Moringa oleifera has three times as much potassium as bananas!

Who would believe that Moringa oleifera has three (3) times as much potassium as in bananas? And that's exactly what Moringa oleifera has.

Potassium is an essential mineral micronutrient in human nutrition. It is the major cation (positively charged ion) inside cells and is important in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in the body.

Potassium is predominantly an intracellular cation that is important in neuron (brain and nerve) function. It is also important in allowing muscle contraction and the sending of nerve impulses.

Adequate intake of potassium can generally be achieved by eating a variety of foods containing potassium and although deficiency is generally rare in developed countries, it does occur in diets found in third world and developing countries.

It is good to consume sufficient potassium as diets high in potassium can reduce the risk of hypertension.

Potassium deficiency in body fluids may cause a condition known as hypokalemia (abnormally low level of potassium in the circulating blood leading to weakness and heart abnormalities; associated with adrenal tumors, starvation or taking diuretics) resuting from diarrhea, increased diuresis and vomiting. The symptoms include muscle weakness, paralytic ileus (blockage of the intestine (especially the ileum) that prevents the contents of the intestine from passing to the lower bowel), ECG abnormalities, decreased reflex response and in severe cases, respiratory paralysis, alkalosis and cardiac arrhythmia.

If you are into healthy cooking, try out these links:

Paleo Cookbooks - Complete Recipe Guide to Healthy Eating

Yeast Free Cooking Manual/Cookbook! 

Gluten Free Low Glycemic Cookbook for Diabetics & Allergy Sufferers 

Moringa oleifera ..... plant based super minerals

Besides calcium which is four (4) times as much as milk on a gram to gram comparison, Moringa oleifera is also packed with three (3) times as much iron as spinach and three (3) times as much potassium as found in bananas, when compared on a gram to gram basis.

Indeed, these are very impressive numbers and ratios especially when calcium, iron and potassium are important essential minerals needed by the human body to stay healthy and improved immunity.

My last post I looked at calcium, in this post I'll look at iron.

Iron has several vital functions in the body:

·   It serves as a carrier of oxygen to the tissues from the lungs by the red blood cell haemoglobin;

·   It acts as a transport medium for electrons within cells; and

·   It is an integrated part of important enzyme systems in various tissues.

Iron nutrition is of great importance for the adequate development of the brains and other tissues such as muscles.

Iron is important for growth. A newborn term infant has an iron content of about 75mg/kg body weight. During its first six months of life, the newborn infant will require an extra supply of iron to facilitate growth. The amount of iron requirements continue to grow as the child grows through puberty and then to adulthood.

There are two types of dietary iron:

·   haem iron which is derived from meat, poultry and fish; and

·   non-haem iron which is derived from cereals, edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas, beans or lentils etc.), legumes, fruits and vegetables.

Haem iron can be degraded and converted to non-haem iron when foods are cooked at high temperature for long period.

Iron absorption by the body may be impacted by:

·   the phytates which are usually found in all kinds of grains, seeds, nuts, vegetables, roots and fruits;

·   phenolic compounds (only the galloyl groups), found in plants;

·   consumption of betel nut leaves;

·   calcium consumed as a salt or in dairy products.

Whereas, iron absorption may be enhanced by:

·   the presence of ascorbic acid which acts as a potent enhancer of non-haem iron absorption;

·   the consumption of meat, fish and other seafood also promotes the absorption of non-haem iron; and

·   organic acids such as citric acid can enhance the absorption of non-haem iron.

The effects of iron deficiency are:

·   a reduced physical working capacity, especially during endurance activities, as the iron deficiency causes impaired oxidative metabolism in the muscles;

·   impairment of brain function and development. In humans, about 10% of brain-iron is present at birth, at the age of ten years, the brain has only reached half its normal iron content, and optimal amounts are first reached between the ages of twenty and thirty years; and

·   negatively influences the normal defence systems against infections.

Moringa oleifera - power packed with essential nutritional minerals

Moringa oleifera is not only power packed with the essential vitamins needed by the body. It is also power packed with all the necessary minerals that the body needs to stay healthy and strong. These minerals are also needed by the body to synthesise with the vitamins to produce essential nutrients needed for the body's internal organs (the body's factories) to stay healthy so that these internal organs can function in an optimum fashion, like getting rid of the body's waste and toxic matters, keep the bones strong and so on.

The fresh leaves of Moringa oleifera contains the equivalent of (when compared on a gram to gram basis):

• 4 times more calcium than milk
• 3 times more potassium than bananas, and
• 4 times more iron than spinach

And in addition to calcium, potassium and iron, it also has appropriate amounts of copper, magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur, selenium and zinc......all needed by the human body to stay healthy and to keep the body's immune system in tip-top condition.

So, why are these minerals so important to the human body? I shall explain all these to you over my next few blogs....but let's start with calcium first.

Calcium:

Basically, calcium has two biological roles:

·   calcium salts provide rigidity to the skeleton; and

·   calcium ions play a role in many metabolic processes like neuromuscular function, many enzyme-mediated processes and blood-clotting.

Calcium deficiency may cause osteoporosis. However, this must be diagnosed against other factors like vitamin D deficiency, sodium and animal protein impairment to calcium absorption.

·   Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption. The lack of vitamin D will reduce the amount of calcium absorption by the body;

·   Sodium has been known to compete with calcium for re-absorption by the body and therefore, can reduce the amount of calcium absorption by the body;

·   Consumption of animal protein has been known since the 1960s to reduce the amount of calcium absorption by the body.

Calcium is needed by the human body at every stage of human development.

·   From infant to puberty, it is needed to facilitate phenomenon skeletal growth;

·   For adults and ageing male adults, it is needed to keep the skeleton in good condition;

·   For menopausal women, it is needed to reduce the incidence of osteoporosis;

·   For pregnant women, it is needed to replace whatever is lost for fetal development;

·   For lactating women, it is needed to replace what is lost from breast feeding their babies. Human milk has higher calcium-phosphate ratio than cow milk and it may be a factor in the higher absorption of calcium from human milk compared to cow milk.

I shall explain the importance of iron and potassium in my next blog.

Here are some of my recommendations for you to try out:

Gluten Free Low Glycemic Cookbook for Diabetics & Allergy Sufferers
The Lazy Raw Foodists Guide