Moringa plant is beginning to gain more popularity as a new “superfood” for its highly nutritious profile and powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and tissue-protective properties among many other health benefits.
Moringa oleifera, also known as horseradish tree, ben tree, or drumstick tree, is a small tree from India, Pakistan, and Nepal that has been used for generations in Eastern countries to treat and prevent diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, anemia, arthritis, liver disease, and respiratory, skin, and digestive disorders.
Moringa has become popular as a natural leaf powder supplement, although the pods, roots, bark, flowers, seeds, and fruits are also edible.1. It’s Super Nutritious.
According to Kuli Kuli, an organization that harvests Moringa plants in Africa and makes them accessible to customers in the U.S. and other western nations, gram for gram, Moringa contains:
• two times the amount of protein of yogurt
• four times the amount of vitamin A as carrots
• three times the amount of potassium as bananas
• four times the amount of calcium as cows’ milk
• seven times the amount of vitamin C as oranges
2. Slows The Effects of Aging & Balances Hormones
A 2014 study published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology tested the effects of Moringa on menopausal women. Results showed that supplementing with Moringa and amaranth significantly increased their antioxidant levels, which are essential for youth and vibrancy, and decreased their amount of oxidative stress which leads to faster aging, imbalanced hormones, and sickness.
3. Moringa is Loaded with Antioxidants
As you’ve learned, antioxidants are compounds that protect our bodies from free radicals. According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, high levels of free radicals cause oxidative stress, which may contribute to chronic diseases like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. A study in the Journal of Food Science and Technology found that women taking 1.5 teaspoons (7 grams) of Moringa leaf powder every day for three months significantly increased blood antioxidant levels, which can help fight free radicals and the diseases and illnesses that come from this.
4. Moringa Helps Reduce Inflammation
Recent Data in The US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health have shown that high levels of inflammation may be the root cause of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Moringa is jam packed full of anti-inflammatory properties, that help reduce internal inflammation brought on by poor nutrition, excessive training, stress, lack of sleep and an overall unhealthy lifestyle.
5. Moringa Supports Optimal Brain Health
In the Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice, Moringa was tested as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease with very positive preliminary results. Due to its high levels of vitamin E and C, Moringa helps fight the oxidation that leads to neuron degeneration, helping to improve and support brain health and cognitive function. The compounds in Moringa are also able to normalize the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline in your brain, which play a key role in mood, memory, organ function, and mental health conditions such as depression.
6. It Protects The Liver.
High concentrations of polyphenols in the leaves and flowers of Moringa, protect the liver against oxidation, toxicity, and damage. A Food and Chemical Toxicology report published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association showed that Moringa can reduce liver damage and fibrosis and reverse oxidation in the liver. Moringa can also help restore liver enzymes to their normal levels, reducing oxidative stress, and increasing protein content in the liver.
Clearly, Moringa is worthy of being labeled as a “superfood”.