Moringa

Moringa oleifera (Horseradish tree, Drumstick tree, “Miracle tree”)

Health Benefits Summary

• Very high in nutrients and amino acids – Moringa is one of the most nutrition-dense foods in the world. It contains all the essential vitamins and minerals, is a complete source of plant protein with all 9 amino acids, and is exceptionally high in fibre.
  1. Protein – It helps to create new cells, tissue, and muscles.
  2. Iron – It transports oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body.
  3. Vitamin C – It strengthens the immune system.
  4. Riboflavin – It helps in the utilization of energy
  5. Magnesium – It regulates blood sugar and strengthens bone.
  6. Vitamin A – It keeps the eyes healthy
  7. Vitamin B6 – It boosts immunity and prevents anaemia.
• Rich in antioxidants – Moringa contains antioxidants that prevent cell damage by free radicals by eliminating them from your body.
• Improve the immune response – Moringa is a potent immune booster. The high antioxidant content strengthens the immune system and protects you from inflammation. It is also rich in vitamin C, A, and iron which enhance the function of the immune system. It also contains ethanol which helps to boost body immunity. It helps to improve cellular immune response and increase the count of leucocytes and antibodies, which protect your body against illness.
• Protect and nourish skin and hair – While moringa leaf helps you glow from the inside, moringa oils can boost your glow from the outside.
  1. Hydrates skin: Pressed from seeds and leaves, this vitamin and antioxidant-rich oil makes an excellent skin cleanser, hydrating moisturizer, or hair treatment.
  2. Fights wrinkles & sagging skin: High vitamin C levels help boost natural collagen production and protect your skin from oxidative stress, fighting off wrinkles, sagging, and sun damage.
  3. Keeps skin clear: and its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties can also help clear skin problems such as acne or blackheads.
  4. Heals wounds: Moringa oil also helps heal wounds and skin damage by promoting the growth and movement of fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen in wound healing.
  5. It is applied topically to clear infections, athlete’s foot, gum disease, and snake bite warts.
• Accelerate wound healing – It is applied directly to wounds to kill germs and dry wounds. Moringa speeds up wound healing and causes faster skin cell repair. It has been shown to slow down. It also improves collagen content and myofibroblast amounts. It shows positive results in the healing of chronic and diabetic wounds.
• Fight inflammation – It suppresses the inflammatory enzymes and proteins in the body and boosts the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Flavanoids like beta-carotenoids, Vitamin C, quercetin, and Chlorogenic acid prevent inflammation. Quercetin helps to stabilize histamine production in the body, and Chlorogenic acid helps to balance blood sugar levels. (Fluctuations in blood sugar levels have been found to cause inflammation, diabetes, and other health problems. Moringa alleviates oedema, the build-up of fluids in the tissue.
• Fight against bacterial disease, also with antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Moringa acts against food-borne disease-causing microbes like salmonella, Rhizopus species, E.coli, Enterobacter aerogenus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The leaves also have antifungal properties that help to inhibit the growth of disease-causing fungi.
• Keep bones strong and healthy – The leaves contain compounds that help to reduce inflammation, pain, and stiffness in your joints. Moringa is a rich source of calcium and phosphorus, which are needed for good bone health. It prevents osteoporosis by keeping the bones strong and healthy. It also helps to fix mandibular or jaw bone fractures.
• Nootropic properties – Moringa may help with mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, and fatigue. It helps to fight oxidation that may lead to neural degeneration. Moringa also has a central role in regulating essential neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline in the brain, which play a vital role in moods, memory, and even organ health.
  1. Combat oxidative stress associated with Alzheimer’s disease
  2. Moringa alleviates oxidative stress in age-related dementia. The antioxidant and nootropic activities enhance spatial memory and neuroprotection.
  3. Moringa’s high antioxidant content protects your brain tissue against neurodegeneration and damage. Moringa leaf extract may be valuable in treating memory-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. Moringa helps regulate and restore healthy neurotransmitter levels after Alzheimer’s-like brain damage.
  4. The antidepressant effect may be invoked through the noradrenergic -serotonergic neurotransmission pathways, which is the hallmark of the serotonin reuptake inhibitors class of drugs.
• Boost energy levels – Moringa increases energy levels in the body, giving relief from tiredness and fatigue. The high iron content in Moringa helps in reducing weakness and drowsiness.
• Protect the cardiovascular system, and reduce high blood pressure by lowering bad cholesterol levels, which can block the blood vessels, causing a heart attack.
• Support digestive health – Constipation, bloating, gas, gastritis, ulcerative colitis, and food poisoning.
• Food poisoning – Several compounds in moringa are naturally antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiparasitic. This makes moringa useful in food preservation and water purification and protects you from nasty food-borne bugs like salmonella or fungi.
• Protect the liver & accelerate the repair process against damage caused by drugs. Moringa helps to reduce fibrosis and liver damage by reducing oxidative stress and increasing protein content in the liver.
• Arsenic toxicity – It may protect against arsenic toxicity – Moringa helps reduce the effect of arsenic-induced toxicity. Moringa gets rid of arsenic-induced elevation of triglyceride, glucose, urea, and the activities of alkaline phosphatase (high levels lead to liver damage and bone disorders), aspartate aminotransferase (high levels can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis, heart and pancreas problems), and alanine aminotransferase (high levels may be a sign of hepatitis) in serum. Moringa also prevented the arsenic-induced deviation of serum butyrylcholinesterase activity, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (The good cholesterol that helps to absorb and carry excess or bad cholesterol to the liver where it is flushed from the body.
• Improve lactation in breastfeeding mothers – It increases prolactin and provides the essential nutrients to increase breast milk. It takes about 24 hours after ingesting for Moringa to work. All nutrients in Moringa support the health of breastfeeding mothers. Still, protein, iron, vitamin K and calcium are needed in high supply by new moms, especially those breastfeeding.
• Reduce blood sugar levels – Alleviate diabetes and reduce blood sugar levels, especially fasting blood sugar levels, which reduce the risk of diabetes. It contains a pigment known as chlorogenic acid, which helps to stabilize blood sugar levels post meals. Moringa helps to reduce lipid and glucose levels and reduce oxidative stress. It also helps to improve haemoglobin levels and the total protein content in people with diabetes.
• Treat respiratory diseases like asthma and protect against bronchial constrictions. Studies have shown Moringa to decrease the severity of asthma symptoms and simultaneously improve lung function parameters. It reduces the four basic symptoms of bronchial asthma – Dyspnoea, wheezing, chest tightness, and cough. Moringa seeds have anti-allergenic properties that positively affect the respiratory system.
• Protect against kidney disorders – It protects against the development of stones in the kidneys, bladder, and uterus. Moringa extract act as a bio-absorbent and helps to remove heavy metals and harmful toxins from the body. It helps against nephrotoxicity, a condition where kidneys are damaged due to exposure to toxins and drugs. This is due to the powerful presence of antioxidants.
• Improve eye health
• May treat anaemia and sickle cell disease.
• Anticancer and antitumor properties – Moringa enhances cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. The leaves pack a potent dose of antioxidants that ward off cancer by neutralizing free radicals that can damage cells and DNA to trigger tumour development. The active compounds glucosinolates, kaempferol and quercetin exhibit chemopreventative properties. It helps inhibit cancer growth and triggers cell death in growing tumours. It is found that Moringa leaf extract increases the effect of chemotherapy in human pancreatic cells. The bioactive compound Niazimicin in Moringa helps restrain cancer cells’ development.

• Properties and actions – Antifungal, antiviral, antidepressant, and anti-inflammatory.

Contraindications

While the leaves are perfectly safe, consuming large quantities of the bark or pulp may be harmful.

Moringa side effects may include:

• Lower blood pressure and slow heart rate because of the alkaloids in the plant
• Uterine contractions from moringa bark
• Cell mutations caused by a chemical isolated from roasted moringa seeds
• Interference with fertility
• Upset stomach, gas, or diarrhoea due to laxative properties

Moringa leaves also increased the risk of liver and kidney damage in rats. Do not consume moringa if you are pregnant, taking the diabetes drug Januvia (sitagliptin), or taking drugs that are substrates of the cytochrome P450 enzymes.

Moringa Pesto

Supercharge your pesto with over 92 Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidants, Amino-Acids, and Anti-inflammatories! Turn ordinary pesto into a superfood sauce loaded with plant calcium, vegetable protein, and blood sugar-balancing phytonutrients.

• 1 tbsp Moringa Powder
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
• ½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 large garlic clove
• 3 ½ tbsp pine nuts or almond slivers
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• zest of one lemon
• 1–¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• pinch salt
• pinch black pepper

Instructions

1. Add moringa, basil, spinach, parsley, garlic, nuts, lemon zest, salt, and pepper into a food processor or blender and blend to a paste.
2. Add the cheese and pulse while drizzling in the oil.