The New Heart Threat
Although fenugreek seeds are used extensively in the recipes of countries in the Middle and Far East, in the West it is not as well known as many other spices.
Not only does fenugreek reveal a characteristic flavour and tang to food but it also has some very important disease preventing characteristics.
In original medicine, fenugreek has been used to treat a estimate of conditions along with diabetes, sore throats, and in poultices used to treat sores and abscesses. new investigations into the corrective properties of this spice recommend it is important not only as a preventive for lasting diseases such as diabetes, but also for enhancing general physiological processes, especially with respect to athletic
performance.
As with most spices it contains many antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds such as apigenin,
genistein, kaempferol, quercetin, rutin, selenium and superoxide-dismutase. It also contains compounds such as trigonelline that has shown to forestall the degeneration of nerve cells in neuro-degenerative diseases.
Medicinal properties of fenugreek
Cardiovascular disease and blood lipids
Fenugreek has a strong modulating corollary on blood lipid levels and can substantially reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. In diabetics, who commonly suffer lipid imbalances, it has demonstrated a powerful potential to lower cholesterol, triglycerides and Ldl levels while raising Hdl levels. an additional one asset of fenugreek is the reduction of platelet aggregation which, in turn, dramatically reduces the risk of abnormal blood clotting linked with heart attacks and strokes. Like most spices, fenugreek also contains many important antioxidants and has the added advantage of protecting other dietary and internally produced antioxidants from free-radical damage. This has important cardioprotective benefits, as well as helping to fortify the body against a range of other lasting conditions.
Diabetes
Fenugreek, which has comparable antidiabetic potency to cinnamon, is one of the most necessary spices for the control of glucose metabolism and thus the stoppage and treatment of Type Ii diabetes.
Owing to its many properties it helps in the stoppage and treatment of diabetes in some ways.
Working in a similar way to the common antidiabetic drug glibenclamide, fenugreek lowers cellular insulin resistance and controls blood glucose homeostasis. It has been shown to lower blood glucose levels of Type Ii diabetics by as much as 46 percent.
It also increases the levels of some important antioxidants and reduces the damaging oxidation of lipids linked with diabetes.
As an added bonus, fenugreek seeds are a very rich in a type of dietary fibre that modulates post-prandial blood glucose levels by delaying the absorption of sugar in the intestines. This mucilaginous fiber also reduces the absorption of fat and cholesterol from the intestines thus providing additional security against heart disease and obesity.
Cataracts
Fenugreek is also efficient against diabetes-related cataracts which occur commonly in diabetics. The enzymes that control glucose uptake into the lens of the eye do not function commonly in diabetics and, as a result, glucose and its metabolites, fructose and sorbitol, derive in the lens tissues. The lenses of diabetic patients are also prone damage by enzymes that would commonly safe against destructive free radicals, and a composition of these factors leads to the gradual opacification of the lens known as a cataract. As fenugreek has been shown to partially reverse both the metabolic changes in the lens and to reduce the density of the cataract, it is likely to be even more efficient as a inhibitive agent against cataract formation in diabetics.
Alzheimer's and other neuro-degenerative diseases
Fenugreek contains the composition trigonellene that has shown to stimulate the regeneration of brain cells. This asset has stimulated additional investigate to see either it can help in the stoppage of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Sport
One of the many difficulties facing athletes who compete in stamina events is maintaining a effortlessly ready contribute of vigor in the body. In order to achieve this, muscle carbohydrate stores, in the form of glycogen, must be continuously replenished. In an event lasting more than one-and-a-half hours, glycogen stores come to be depleted, and for the remainder of the event the athlete has to rely on external sources of energy, such as high carbohydrate drinks, which are inferior to glycogen as an vigor source. Post event re-synthesis of glycogen is also very important, and the two hours immediately following continued exercise is the crucial time for this process to occur.
Fenugreek has been shown to have a strong corollary on glycogen replenishment; addition post-event re-synthesis by over 60 percent in some stamina athletes. While its effects on glycogen re-synthesis during an event have yet to be tested, fenugreek is likely to exhibit a similarly useful corollary during, as well as after, exercise.
Hormones
Fenugreek is one of the richest sources of phytoestrogens and is thus a very useful spice for women who have low oestrogen levels. Phytoestrogens are also thought to help safe against inevitable types of cancer, and fenugreek may well be proven to have anti-tumourigenic effects should this asset be investigated in the future.
Selenium
Fenugreek is one of the richest sources of selenium, which is among the most important antioxidant micronutrients. When consumed regularly, selenium appears to have a protective corollary against a range of cancers, along with those of the colon, lung and prostate. new evidence also shows that selenium helps to forestall the progression of Hiv and other lasting viral illnesses.
While other spices like chilies and cinnamon hold the culinary and corrective headlines, the investigate into fenugreek is showing us that this spice has condition benefits on a par with, or even classic to, those of the best known spices.
However it is important to appreciate that synergism in the middle of distinct spices enhances the bioavailability and efficacy of their respective bioactive compounds. Therefore, to derive optimum advantage from fenugreek, it is important to use it with other common spices in both the stoppage and treatment of disease.