MORINGAFACT.COM

FACTS:
Moringa oleifera is a cultivated vegetable tree native to northwest India and now grown in Africa, Central and South America, Mexico, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines. All parts of the tree are edible, and its ability to resist drought makes it an important source of nutrition in many poverty-stricken societies. Moringa is an excellent source of protein, vitamins A and C, B vitamins, calcium, as well as some iron.

EXPERIMENTAL:
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds naturally found in plants. Although a diet of fruits and vegetables is proven to be beneficial to health, there is no concrete evidence that phytochemicals are the reason for these health benefits. That said, Moringa contains a variety of phytochemicals such as isothiocyanates, alkaloids, β-sistosterol and quercetin. The phytochemicals in Moringa are valued for their potential in promoting general nutrition, easing pain and inflammation, combating viral and fungal infections, and for their possible beneficial chemotherapeutical and cardiovascular properties.

In rats, extracts of Moringa oleifera have been shown to alleviate the pain and inflammation of arthritis, as well as decrease the events leading up to asthma attacks. Moringa’s ability to assuage pain and inflammation seems to come from decreasing the function of the inflammatory cytokines such as Il-1, Il-2, IL-4, Il-6 and TNF-α.

In mice, extracts of Moringa oleifera have shown to arrest the activity of several strains of the virus Herpes simplex type 1. Additionally, it has been shown to hinder the growth of fungi in the skin, hair, and nails including the fungi that cause athlete’s foot, jock itch, ring worm, scalp ringworm and Malabar itch.

In trials conducting involving laboratory cell cultures, several of the phytochemicals in Moringa appeared to inhibit and growth and increase the death rate of cancer cells. Of course, these results are preliminary and much more research is necessary.

Studies involving rabbits and mice show that Moringa may have cardiovascular benefits by improving the lipid profile and decreasing cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipid, VLDL and LDL levels as well as decreasing LCL oxidation and the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Moringa oleifera additionally appeared to increase free radical scavenging activity. Of course, these results are preliminary and much more research is necessary.