Fenugreek leaves and seeds lend flavoring to Indian cuisine; the ground seeds are in the spice blend garam masala. The seeds taste bitter when raw, but mellow out when cooked. People have described its flavor as a mix of maple syrup, brown sugar, and celery.
As a nutritional supplement, you can buy fenugreek as a capsule, liquid extract, or in tea form. Supplements provide a higher concentration of nutrients, whereas when cooking with fenugreek seed or powder, you will get lower amounts of the beneficial plant compounds.
Top 10 Fenugreek Benefits & Uses
This popular seed has various health benefits and uses, from supporting breastfeeding women to relieving digestive ailments. We've gathered together the top health benefits of fenugreek below.
1. Stimulates Breast Milk Production
Women experiencing low milk supply often turn to the herb to help boost their production. Some researchers credit the phytoestrogens — plant compounds that mimic estrogen — in fenugreek for its positive effect on milk volume.
Fenugreek tea both increases breast milk production and leads to infant weight gain, particularly in the early postpartum period.
2. Spices Up Your Sex Life
Is it fact, or folklore, that fenugreek can bring spice to the bedroom?
Do you need a boost in the bedroom? The phytoestrogens found in fenugreek have been found to improve both sexual function and libido in women and men. Perhaps this is because the plant's unique compounds can mimic both female and male sex hormones, naturally.
Men with concerns over sexual function or erectile dysfunction can benefit from fenugreek supplements. This little seed has a positive effect on the physiological aspects of libido — including increased sexual arousal and orgasm. Men taking the herb reported having increased muscle strength, energy, and well-being.
3. Counteracts “Low T”
Although testosterone decreases naturally with age, some men find that “low T" can affect their quality of life. Libido, muscle mass, bone mass, and even mood can all decline — and body fat can increase — when testosterone levels drop below optimum.
Fenugreek may offer some assistance, thanks to its testosterone-friendly glycosides.
Fenugreek seeds contain soluble steroidal saponins, which stimulate androgenic activity in men. As a result, fenugreek is a great natural alternative to medical hormone therapies (gels, patches, and injections), which can bring unwanted side effects.
Men taking fenugreek with Chinese bush clover (Lespedeza cuneata) for eight weeks had an increase in testosterone and improved sexual function.
4. Lowers Blood Sugar
Fenugreek may lower blood glucose levels, showing promise for people looking to manage diabetes symptoms or who need to balance insulin levels.
Individuals with Type 2 diabetes who took fenugreek seed powder soaked in hot water experienced lower fasting blood sugar and total blood glucose. Exactly how the herb impacts blood sugar levels is not completely clear, but this is promising!
The seeds' high dietary fiber content and plant compounds may slow digestion, reduce glucose absorption in the gut, and improve the way the body metabolizes carbohydrates and sugar. Together, these characteristics lead to better glycemic control, or in other words, better natural management of blood sugar
5. Balances Cholesterol & Boosts Heart Health
By influencing both LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol) and total cholesterol positively, fenugreek may help lower cardiac or heart health risks.
Fenugreek may lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. That’s great news!
This herbal supplement may reduce cholesterol in the blood, which otherwise contributes to hardening of the arteries.
Heart disease patients with high cholesterol taking fenugreek had a significant reduction in both triglycerides and LDL (“bad") cholesterol. Fenugreek did not affect HDL (“good") cholesterol, which means it helps keep it balanced overall, where you need it to be.
Fenugreek’s steroidal saponins, mentioned previously, seem to interact with the body's bile salts in the digestive tract, which lowers cholesterol. The seeds help detox the body, particularly the kidneys, bones, and brain.
6. Soothes Inflammation
Fenugreek’s glycosides and steroidal saponins (steroid precursors) have anti-inflammatory properties.
People often take fenugreek to reduce the redness, pain, and swelling caused by inflammation, and use it for ulcers arthritis, and gout. The herb shows promise for helping reduce the discomfort of skin conditions like eczema.
Ground into a paste, fenugreek may even soothe certain skin conditions when applied topically. Try making a poultice — wrap fenugreek seeds in cloth, warm it, and apply it to your skin — to reduce inflammation.
7. Eases Digestive Woes & Heartburn
Fenugreek may reduce the discomfort of acid reflux or heartburn. People with frequent heartburn have found relief by taking a fenugreek fiber product 30 minutes before meals.
Moreover, fenugreek fiber is just as effective as over-the-counter antacids at relieving heartburn. The seeds' water-soluble fiber may have a soothing effect on the lining of the stomach and may relieve constipation.
Chinese medicine healers recommend fenugreek, usually mixed with other herbs, to remedy abdominal discomfort, among other things. Chemical compounds within the herb increase pancreatic lipase, an enzyme that helps your body digest fats.
In modern Ayurvedic medicine, practitioners recommend fenugreek for digestive issues, stemming from excessive kapha (phlegm) and vata (wind). Ayurveda also recommends another herb, holy basil (also called tulsi) for abdominal discomfort and digestive woes.
8. Influences Appetite
Fenugreek may also help regulate and modulate appetite according to the body's needs. Overweight people taking fenugreek extract tend to eat less dietary fat.
Taking a fenugreek supplement may even offset the effects of a high-fat diet — though not as much as exercise.
On the flip side, this herb can also increase appetite. Fenugreek extract appears to increase food intake and motivation in some cases. As a result, some treatment programs for anorexia use fenugreek to help stimulate the appetite for weight gain.
9. Boosts Exercise Performance
Since fenugreek acts as a natural testosterone booster in men, it makes sense that the herb might improve athletic performance as well. And it appears to do so, especially when used in combination with other supplements.
Men who took both fenugreek extract and creatine for eight weeks had improved strength for resistance-training exercise (bench press and leg press strength).[20]
Instead of consuming mass quantities of simple carbs, try fenugreek to boost exercise performance.
10. Eases Menstrual Cramps
Many women turn to fenugreek tea or fenugreek powder during their monthly cycle to ease and soothe menstrual cramps. It turns out that taking fenugreek also reduces the need for over-the-counter pain medication during menstruation.
Natural herbs like fenugreek contain wonderful phytochemicals that work together with your body to give comfort and health with minimal side effects.
Fenugreek Tea
Fenugreek tea is one of the oldest medicinal tonics and has been used for thousands of years to prevent fevers, soothe stomach disorders, and to treat diabetics. Fenugreek seeds are rich in nutrients such as vitamins A, C, thiamin, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, and selenium. Fenugreek tea can help to relieve lower back pain and reduce inflammation in the body.
It is also highly beneficial for acid reflux, heartburn, respiratory issues, allergies, ulcers, gastritis, indigestion, and constipation. Fenugreek contains powerful compounds that can bind to toxins in the digestive tract and help to remove them from the body as well as protect the colon from cancer. Fenugreek contains an amino acid called 4-hydroxy- isoleucine which helps to facilitate insulin secretion and has been shown to be very helpful for diabetics who are trying to find natural ways to control their blood sugar levels.
Fenugreek tea is also very effective at helping to lower cholesterol and can significantly reduce the risk of a heart attack. Fenugreek tea has been shown to significantly increase milk production in lactating women. Fenugreek seeds are often used in culinary dishes and are a main ingredient in curry spice and are delicious in vegetable and lentil dishes.
The seeds, however, should only be added in small quantities as that have a very strong flavor and taste. Fenugreek seeds can also be sprouted and used as a healthy addition to salads and sandwiches. Fenugreek can also be used topically as an effective treatment for skin problems such as acne, boils, burns, and eczema.
Your Liver is up against poisons and pathogens such as the Unforgiving Four (radiation, toxic heavy metals, DDT, and the viral explosion).
