Consumption of Moringa oleifera can help to prevent hypertension, diabetes and expel tapeworms.

Mr. Lowell J. Fuglie, uses the Moringa oleifera tree in his work in Africa to fight malnutrition by using Moringa oleifera leaves, noted that the regular consumption of Moringa dried leaf powder not only helped to counter malnutrition but had unexpected benefits that included an apparent cure for tapeworms and help in controlling diabetes and blood pressure. Regular consumption of Moringa health supplements is beneficial for good health.

What Mr. Lowell J. Fuglie noted from his work in Africa is not at all surprising as:

·       ¹ In India, the juice from the Moringa oleifera leaves is used to stabilise blood pressure and to treat anxiety by traditional medicine practitioners;

·       ¹ In Senegal, an infusion of Moringa oleifera leaf juice is commonly used to control glucose levels in cases of diabetes; and

·       ¹ In Malaysia, it has been reported that traditional healers sometimes applied a Moringa oleifera leaf poultice to the abdomen to expel intestinal worms.

Herbs and plants have been used as sources of medicine throughout human history and it is still widely used today and often together with modern day medicine. Slowly western trained doctors are beginning to accept that herbs and plants can contribute to the overall wellness of the human body thanks to the increase in researches conducted by many universities to proof or defunct such traditional medicinal claims.

Researchers from Japan have now proven that Moringa oleifera can control blood pressure and published their research papers in the ²Journal of the Japanese Society for Food and Technology in April, 2008. The researchers studied the antihypertensive effect of Moringa oleifera leaves on hypertensive rats and found significant reduction in systolic blood pressure when Moringa oleifera leaves were consumed over a period of six weeks. They concluded that the daily consumption of Moringa oleifera leaves was effective for the prevention against hypertension.

As for diabetes, researchers from the ³University of Allahabad, India studied the effect of Moringa oleifera leaves on hyperglycaemic rats and found significant reduction in blood glucose levels as well as reduction in urine sugar and urine protein levels of hyperglycaemic rats that consumed Moringa oleifera leaves. They concluded that Moringa oleifera can be used as an ethnomedicine (traditional medicine) to treat diabetes.

In another diabetes study, ⁴Philippine researchers studied the effect of taking Moringa oleifera leaves prepared as tea on blood sugar levels in humans. They tested two groups of volunteers, people with normal fasting blood sugar levels (60-120 mg/dl) and those with hyperglycaemic fasting blood sugar levels (>120 mg/dl). The test results showed that blood sugar levels of those in the normal group were not significantly changed 2 hours after taking the tea. However, those in the hyperglycaemic group blood sugar levels showed a significant drop (a mean drop of 28.15 mg/dl) after 2 hours.

Mr. Lowell J. Fuglie calls the Moringa oleifera tree the “Miracle Tree” and he is not very far from the truth. Moringa oleifera can really help those of us with cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes.


Reference:
 ¹ The Miracle Tree – The multiple attributes of Moringa, CWS, Dakar, Senegal, 2001
² Kajihara R.(Hiroshima-ken, Technology Research Inst. (Japan), Food Technology Research Center), Nakatsu S, Shiono T., Shibata K., Ishihara M., Sakamoto K., Muto N.; Journal of the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology; April, 2008.
³ Jaiswal, D., et al., Effect of Moringa oleifera Lam. Leaves aqueous extract therapy on hyperglycaemic rats, J. Ethnopharmacology, (2009), doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.03.036
⁴ Michael Piles, and Howell Ho, Comparative Effects of Moringa Oleifera Lam. Tea on Normal and Hyperglycemic Patients, eHealth International Journal, Vol.5, No.1, pp30-34, March 2009.



Dried Moringa oleifera leaves



Science has confirmed that consumption of Moringa oleifera leaves can help reduce cholesterol.

For many years, in India, the leaves of the Moringa oleifera tree were used as an herbal remedy to help reduce cholesterol with great success by traditional medicine practitioners. This wonderful remedy would have simply remained just an unproven herbal remedy if not for the great interest in Moringa oleifera tree generated by its rediscovery by those NGOs in their fight to eradicate malnutrition in Africa.

With the growing interest in the tree, there are now many independent universities conducting scientific research on the many herbal remedies of Moringa oleifera. Consumption of Moringa oleifera leaves as Moringa health supplements can help reduce cholesterol. Now, we have scientific evidence to show that the leaves of the Moringa oleifera leaves can really reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. Although these studies are conducted in vitro and in vivo at university laboratories, they are conducted independently (that is not paid by interest groups) and are published in respected scientific journals.

In one study published in the ¹Journal of Ethnopharmacology in year 2000, the crude leaf extract of Moringa oleifera was administered to rats fed with a high fat diet. In this study, it was found that Moringa oleifera leaf extract decreases the high fat diet induced cholesterol in the rats’ serum, liver and kidney by significant amounts as much as 14.4% for serum, 6.4% for liver and 11.1% for kidney respectively.  This research concluded that the leaves of Moringa oleifera have hypocholesterolemic (low cholesterol) activity and supports the traditional use of the Moringa oleifera leaves for treating cholesterol.

In another study published in the ²Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences in year 2008, the research work compared the effects of Moringa oleifera leaves extract with the commercial drug Atenolol on serum triglyceride and cholesterol, blood glucose, heart weight and body weight in adrenaline induced rats. The study shows that Moringa oleifera leaves has profound hypolipidemic (low lipid) activity significantly lowering of blood glucose, heart weight and body weight. The researchers concluded that Moringa oleifera may be used as herbal drugs or as health supplement in the treatment of different cardiovascular complications due to high lipids in the body.

Moringa oleifera is truly a “miracle tree” and if you have the opportunity to plant it in your garden then I strongly urge you to do so and to include the leaves at as many meals that you are able to.


Reference:
¹  S. Ghasi, E. Nwobodo, J.O. Ofili; Hypocholesterolemic effects of crude extract of leaf of Moringa oleifera Lam in high-fat diet fed wistar rats, Journal of Ethnopharmacology 69, 2000, 21-25.

²  Naznin Ara, Mamunur Rashid 1 and Md. Shah Amran; Comparision of Moringa oleifera leaves extract with Atenolol on Serum triglyceride, Serum cholesterol, Blood glucose, heart weight, body weight in Adrenaline Induced rats; Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 15(2) 253-258 December, 2008.