Moringa. It’s a herb that is so rarely heard of but recently, has been causing quite a stir in the health research community. The plant that comes from the Moringa tree is found mostly in Africa and Asia and is usually used in South Indian cuisine because of its robust taste and texture. And if you’re wondering what it tastes like, it’s like radish.
But forget about its taste or texture, what researchers have found about this power food is that it could hold a great potential on how to cure cancer. Research conducted by researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina has shown that anticancer effects caused by Moringa are able to use its cytotoxic effects – being toxic to living cells – on cancer cells.
So what makes Moringa such a potent plant that potentially has the answer on how to cure cancer? There are a number of studies conducted by researchers and published on PubMed so far and most seem to point towards having a positive effect on cancer cells because of powerful anti-cancer compounds such as kaempferol, rhamnetin and isoquercetin. Here are brief summaries of these anti-cancer compounds:
1) Kaempferol: An antioxidant that can be found in apples, brocolli, beans, tea and strawberries. Known to constitute to cell death, stop the spread of cancer cells and reduce inflammation.
2) Rhamnetin: Mostly found in cloves, sweet annie, annual wormwood, green vegetables and orchard grass. Research has shown that it has the potential to kill prostate cancer cells.
3) Isoquercetin: Found in red grapes, onions, cherries, cranberries and tomatoes. Known to inhibit bladder cancer.
With these 3 main anti-cancer compounds realised by modern science today, it is without a doubt that our ancestors were on to something when Moringa was documented to have been already used 5000 years ago when Ayurvedic medicine was prominent.
A research study done by researchers in Saudi Arabia, has shown that tests were done using the extracts of leaves, bark and seeds of the Moringa tree. Anti-cancer compounds were present in the leaves and bark but surprisingly, none were found the seed extracts. Because of the presence of Eugenol found in the bark and leaves of Moringa, it can suggest that Moringa is also a good anti-cancer medicine for skin cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, gastric cancer and prostate cancer.
Other research done on mice also suggest that liver cancer can be reversed using Moringa. A study done on mice shows very promising results suggesting that the antioxidant properties of Moringa was able to alter and repair liver tissue and offering almost complete protection.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one cup of fresh chopped leaves of Moringa (25 grams) can give you 2g of protein, Vitamin B6 (19% of Recommended Dietary Allowance RDA), Vitamin C (12% of RDA), Iron (11% of RDA), Vitamin A (9% of RDA) and magnesium (8% of RDA). The Moringa plant is full of nutrients and probably one of the most nutritional plant food source compared to other food sources.
You must take note that there are about 13 other species of Moringa and the most nutritional of them all is the Moringa Oleifera. The plant can either be taken in a capsule form or in a powdered form and can be taken at least once everyday.
Moringa oil can also be used to apply topically as it also has anti-microbial properties and can be used on the skin to prevent skin cancer or fungi growth.
Moringa oils and capsules can be found online, however, it is advised to buy them from reputed online wellness stores to avoid being sold fake goods.
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