Never heard of moringa plant? You’re not alone. This emerging “super food” is only beginning to garner attention, but you can expect to hear more and more about it in the coming years. Why? Because moringa plant contains a variety of nutritious qualities and has the potential to fight inflammation, boost our immune system, and protect sensitive tissue.
In case you’ve never heard of moringa plant before, know that it’s a small tree typically found in India, Pakistan, and Nepal — which helps explain why it’s only now beginning to make waves in Western countries like the United States. And while it’s relatively new to us, Asians have been using it for centuries to help treat a wide variety of health conditions, from liver disease to arthritis, anemia, and diabetes. Speak with your dietitian or primary care physician before using this as it may have drug interactions.
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of moringa plant’s more notable benefits.
Nutrients-a-Plenty
Moringa plant has been consumed in Asia for generations, with the pods, roots, bark, flowers, seeds, and fruits broken down into edible forms. The leaves are often turned into a powder that can be consumed in a way much like protein powder.
Regardless of how it’s consumed, moringa plant is packed with nutrients, from vitamins A, C, and E, to calcium, potassium, and protein. That means moringa plant has the potential to help you boost your immune system, build stronger bones, and stay full for longer. Added to the average diet, it could make a significant difference in one’s overall lifestyle and may play a role in losing weight and maintaining a healthy body mass index rating.
Free Radical Fighter
Free radicals are a problem. Why? Because they’re molecules that effectively target the cells through inflammation. While that may not sound particularly dire, they can cause significant health problems in the long run. That’s why many health experts recommend consuming foods that are high in antioxidants, which can help fight free radicals. Examples include berries and many other types of fruit.
Moringa plant happens to be very high in antioxidants like flavonoids, polyphenols, and ascorbic acid — these can be found in the plant’s seeds, leaves, and flowers. That means a diet consisting of moringa plant may be able to help your cells remain healthy and functional, keeping you feeling ready for just about any challenge.
Inflammation Beater
Inflammation poses a significant risk to our bodies because it can lead to serious health issues, including heart disease, obesity, arthritis, respiratory issues, and diabetes. Because it’s such a widespread problem, just about anyone can benefit from consuming foods that help in the fight against inflammation.
For its part, moringa plant has been shown to help suppress inflammatory enzymes, helping the body limit the impact of inflammation in cells. Although results are likely to vary depending on an individual’s own health circumstances, consuming moringa plant powder could play a significant role in helping to reduce the chances of developing serious health issues. (For more information, check out Best Anti-Inflammatory Foods).
Deal with Diabetes Better
Type 2 diabetes is rapidly becoming one of North America’s most prevalent health problems. With ever more people spending their days seated in offices and with the growing prominence of high-calorie, high-fat foods, it’s a huge challenge for even healthy-minded individuals to maintain a lifestyle that keeps diabetes at bay.
That’s where moringa plant can help a lot. Its powder has been shown to effectively reduce lipid and glucose levels in the body, thereby helping the performance of major organs like the heart. By playing a role in lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels, moringa plant could assist in protecting an individual from developing diabetes in the first place.
Heart Healthy Benefits
Of the body’s major organs, the heart may be the most important. A healthy heart pumps blood to all parts of the body in a steady and efficient manner, providing an individual with the nutrients they need to remain energetic and complete the various tasks before them.
By helping to regular blood lipid (or cholesterol) levels, moringa plant can help keep the heart functioning as it should. Specifically, it may be able to help limit the formation of plaque in the arteries, a development that often plays a central role in the emergence of heart disease. (For more information, check out Foods That Can Help Boost Heart Health).
Boost Brain Power
Brain health is of paramount importance, which is why it’s always a good idea to incorporate foods that have the potential to boost cognitive functionality into your diet. Not only does moringa plant have that capability via its potent antioxidant force, but because it’s high in vitamins, like E and C, that can help fight oxidation and neuron degeneration.
Moringa plant is also said to help normalize the release of serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline in the brain, a process that can help boost memory, mood, and feelings of pleasure while limiting the impact of stress on one’s mental health.
Safeguard the Liver
Because it’s responsible for filtering out toxins, the liver plays a hugely important role in helping us keep healthy. And that’s a tall order, particularly in an age when so many of us regularly consume highly processed, over-salted foods and alcoholic beverages.
That’s where moringa plant can help. Packed with polyphenols that can be found in its flowers and leaves, it has the potential to help prevent oxidation and limit damage done to the liver. In fact, it may even be able to reverse any damage that’s been done to the organ as a result of poor diet and lifestyle choices. (Check out Healthy Foods Your Liver Will Thank You For).
Fend Off Infections
Infections can cause a lot of serious health problems, whether it’s a urinary tract infection or something more sinister, such as a kidney infection. Without proper treatment, these irritating issues can balloon into something far more problematic and may land an individual in the hospital.
That’s why it’s a good idea to supplement your diet with foods that boast antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. That’s the case for moringa plant, which has been shown to help fight off bacteria and assist in the suppression of bacterial infections throughout the body.
Help with Healing
We’re all human, which means we make mistakes, and those mistakes can result in serious injuries. No matter how careful we try to be and no matter the extent of the protection we wear, we’re bound to get injured in some way.
The important thing is to respond to these challenges by turning to foods that can help us recover from an injury, whether it’s major or something relatively minor. One of those foods is moringa plant, which boasts properties in its seeds, roots and leaves that assist in clotting the blood and beginning the healing process. In the end, that could allow one to bounce back from a wound quicker.
Stay Regular
Most of us try to avoid talking a lot about our digestive issues, whatever they may be, and how this affects our trips to the bathroom on a daily basis. In truth, many people regularly struggle with staying regular, and that can leave them feeling uncomfortable, irritable, and generally miserable.
Moringa plant may be able to help with this issue. When consumed in powder form — typically by adding it to a drink, such as tea or a smoothie — it can act as a form of laxative. In other words, it may be able to get things moving through your digestive tract, helping you maintain regularity and allowing you to reach your goals for the day.
Digest Food Better
Not only can moringa plant help you stay regular, it may help with the entire digestive process, from the point food begins being digested in the stomach to its removal from your system.
How so? Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, moringa can help prevent or treat stomach ulcers while promoting the breakdown of nutrients in the small and large intestine. For anyone having issues with digestion, such as individuals with irritable bowel syndrome, moringa plant could help. (Here are some Ways to Improve Your Digestive Health).
Help with Skin Issues
Moringa plant antibacterial qualities can help with many internal issues, including significant digestive problems or afflictions focused on the urinary tract and kidneys. But it could also go a long way in helping maintain smooth, healthy skin.
When applied to the skin in oil form, moringa plant can assist in preventing dryness, limit the chance of a wound becoming infected, and help restore the skin’s supple nature by providing a layer of hydration and lubrication. It also smells quite pleasant, which isn’t something you can say about every skin treatment product.
