Fenugreek is a weight loss aid, helps with diabetes, and is good for heart health and breastfeeding mums – why you need this superfood in your diet
- Traditional Indian and Chinese medicine has long used fenugreek, and it’s known for lowering blood sugar, boosting testosterone, easing inflammation and more
- Nutritionists swear by fenugreek to address diabetes, indigestion, flatulence, blood pressure issues, and to control appetite. It makes a good face scrub, too
Come winter, markets in India are flooded with glossy, emerald green fenugreek leaves that cooks snap up to make healthy and delicious dishes. Known as methi, the ingredient is paired with potatoes to make aloo methi, or kneaded into dough to make fluffy, deep-fried puri bread or crispy paratha – to be savoured with tangy pickles.
My grandmother loved making saag – a gruel of chopped fenugreek leaves and yellow, green and red lentils. Simmered over a slow earthen stove for hours, once cooked it was mashed to a velvety consistency, and served in a bowl with roti or rice.
Granny would also incorporate fenugreek in teatime snacks such as mathri – deep-fried and flattened discs made from refined flour, salt and carom seeds.
Chef Vivek Rana of The Claridges hotel, in the Indian capital, New Delhi, uses fenugreek to amplify a dish’s taste while making it healthier. He incorporates it in breads, chicken curry and vegetable dishes and creates small platters of fenugreek-based dishes.
“Chutneys and dips made from fenugreek seeds are tasty and healthful,” he says.
The spice needs to be used judiciously, lest it overwhelm a dish. “Less is more in the case of fenugreek. Also, to whittle down its bitterness, we always soak it in water first with a sprinkling of salt and then squeeze the liquid out before cooking,” he says.
This slightly bitter but flavoursome plant is a wonder herb with various health benefits. Fenugreek leaves, seeds and powder have been used for centuries by practitioners of Ayurveda – traditional Indian medicine – to address a range of health issues.
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Regular consumption of fenugreek seeds helps in reducing triglyceride (lipid) levels in the blood while increasing beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, practitioners say.
Western studies also attest to fenugreek’s health benefits. In a 2017 study, mice fed a high-fat diet with two per cent whole fenugreek seed supplementation for 16 weeks had better glucose tolerance than those who did not receive the supplementation.
In a 2015 study, nine overweight Korean female participants were given either a fennel, fenugreek, or placebo tea to drink before lunch. Those who were given the fenugreek tea reported feeling less hungry and were more easily satiated.
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Considered bitter in taste and “heating” in nature, it is used to dispel dampness and cold, and to warm the kidneys.
According to nutritionist Reema Hingorani Madhian, who runs wellness clinics in New Delhi and nearby city Noida, fenugreek is a storehouse of nutrients including folic acid, riboflavin, copper, potassium, calcium, iron, manganese, and vitamins A, B6, C and K.
Include fenugreek in your daily diet for optimal benefits, she recommends.
“Roast a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds and have them with water on an empty stomach. The seeds can also be soaked, boiled and consumed to address diabetes, indigestion, flatulence, blood pressure issues as well as weight and appetite management.”
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Fenugreek also plays a key role in maintaining one’s heart health, as it is rich in potassium that counters the action of sodium, thus contributing to a steady heart rate and blood pressure, Madhian says.
Fenugreek extracts are also used in soaps, cosmetics, teas, spice blends and condiments.
Diosgenin, the natural antioxidant compound found in fenugreek, has anti-inflammatory properties that treat acne and also moisturise the skin, says Noida-based dermatologist Vandana Malik.
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“A face pack made with fenugreek powder and raw milk or curd can smoothen fine lines and brighten the complexion,” she says. Fenugreek seeds also make a good natural scrub, she adds.
For optimal health benefits, the German Commission E – a scientific advisory board of the country’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices – recommends a daily intake of six grams of fenugreek.
Ingesting more than 100 grams of fenugreek seeds daily can trigger intestinal distress, nausea and uterine contractions in women. It is not recommended for children under two.
“Fenugreek can also react adversely with a variety of medications. So always consult a healthcare provider before you start consuming it,” says Madhian.
