Tuesday, July 13, 2010

FENUGREEK


It is one of the healthiest ancient spices known to mankind. It has strong bitter flavor so it is usually roasted with other spices to give delicious curry. It is a rich golden covering cultivated 3000 years ago in Assyria. It is the most widely grown medicinal plant with a ability to improve the immunity.

These seeds are used in Egypt to prepare tea. These seeds are boiled sweetened and strained and prepared as a health drink. These seeds are also added to soups and as condiments in cuisines across the world. it soothes skin eruption.

A cake dessert known as Helba in the Islamic world is a tasty treat during Islamic holidays. This is a semolina cake covered in sugar or maple-like syrup, and sprinkled with fenugreek seeds on top.

It also serves as a medicine for treating sugar. It also keeps cholesterol in control.
It is believed that seeds help in increasing the milk supply in mother. It is used as a digestive tonic. It is used to stimulate the liver. It is a natural cure for heart burn and acid reflux. It is also used as a medicine for dandruff.

Fenugreek seeds are a rich source of the polysaccharide galactomannan. They are also a source of saponins such as disgenin,yamogenin, gitogenin, tigogenin, and neotigogens. Other bioactive constituents of fenugreek include mucilage,volatile oils, and alkaloids such as choline andtrigonelline.

Fenugreek seeds are used as a herb in traditional chinese medicine under the name Hu Lu Ba. it warms and tonifies kidneys, disperses cold and alleviates pain. It's used raw or toasted.


Several human intervention trials demonstrated that the antidiabetic effects of fenugreek seeds ameliorate most metabolic symptoms associated with type 1 and type-2 diabetes in both humans and relevant animal models by reducing serum glucose and improving glucose tolerance.


Fenugreek is currently available commercially in encapsulated forms and is being prescribed as dietary supplements for the control of hypercholesterolemia and diabetes by practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine.

In the United states, where maple syrup is popular but expensive, fenugreek is widely used in lower-cost syrup products as a maple syrup flavoring such as Mapleine.

No comments:

Post a Comment