The Benefits Of Moringa

A newcomer to the super-food landscape, moringa is already playing in the big leagues! This shrub native to India shines for its powerful nutritional powers and its many benefits. Let’s learn all about the benefits of Moringa.

Origin

There are 13 varieties of moringa. However the one that interests us for its many nutritional and therapeutic qualities is moringa oleifera.

Originally from India, this small, fast-growing tree thrives in particularly dry and arid soils. Although today it has become acclimatized in almost all tropical regions of Asia and Africa.

Everything is good in moringa: its roots with horseradish taste, its fruits (pods), its seeds, its bark and especially its leaves with their impressive mineral and vitamin density.

In India and Thailand, people eat its fruits in many traditional recipes (curry, dals, korma, stir-fries, soups, etc.). As well as its flowers in fritters. In Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia, they use the leaves in the composition of soups and vegetable broths and in the Sahel, the leaves are a vegetable in their own right, eaten cooked like spinach.

Nutritional assets

Even if all parts of moringa can are of use for their virtues, it is the moringa leaves that shine with their nutritional richness. They contain the majority of the minerals and vitamins that our body needs, in very high quantities!

At equal weight, this superfood contains as much protein as in a beef steak. 4 times more calcium than in cow’s milk. 9 times more vitamin C than in kiwi. 4 times more vitamin A than in carrot and as much magnesium as in dark chocolate! Although the quantities of moringa consumed are much lower than those of all the foods mentioned above, a daily teaspoon is enough to overcome many deficiencies!

Moringa also contains a very large quantity of chlorophyll, with many health benefits (digestion, healing, immune defences, etc.).

Dehydrated moringa leaves are edible, often in powder form, just like spirulina. It thus retains the vast majority of its nutritional qualities except for vitamin C.

Finally, moringa is special for its very high concentration of antioxidants (terpenes, phenolic acid, flavonoids) which largely contribute to its many health benefits.

The benefits of Moringa

– Address nutrient deficiencies

This cocktail of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants is unparalleled in alleviating nutritional deficiencies. Moringa fights against malnutrition and deficiencies in poor countries, and a large number of NGOs use it for this purpose.

– antioxidant

Moringa has a very strong antioxidant action which has been studied on numerous occasions. They all conclude that the antioxidants contained in moringa have a strong capacity to trap free radicals responsible for the oxidation of cells and their aging.

– Hypoglycemic

A scientific review dating from 2012 brings together all the scientific studies that have been done on the hypoglycemic effect of Moringa. It concludes that “Reported studies in laboratory animals and humans, although limited in number and of varying design, appear to be consistent in their support for this hypoglycemic potential”, although new, more rigorous studies are needed to confirm this.

– Purifying action

It is chlorophyll, present in very large quantities in moringa, which gives it this purifying action. This pigment, responsible for the green color of moringa leaves, promotes the detoxification of cells in the body. It is also beneficial to the health of the intestinal flora and helps to fight against bloating and bacterial proliferation.

– Antidiabetic

Several studies suggest a positive effect of moringa in the treatment of diabetes. Most were done on rats, like a 2015 study conducted in Saudi Arabia studied the effect of moringa on male rats, which shows a positive effect on diabetes markers and on the histology of the kidney.

– cholesterol lowering

Fresh moringa leaves were used by Indians to lower cholesterol levels in obese patients. A Nigerian study investigated the effect of moringa leaf extract combined with a low-fat diet, and found a 14% decrease in serum, liver and kidney cholesterol levels.

– Anticancer

A 2011 study conducted at the National University of Singapore investigated the action of moringa leaf extracts on human cancer cells. The results suggest that “M. oleifera leaf extracts exhibited strong anti-proliferation and potent induction of apoptosis [cell death]” and the study concluded that “M. oleifera leaf extracts have a potential for cancer chemoprevention and can be claimed as a cancer therapeutic target. »

Dosage

Moringa is mainly marketed in the form of loose powder or capsules.
To benefit from its nutritional and health benefits, it is recommended to take one to two teaspoons of powder per day. When packaged in the form of capsules, the dosage is indicated on the packaging. The cure should ideally last 4 months.

Side effects and contraindications

The side effects and contraindications of dried moringa leaves come from its high nutritional richness and its therapeutic effects. Thus, people suffering from hypoglycaemia should not start a moringa cure without medical advice. A high consumption of moringa can cause sleep disorders or insomnia, digestive disorders (laxative effect) and more rarely heartburn.

Finally, because of its high vitamin A content, moringa is not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

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I hope you enjoyed these benefits of Moringa and found them useful. Comment down below what you think, have you ever tried it, or share with us what you know about it.

Looking forward to reading your comments, sending you love and positive energy!!!