend that we eat around 30g of fibre a day. Tamarind contains over 5g of dietary fibre per 100g, so eating just one portion can make a big dent in our daily intake. 

Secondly, tamarind’s high levels of polyphenols are especially important for the gut microbiome. Polyphenols both help to feed good bacteria in the gut and prevent the growth of bad bacteria. Essentially, polyphenols are like probiotics for our gut microbiome. Our microbiome uses the chemicals in polyphenols as food and converts them into short-chain fatty acids. These then have anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting benefits for the gut and beyond. 

5. It can help control blood sugar levels

More and more research suggests that tamarind, especially tamarind seed extract, has anti-inflammatory properties that could improve blood-sugar regulation in the body. Studies have been carried out analysing the potential protective benefits of tamarind extract and whether it could improve blood sugar regulation in people with diabetes.

One study says: “Tamarind seed extract shows pancreatic β-cell island protective effect with its anti-inflammatory properties, blood glucose regulation, and reversal of damage to pancreatic tissue.” It concluded that the polyphenol-rich tamarind seed and extract could be used as nutritional support for those looking to regulate blood glucose levels. 

Images: Getty