Fenugreek is a plant that grows in the Mediterranean, Middle East, India, and China. It is utilized as a spice in cooking and has a long list of health benefits.
The seed part of the plant is the part most often used in medicinal applications like supplements because of its remarkable health and healing properties. Fenugreek is composed of ten percent healthy fats, fifty percent carbohydrates, and thirty percent protein.
5 Health Benefits of Fenugreek
Fenugreek is often made into teas, capsules, powders, and liquid extracts for supplemental use as it is jam-packed with essential vitamins and nutrients the body needs on a daily basis. Learn about the amazing health benefits of fenugreek now.
1. Helps Manage Diabetes
Individuals who have diabetes often struggle to adequately manage their blood sugar and need extra help with lowering high blood sugar. Fenugreek contains a rich content of high soluble fiber, which is able to slow down the speed of carbohydrate absorption and processes of general digestion.
Because fenugreek lowers high glucose levels, it is able to assist in reversing some patients’ glucose intolerance. Fenugreek also helps manage diabetes in other ways as well.
For example, individuals with diabetes are at a significantly higher risk of developing heart disease, heart attack, and heart failure than the rest of the population. Fenugreek helps lower this increased risk because it significantly decreases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Additionally, fenugreek reduces the speed of blood glucose absorption. The saponins it contains also are a great help with lowering bad cholesterol levels.
Finally, the properties of fenugreek that enable it to help modulate the metabolism of complex carbohydrates make it an effective agent to help diabetes patients with weight loss.
2. Alleviates Heartburn
The burning feeling that happens as a result of acid from the stomach traveling upward into the esophagus is called heartburn. A couple of properties of fenugreek give it the ability to alleviate heartburn discomfort.
The burning pain happens mainly in the chest, but can radiate to other areas of the body. Some cases of heartburn may be caused by poor dietary habits or by the failure to keep stomach acid out of the sensitive esophageal tube.
Fenugreek alleviates heartburn by keeping the acidic mass of digesting food from traveling back up into the esophageal tube via an anti-reflux effect it induces in the stomach. Also it helps facilitate and manage the production of acid in the stomach, ensuring production is not excessive.
Fenugreek additionally helps the body to develop a strong gel layer on the stomach lining to prevent pepsin, hydrochloride, and other food component corrosion. The substances within fenugreek that give it the protective properties to do so are called galactomannans.
This protection helps keep heartburn from happening because stomach ulcers are often the culprit behind chronic heartburn due to the inflammation associated with them.
3. Treats Inflammation
Inflammation occurs when the immune system reacts to something in the body and produces unpleasant effects. Inflammation occurs in a wide range of ailments and conditions including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune disorders.
Fenugreek treats inflammation effectively because it contains saponins, which not only lower bad cholesterol, but also soothe inflammation caused by kidney stones. Saponins are also effective at protecting the cells in the brain from wear and premature aging.
Additionally, the carotenoids contained within fenugreek are powerful antioxidant molecules that speed up the cell repair process and promote healthy new cell growth, which helps treat inflammation.
Liver inflammation can be treated using fenugreek due to its abilities to break up concentrations of free radicals and lower the damage done to essential enzymes in the body.
It helps reduce joint fluid accumulation, thus decreasing inflammation in the joints. Fenugreek stops numerous types of interleukin production and inhibits white blood cell infiltration.
Stopping those processes helps inhibit the alteration of cells into T helper cells, which lowers the inflammatory responses in the body.
4. Helps Soothe Muscle Pain
Muscle pain or aches can be caused by multiple factors including injury and illness. Muscle pain also often derives from excessive exercise and conditioning.
Fenugreek helps soothe pain in the muscles because it contains numerous minerals imperative to metabolic processes within the muscles that will stop the alternative processes that produce the achy feeling after exercise or strenuous physical activity.
Usually, the pain after exercise happens due to a mineral and electrolyte insufficiency. The nutrients that help fenugreek soothe muscle pain include phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, and vitamin A.
Additionally, it is a rich source of fiber and healthy fats, which both help with the repair of damaged muscle cells and healthy movement of the muscles.
5. Assists Digestive Issues
The digestive tract is a large organ system and plays vital roles in the body’s essential operations. Because there are so many organs and so much surface area involved within the digestive system, there are hundreds, if not thousands of problems and conditions that can occur throughout it.
Many conditions and their symptoms are the results of slow digestive movement and or inflammation of the digestive tract. Fenugreek assists digestive issues because it is an abundant source of fiber, which is the key to relief from digestive problems.
Fiber adds bulk to the stool so it moves through the system faster, lubricates the lining of the stomach and intestines, and immensely assists with the nutrient absorption functions of the large and small intestines.
Individuals who need help stopping cramps, gas, bloating, and constipation can immensely benefit from increased intake or supplementation of fenugreek. Research has also proven it can be effective in fighting against and preventing the growth of tumor cells in the digestive tract.
Via: VeryWellFamily | IndigoHerbs
