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 relate a characteristic flavour and tang to food but it also has any very important disease preventing characteristics.
In original medicine, fenugreek has been used to treat a whole of conditions along with diabetes, sore throats, and in poultices used to treat sores and abscesses. Modern 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 normal 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 preclude the degeneration of nerve cells in neuro-degenerative diseases.
Medicinal properties of fenugreek
Cardiovascular disease and blood lipids
Fenugreek has a strong modulating effect on blood lipid levels and can substantially sell out the risk of atherosclerosis. In diabetics, who usually suffer lipid imbalances, it has demonstrated a suited capability to lower cholesterol, triglycerides and Ldl levels while raising Hdl levels. an additional one property of fenugreek is the discount of platelet aggregation which, in turn, dramatically reduces the risk of abnormal blood clotting associated 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 valuable spices for the control of glucose metabolism and thus the prevention and medicine of Type Ii diabetes.
Owing to its many properties it helps in the prevention and medicine of diabetes in any ways.
Working in a similar way to the base 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 any important antioxidants and reduces the damaging oxidation of lipids associated 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 further security against heart disease and obesity.
Cataracts
Fenugreek is also effective against diabetes-related cataracts which occur generally in diabetics. The enzymes that control glucose uptake into the lens of the eye do not function usually in diabetics and, as a result, glucose and its metabolites, fructose and sorbitol, fetch in the lens tissues. The lenses of diabetic patients are also prone damage by enzymes that would usually safe against destructive free radicals, and a combination 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 sell out the density of the cataract, it is likely to be even more effective as a inhibitive agent against cataract formation in diabetics.
Alzheimer's and other neuro-degenerative diseases
Fenugreek contains the combination trigonellene that has shown to stimulate the regeneration of brain cells. This property has stimulated further explore to see whether it can help in the prevention of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Sport
One of the most difficulties facing athletes who compete in endurance events is maintaining a effortlessly ready furnish of vigor in the body. In order to accomplish 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 become 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 prolonged rehearsal is the crucial time for this process to occur.
Fenugreek has been shown to have a strong effect on glycogen replenishment; increasing post-event re-synthesis by over 60 percent in some endurance athletes. While its effects on glycogen re-synthesis while an event have yet to be tested, fenugreek is likely to exhibit a similarly beneficial effect during, as well as after, exercise.
Hormones
Fenugreek is one of the richest sources of phytoestrogens and is thus a very beneficial spice for women who have low oestrogen levels. Phytoestrogens are also concept to help safe against determined types of cancer, and fenugreek may well be proven to have anti-tumourigenic effects should this property 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 effect against a range of cancers, along with those of the colon, lung and prostate. Modern evidence also shows that selenium helps to preclude the progression of Hiv and other lasting viral illnesses.
While other spices like chilies and cinnamon hold the culinary and corrective headlines, the explore into fenugreek is showing us that this spice has health benefits on a par with, or even classic to, those of the good known spices.
However it is important to appreciate that synergism in the middle of dissimilar spices enhances the bioavailability and efficacy of their respective bioactive compounds. Therefore, to fetch optimum advantage from fenugreek, it is important to use it with other base spices in both the prevention and medicine of disease.
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