Moringa Oleifera - The Miracle Tree and Nature's Band Aid!

The botanical name of this tree is Moringa oleifera. I know it locally in Singapore as the "Drumstick tree" which, by the way, is the English name of this tree. It was called the Drumstick tree because the seed pods resemble that of a drumstick (long, slim and almost straight). The tree has many different names depending on the many different countries it can be found growing. For example, some popular local names of the tree are:

• English - Drumstick tree, Horseradish tree;
• French - Ben aile, Benzolive;
• India - Sajna, Murunkak-kai, Shajmah;
• Indonesia and Malaysia - Kelor;
• Philippines - Malunggay;
• Africa - Nebeday (Senegal), Mlonge (Nigeria), Ruwag (Sudan), Mupulanga (Zimbabwe);
• Central America - Angela (Colombia), Marango (Costa Rica), Benzolive (Haiti), Jacinto (Panama), Moloko (Guadalupe);

The list just goes on and on and it's too many to list on this blog. However, if you want to know them, then get in touch with me.

Moringa oleifera is not a newly discovered tree. It has been eaten as a vegetable and also used by many cultures in their traditional medicine for many years........as many as 2000 years ago. The Indians have the best documented text about Moringa oleifera and its used in their traditional Ayurveda medicine to cure and heal as many as 300 different types of illnesses, diseases and health problems.

Many independent universities in the world have researched Moringa oleifera and they have found that every part of the tree can be used and those parts of the tree that can be eaten like the leaves, flowers and the seed pods, are totally safe for consumption..........after all, what these researchers have found out scientifically is to prove what our forefathers already know...and that is that the tree is safe to consume.

So, what is so special about Moringa oleifera? Researchers have found that this tree is power pact with nutrition and has all the necessary vitamins, minerals and proteins that is needed by the human body to stay healthy. Currently, there is no other tree or plant that can match the nutritional goodness of  Moringa oleifera.

The nutrients in this tree is so great that many Non Government Organisations (NGOs) are throwing away the traditional tools and method of fighting malnutrition and replacing it with Moringa oleifera. The traditional tools and methods of fighting malnutrition was to provide these poor people with milk powder, flour and so on. This methodology works as long as these food aids are given free. However, when the free food aid is stopped, most of these people revert back to being malnourished. With Moringa oleifera, the NGOs are now teaching these people to plant the tree and how to harvest, store and consume Moringa oleifera as part of their diet to supplement their unnourished meagre meals. With these new thinking and program, they have found it to be extremely successful and have seen the incidents of malnutrition fallen where Moringa oleifera is grown in the villages.

So what is so nutritious about Moringa oleifera? This will be revealed in my next post.

Moringa is nature's gift to good health and immunity.

If you are always on the go and do not have time to eat a proper diet than taking a daily multi-vitamins and mineral tablet is probably the best way to go. However, let us take some time out and just think about this for awhile......

Do we ever think about where some of these vitamins, minerals and proteins come from and how it is possible to "squeeze" so many different types of vitamins, minerals and proteins in varying micro-quantities into that one small tablet? Really, don't you find this amazing?  Also, why do these multi-vitamins always have smell like a pharmacy or a chemistry laboratory? Really, there is no price to give you if you guessed correctly that many of these multi-vitamins, etc that you find so easily on the shelves are chemically synthesized rather than extracted from a natural source.

There are many who believe that consuming synthetic vitamins is OK and is not detriment to one's health and there are those who believe that it is better to consume vitamins, minerals and proteins from natural sources. In the past, I too used to believe that consuming synthetic was OK until I discovered Moringa oleifera. I am now a firm believer that it is better to consume naturally.

Did you know that not all multi-vitamins are the same? They are all labeled multi-vitamins but when you check out the ingredients listed, you will find that they are different amongst the different manufacturers and you will also see that the quantity for each listed ingredient is never the same. So, who decides the appropriate vitamins, minerals and proteins to include in a multi-vitamin and in what quantity? ......This is the reason why there is always a possibility that you can be over consuming certain vitamins and minerals unknowingly to the detriment of your health.

So if commercially produced multi-vitamins are not good for health, then what is? Be patient and I will provide an alternative for you in my next post.

Moringa ......Let's get started ......my very first post!

Moringa oleifera, Moringa health supplements, this is a blog about the wonderful benefits of Moringa oleifera and Moringa health supplements.

It's amazing how we tend to take for granted the many things that we put into our mouth, chew and swallow......without a second thought about whether it is good or bad for the body. Many of us have food preferences that have been conditioned into our mindset by our parents and we bring these into our adult world with us and perhaps, or most likely, will also pass these along to our children and to future generations.

Then, there are also those less fortunate with little or no say or choice as to what they want to eat..... due to economic reasons and for the need to survive and to make sure that children do not go hungry.

Personal preferences and financial hardships tend to prejudice our choice of food and often these can lead to poor nutrition and to serious mulnutrition.

The human body requires only some basis vitamins, minerals and proteins to keep it healthy and functioning well. Many of these are consumed from the food we eat which are then converted by the human body into the necessary proteins and nutrients that the internal organs require to maintain the general well-being of the human body. However, according to science, there are about 8 proteins that the human body requires that are not internally manufactured by the human body........these are known as Essential Amino Acids........"Essential" because they are important ingredients needed by the human body to manufacture other nutrients that are needed to keep the other internal organs of the body healthy and functioning well.

So, what do we do? It is always hard to change one's eating habit and it is not always possible to help the poor and needy. Fortunately, for the better off amongst us, there is always the multitude of vitamins and mineral health supplements that can be bought and consumed.....synthetic or natural....but for the less well off, there is little choice except to consume whatever that is available to them from mother earth.

Thank goodness mother earth is kind to us and there are still numerous number of trees, plants and shrubs out there that are able to provide us with the necessary nutrients to good health.....all we have to do is to make these available to those who needs them.........I will, in my future posts, show and explain how we can do these.