Moringa oleifera is rich in various antioxidants, including quercetin and chlorogenic acid. Moringa leaf powder can increase blood antioxidant levels.
Antioxidants are compounds that act against free radicals in your body.
High levels of free radicals may cause oxidative stress, which is associated with chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).
Several antioxidant plant compounds have been found in the leaves of Moringa oleifera (7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source, 9).
In addition to vitamin C and beta-carotene, these include (10, 11):
- Quercetin: This powerful antioxidant may help lower blood pressure (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).
- Chlorogenic acid: Also found in high amounts in coffee, chlorogenic acid may help moderate blood sugar levels after meals (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).
One study in women found that taking 1.5 teaspoons (7 grams) of moringa leaf powder every day for three months significantly increased blood antioxidant levels (16).
Moringa leaf extract may also be used as a food preservative. It increases the shelf life of meat by reducing oxidation (17).
Moringa leaves may lead to reduced blood sugar levels, but more research is needed before any solid recommendations can be made.
High blood sugar can be a serious health problem. In fact, it’s the main characteristic of diabetes.
Over time, high blood sugar levels raise the risk of many serious health problems, including heart disease. For this reason, it’s important to keep your blood sugar within healthy limits.
Interestingly, several studies have shown that Moringa oleifera may help lower blood sugar levels.
However, most of the evidence is based on animal studies. Only a few human-based studies exist, and they’re generally of low quality (18Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).
One study in 30 women showed that taking 1.5 teaspoons (7 grams) of moringa leaf powder every day for three months reduced fasting blood sugar levels by 13.5%, on average (16).
Another small study in six people with diabetes found that adding 50 grams of moringa leaves to a meal reduced the rise in blood sugar by 21% (21).
Scientists believe these effects are caused by plant compounds such as isothiocyanates (22Trusted Source).
In animal and test-tube studies, Moringa oleifera has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. This effect has not been studied in humans.
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to infection or injury.
It’s an essential protective mechanism but may become a major health issue if it continues over a long period of time.
In fact, sustained inflammation is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease and cancer (23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source).
Most whole fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices have anti-inflammatory properties. However, the degree to which they can help depends on the types and amounts of anti-inflammatory compounds they contain.
Scientists believe that isothiocyanates are the main anti-inflammatory compounds in moringa leaves, pods and seeds (25, 26Trusted Source, 27Trusted Source).
But so far, research has been limited to test-tube and animal studies. It remains to be seen if Moringa oleifera has similar anti-inflammatory effects in humans.
Moringa oleifera can lower your cholesterol levels, potentially reducing the risk of heart disease.
Having high cholesterol has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease.
Fortunately, many plant foods can effectively reduce cholesterol. These include flaxseeds, oats and almonds.
Both animal- and human-based studies have shown that Moringa oleifera may have similar cholesterol-lowering effects (7Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source, 28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source).
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