Moringa's Health Benefits In Lowering Inflammation

Copyright: Brenda Dawson/UC Davis Moringa is known throughout the world as a miracle tree. But, what exactly is moringa and why is research buzzing about the possible health benefits of this hearty plant? Moringa is a tree that is an important crop native to India and currently grown throughout the world in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. The entire tree is edible, from its roots, flowers, leaves, seeds, gum, fruits and bark. Generally, moringa is consumed by cooking the leaves or immature fruits and more recently as a dried leaf powder used as tea or sprinkled into food. Although 13 species exist in the moringa family, the most common is the drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera). The tree grows rapidly, is drought-tolerant and thrives in poor sandy soils. Moringa can be grown in almost any semiarid, tropical and subtropical areas, as long as temperatures remain above 40°F. From a nutritional lens, moringa leaves are 27 percent protein (containing all essential amino acids) and have seven times the amount of vitamin C compared to oranges, four times the vitamin A of carrots, and four times the calcium of milk by dry weight. Moringa packs more nutrition than spinach and is used to treat a plethora of conditions, such as malnutrition, acute and chronic inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, gastrointestinal and hepatorenal disorders and compromised immunity. Moringa's proposed anti-inflammatory properties being studied are important because of the growin...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news