Naturl Cures and Home remedies from all over the World

Fenugreek

Food Value

Fenugreek leaves are commonly used as culinary vegetables. Steaming is considered the best method of cooking leaves as in this process the vitamins are retained and the vegetable is palatable. The dried leaves can be compared to pulses for their protein content. They supplement the sysine-deficient cereal diets. Lysine is amino acid which is fundamental constituents of all proteins. The seeds of fenugreek contain a foetid and bitter fatty oil resin, mucilage and albumin. Their mineral and vitamin contents are very high.

Natural Benefits and Curative Properties

The leaves of fenugreek are aromatic, cooling and mild aperient. Paste of the fresh leaves applied over the scalp regularly, before taking bath, lengthens hair, preserves the natural colour and keeps the hair silky soft. Paste of the fresh leaves, applied on the face every night before going to bed and washed with warm water, prevents pimples, blackheads, dryness of the face and early appearance of wrinkles. It improves complexion and demulcent, diuretic, carminative which relieves gastric discomforts, lactagogue, which increases the flow of milk, astringent and aphrodisiac tonic. They are the best cleansers to body, highly mucus-solvents and soothing agents. The seeds are used in the preparation of hair tonics and cosmetics in Java.

Digestive Disorders

Fenugreek leaves are highly beneficial in the treatment of indigestion, flatulence and sluggish liver. They help in the healing of mouth ulcers. An infusion of the leaves is used as a gargle for recurrent ulcers. Boiled and fried in butter, they are valuable in biliousness. The seeds are also useful in the treatment of colic, flatulence, dysentery diarrhoea and dyspepsia.

Anaemia

The leaves help in blood formation. The cooked leaves are extremely useful for adolescent girls to prevent anaemia and run down condition which is generally associated with the onset of puberty and sudden spurt of growth. The seeds of fenugreek are also valuable in anaemia, being rich in iron.

Pregnancy and Lactation

The seeds are fried in butter(ghee) and finely powered. This powder is mixed with wheat flour and sugar to prepare a paste (halwa). This preparation, taken in small quantity daily, helps in quick normalisation after delivery. The seeds, made into a gruel, are given as diet to nursing mothers for increasing the flow of milk.

Deadened Sense of Taste and Smell

The seeds help restore a deadened sense of taste or smell. The loss of sense of taste occurs due to improper functioning of the salivary glands. They often become plugged with mucus and accumulated juices, causing swelling. Similarly, the sense of smell is obstructed due to long accumulation of mucus or other impurities in the nose where the olfactory nerves are based. Regular use of fenugreek has proved beneficial in both these cases.

Dandruff

Fenugreek seeds are useful in the removal of dandruff. Two tablespoonfuls of the seeds should be soaked overnight in water. In the morning the softened seeds should be ground into a fine paste. This paste should be applied all over the scalp and left on the head for half an hour. The hair should then be washed thoroughly with soapnut solution or shikakai. Paste of the fresh leaves of fenugreek applied over the scalp regularly before taking bath also cures dandruff.

Fevers

A tea made from fenugreek seeds is equal in value to quinine for reducing fevers. It is particularly valuable as a cleansing and soothing drink. The fenugreek seeds, when moistened with water are themselves slightly mucilageous. A tea made from them has the power to dissolve more sticky substance as body mucus.

Stomach Disorders

The fenugreek tea soothes inflamed stomach and intestines and cleanses the stomach, bowels, kidneys and respiratory tract of excess mucus. It is beneficial in the healing of peptic ulcers as the mild coating of gum like lubricant material deposited by fenugreek, as it passes through the stomach and intestines, provides a protective shell for ulcers.

Respiratory Infections

During the early acute stages of any of the respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis, influenza, sinusities, catarrah and suspected pneumonia, fenugreek tea will help the body to produce perspiration, dispel toxicity and shorten the period of fever. It should be taken upto four cups daily. The quantity is reduced as condition improves. To improve flavour, a few drops of lemon juice can be used. During the treatment, no form of food or nourishment should be taken as is followed during fasting and fenugreek will allow the body to correct these respiratory problems in a few days.

Soar Throat

The gargle made from fenugreek seeds is the best for ordinary sore throat. When preparing a gargle, the solution should be much stronger than a tea. Two tablespoonfuls of fenugreek seeds should be put into a quart of cold water and allowed to simmer for half an hour over a low flame. It should be allowed to cool to a bearable temperature. It should then be strained and entire quantity used as a gargle.

Bad breath and Body Odour

The tea made from fenugreek is also beneficial in the case of bad breath and body odour. The unpleasant odours emanate from body openings due to accumulations of hardened mucus and other toxic substances in the nasal and oral passages, the gastrointestinal tract, the urinary tract, the bloodstream and vagina. The fenugreek tea, taken regularly will help remove these accumulation from such spots where mouth wash and soap can never penetrate.

Diabetes

Fenugreek seeds have been found highly effective in the treatment of diabetes. Fenugreek seeds when given in varying doses of 25 gms to 100 gms daily, diminish reactive hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients. Levels of glucose, serum cholesterol and tryglycerides were also significantly reduced in the diabetes patients when the seeds were consumed.

Swellings

Due to their cooling properties, a poultice of the leaves can be applied with advantage in external and internal swellings and burns.