Arrowroot Powder

Latin name: Maranta arundinacea

Health Benefits of Arrowroot Powder

Arrowroot powder is a very nutritious, tasteless flour that is easily digested. It is obtained from the fleshy root stock of a tropical American plant. It is a multi- purpose flour that can be used in the kitchen.  Health benefits include:

•  A gluten free flour that can be substituted for wheat flour when baking gluten free recipes.  Great for people with gluten intolerance.
• A great substitute for cornstarch when making gravies, sauces, puddings, soups, and pie fillings.  You only need half the amount of arrowroot powder when comparing to cornstarch in a recipe, and it doesn’t change the flavor due to its tasteless quality.
• The only starch product with calcium ash. The calcium chloride, in the form of calcium found in arrowroot starch, is very important for the maintenance of proper acid and alkali balances in the human body.
• Can be made into a jelly that is used to feed newly-weaned infants to cereal or other solid foods. Compared to other starches it is easiest to digest.
• Used to relieve nausea and to replace lost nutrients due to diarrhea and vomiting.
• May be used to control moisture when dealing with foot problems such as athlete’s foot. However, it does not have antifungal properties so use for  moisture control only.

Nutritional Benefits of Arrowroot Powder

• Arrowroot only thrives on tidal flats where the sea minerals are available. Its known health-building properties may be due to trace minerals from the sea, as well as from the calcium it gets from the sea water.

How to Use Arrowroot Powder

• Can be added to a variety of foods including: hot cereals, sauces, gravies, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, stir fry, baby food and formulas, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, etc.  It is excellent as a thickener that adds nutrition to your recipes rather than cornstarch, which is highly processed.

Cautions and Side Effects of Arrowroot Powder

• Safe during pregnancy and nursing, and safe for children
• If considering for use in infant formula or food, you should consult your pediatrician and watch carefully for allergies.
• If using for relief of diarrhea, do not use with any other drugs that have the same purpose as this may cause severe constipation.

Fun Facts about Arrowroot Powder

•  In the 1850s it was used to make photographic printing papers.
• Believed to have gotten its name from being used as a treatment for wounds caused by poison arrows.