Fenugreek. Why it's the king of spices!

The beauty of having friends from distant lands like India, Singapore and China is I get to ask them questions about the foods of their youth, the sports they played, how they exercised and how their parents healed their illnesses.

That’s right, how they healed. With a billion population in both India and China, the treatment of illnesses is not the same as the U.S. When you go to a Chinese doctor, he or she expects to cure you. If he or she cannot, that is a mark against them.

When I worked for a company in Massachusetts I ran across a friend from India who would perform yoga poses at his cube; just standing routines.  We talked and found out we were both big believers in self healing and internal exercise.

I was mostly interested in his foods and what he took to stay so thin and energetic at 55 years old. Other that his receding hair line, he was full of energy and youth. He told me he took fenugreek and asked if I had heard of it.

“Is that the stuff you get at the end of a Indian meal to digest and keep your breath clean?”

Annon laughed at my ignorance and told me it was a spice used in many curries. I love curries and knew their flavor. He said by itself it, taken a tablespoon, morning and night, would do many great things for me.

One, the regulation of blood sugar in Indian and Chinese medicine.

**“Recent studies have shown that Fenugreek helps lower blood glucose and cholesterol levels, and may be an effective treatment for both type 1 and 2 diabetes.  Fenugreek is also being studied for its cardiovascular benefits. “       

** “Treating Diabetes and Lowering Blood Sugar Levels:     Studies have shown that participants with type 2 diabetes had significantly lower blood sugar levels after eating fenugreek. Therefore, a recommended home remedy for treating Type 2 diabetes is to consume 500mg of fenugreek twice daily.”

How does it work?

Fenugreek appears to slow absorption of sugars in the stomach and stimulate insulin. Both of these effects lower blood sugar in people with diabetes.***

Second, the reduction of cholesterol.

Third, it performs amazing things with your digestive tract and you will be very regular.

Fourth, with blood flow improvement, it is a natural cure for impotence and any dysfunction in that area. But there is still a lot to study about this claim.

For the purpose of self-healing, I want spices, herbs, or both that are affective medical cures because it is a whole food that is unprocessed and when it can be taken alive, I can receive the benefit full strength.

So I went to the middle eastern store in my city. I knew that their spices would of a very fine quality. Many Muslims who buy here follow a strict diet similar to a kosher one. I felt that I would receive great value as 12oz of seed is only $1.29. That is enough for a month once you brought the seed back to life.

The process is called germination. But I tend to go just beyond into the very initial state of sprouting.

First, I get out a clean bowl or container that is flat on the bottom.

Then I put in ¼ cup of the dry seeds.

Then I put enough water to cover the seeds plus a ¼ inch or ½ centimeter.

Then I put the bowl into a cabinet where it will stay dark most of the time for 30-36 hours.

If you have done it right, it looks like this.

If you forget it and then find it, it  will look like this:

The next step will be to drain these seeds in a strainer or nut milk bag. You will then want to lay out the seeds to soak up the water but not the seeds themselves. Use paper towels to soak up the water quickly. I want moist seeds that feel like capsules in the mouth. If you leave them out to dry too long they will go back to the form you found them in when you bought them.

Since we in the West do not eat or chew spices a lot in their whole form, just place a tablespoon in your mouth and swallow with water or your favorite juice. They will go down your throat very easily. You want to swallow this amount morning and night

“Bill, can’t I make the whole bag at once?”

You could but the problem is once they are alive, they tend to keep growing. So what started as a sprout with the tinniest like green sticking out can grow to an unruly long sprout that will be real hard to swallow. So small batches are the idea here.

“Can’t I eat the sprouts on sandwiches and salads?”

Absolutely, they have a bitter peppery taste to them. But remember you need to take about a tablespoon of seeds twice a day. You will get sick of the sprouts but you will barely notice swallowing the seed. This is your choice but it you have to do something long term, stick with something you wont get sick of.

The results:
Since starting their use five months ago I have very well regulated blood sugar and digestion! Good to know right?

Will this work for you?

I don’t know. If you are seriously out of shape and have done nothing in the form of diet and exercise to change than at all....then probably not.

Taking this spice along with fast food every day is not suggested. Natural cures are for a body that knows it is ready to help itself. You have to believe in what you are doing. Also don’t piss and moan that it isn’t working. This isn’t some toxic pharma product. It’s food and some results will happen within a week and some don’t happen for months to a year.

When I was sick about 12 weeks ago with only a minor form of the stomach flu, I was bitching that this shouldn’t be happening. My daughter correctly informed me that I had been a Taoist for only 15 weeks and that it takes years of practice to control the energy in my body. She’s right. I am in this for life. Simple eating, exercising, and breathing that has made me stronger than ever and allowed me to relax and empty my mind.

This is not an instant pill that makes one spot on your body feel good while the rest is being corrupted and since when is sudden death a side effect?

Don’t you people even read the labels?

Take responsibility for your health.

Namaste!

References:
Fenugreek On Wikepedia *
HomeRemediesWeb **
WebMD Discussion on Fenugreek  ***

Comments

[Mike Travis]

Couldn't agree more, I love fenugreek seeds!

[Bill]

Thanks for your comment