Monday, October 11, 2010

Nutri-loaded Moringa

Hurray! I have added another wonder food plant to my list of Nutritional heroes. With such an amazing nutrient content, it deserves to be on this list. Scientific research confirms that this tree is a powerhouse of nutritional value. Gram for gram, the leaves contain: 7 times the vitamin C in oranges, 4 times the calcium in milk, 4 times the vitamin A in carrots, 2 times the protein in milk, 3 times the potassium in bananas, and 3 times the iron in spinach.


This hero can be used in variety of ways and its nutritional promises still remain very high.  You can brew a delicious tea powder with the leaves, add it to your salads, or add it to your favorite sauce to give it a nutritional boost. Interestingly, this plant is used in making natural and body friendly cosmetic products like facial mask, deodorant and lip balm. The oil from the tree pods is clear, sweet and odorless, and never becomes rancid. This hero is MORINGA (Moringa Oleifera)

Picture having this tree in your garden that will meet all your nutritional needs, take care of you medicinally and purify your water for you. In developing tropical countries, Moringa trees have been used to combat malnutrition especially among infants and nursing mothers. The tree is in full leaf at the end of the dry season when other foods are usually scarce. This tree is truly a ‘miracle’ tree offering a lot of hope nutritionally.

GO THE WHOLE FOODS WAY!



Eating foods as close to their natural form as possible, with minimal processing and refinement is usually hard to find in many homes, yet, it is the easiest way to improve health and prevent diseases.

Whole foods have more of the nutrients that our bodies needs and less of the added ingredients like sugar, sodium, saturated fat etc. that we don’t need. Whole foods can be cooked without being processed and examples include fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, unprocessed fish, lean meat, oats, corn and other whole grains.

Some of the benefits of eating whole foods include;

a)  Gaining a strong combination of important vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and antioxidants.

b)  Increasing on the fiber which helps to bring about faster sense of fullness when we eat, help fight heart disease and diabetes and enhance bowel movement.

c)  Reduction in the intake of the bad fats which are often added to processed foods and fast foods.

d)  Contribute omega 3 fatty acid and monounsaturated fat from plants.

e)  Making it easier to cut down on extra amounts of calories, sugar, sodium, trans and saturated fat.

Let’s breed a healthy world by my eating more whole foods. Do you feel this way too?