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Moringa oleifera - anybody tried it?

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
The Neuroimmune Disease Alliance (NIDA) have just fully funded a trial on this in ME/CFS by the Open Medicine Institute. This from OMI's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?....332007933570301.63974.309364692501292&type=1

Moringa oleifera pilot funded

Neuro-Immune Disease Alliance (NIDA) funded a pilot study to examine the potential benefit of Moringa oleifera in ME/CFS.

“The OMI will conduct the first of what will hopefully be a series of studies examining untested but promising natural therapies. Called the ‘miracle tree’ Moringa oleifera, has been proposed to having antibiotic, antitrypanosomal, hypotensive, antispasmodic, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, hypocholesterolemic, and hypoglycemic activities but few studies have been done.” – Health Rising, Cort Johnson

“We had heard a number of promising but VERY anecdotal stories of recovery with this substance. Like many natural (unregulated) substances it was completely untested scientifically in ME/CFS. That combined with the claimed boosting of NK cell function (and the relatively low cost of doing a pilot with this substance) made it a great first target to illustrate how low-budget science can also be beneficial in this field and needs to be done. We hope to apply this method to other potential candidate substances as we move forward with OMI-MERIT.” – Dr. Andy Kogelnik

To read John Hopkins School of Medicine review of the reports about Moringa oleifera, click the link below:
http://www.tfljournal.org/article.php/20051201124931586

To read Cort Johnson’s full article from Health Rising, click the link below:
http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2013/05/06/omi-scores-major-grant-to-explore-genetic-underpinnings-alternative-therapies-treatments-for-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-mecfs/

And from NIDA's site:

The Neuro-Immune Disease Alliance has also donated funds that will support an OMI-led pilot study examining the potential benefit of a novel therapy (Moringa oleifera). This project will be the first to apply molecular biology tools and standardized scientific methods and to evaluate a non-pharmacologic substance with reported anecdotal benefits in treating ME/CFS. Natural killer cells and other immune markers will be tested in response to treatment with the natural substance and gene expression tests will be performed on certain individuals.


Anybody tried it? I read the journal article referenced but it wasn't helpful.

Zensational - when I searched the forums for Moringa, I found your posts - would you like to say something about your dose, how long you've been on it, whether it has helped you and if so, over what time period?
 

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
A little bump...

Just curious about this treatment - it seemed to come out of nowhere. I'd never heard of it before and all of a sudden it's got a cutting-edge study being done on it.
 

Iquitos

Senior Member
Messages
513
Location
Colorado
I have just started eating the fresh leaves as often as I can, usually daily. The tree grows where I live and is used as a hedge plant so it is often found along public roads. My caregiver has been "stealing" whole branches for my use.

I cook it like spinach, with onion, garlic, salt and pepper. When I have them I add zucchini or broccoli and eat it like a vegetable side dish.

We are planting seeds to establish our own source at home.

This is interesting because of the reference to EBV and Burkitt's Sarcoma:

Cancer Prevention. Since Moringa species have long been recognized by folk medicine practitioners as having value in tumor therapy (61), we examined compounds [1] and [2] for their cancer preventive potential (39). Recently, [1] and the related compound [3] were shown to be potent inhibitors of phorbol ester (TPA)-induced Epstein-Barr virus early antigen activation in lymphoblastoid (Burkitt’s lymphoma) cells (57,104). In one of these studies, [3] also inhibited tumor promotion in a mouse two-stage DMBA-TPA tumor model (104). In an even more recent study, Bharali and colleagues have examined skin tumor prevention following ingestion of drumstick (Moringa seedpod) extracts (12). In this mouse model, which included appropriate positive and negative controls, a dramatic reduction in skin papillomas was demonstrated.
 

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
Wow! Fancy being able to get a whole branch where you live! That's one of the fun things about being on an international forum. :)
 

chilove

Senior Member
Messages
365
I started it a few days ago and I already feel less inflammed, less allergic in general and have a dramatic increase in energy and mood. I'm very impressed so far.
 

Iquitos

Senior Member
Messages
513
Location
Colorado
I started it a few days ago and I already feel less inflammed, less allergic in general and have a dramatic increase in energy and mood. I'm very impressed so far.

Are you taking the leaf powder? If so, how much? I take 3 large capsules a day now and feel it has ended food cravings and resulted in needed weight loss.

I so several other things for my symptoms so don't know for sure how much moringa influences them, but suspect it's helping with energy and mood, too.
 

perchance dreamer

Senior Member
Messages
1,688
I decided to try moringa, too. I got the Green Virgin Moringa Leaf Powder from Amazon.

Chilove, it sounds like you felt some benefits soon after starting it. That's great. I've read that it can take some people weeks to feel an effect.

I've been on it 3 days and have built up to 1/2 tsp. I'll increase slowly.

So far I can't tell an effect, so it might take awhile for me. The taste is grassy, but not unpleasant, I think. It seems an inexpensive, safe thing to try.
 

Ambrosia_angel

Senior Member
Messages
544
Location
England
I just ordered some of the powder myself. It's a lot more potent than the leaves/tea. Very excited to try it .

Btw you don't have to have moringa in such low doses. I found this good website on how to dose and how much to take for chronic or acute illness' and health maintance. It's not considered toxic and no reports of overdose have been found so don't be afraid the take good doses of it if it's not working at the amount taken. It may be too weak. If I find the link I'll post it :)

Also be careful of certain retailers. It's so easy to mix powders with other substances so you want to make sure it's reputable. I found another article about dodgy sellers. Good luck on your moringa endeavours. I'll be updating here soon once I start. Might create a blog to be honest?
 

chilove

Senior Member
Messages
365
How's everyone doing on Moringa? I experienced a herx weeks 3 to 6 but am still feeling improvements since then. More energy and strength and less inflammation/.
 

perchance dreamer

Senior Member
Messages
1,688
I had built up to 1 tsp. of moringa powder, but have now cut back down to 1/8 of a tsp. again.

I must have increased dosage too fast. What I've found is that it really increases my bowel activity. I'm not talking about diarrhea, but more bowel movements and more massive ones. Eww, sorry!

I'm not sure what the mechanism is for this. Maybe it's a herx, but it really showed no signs of abating.

I did notice a slight amount of increased energy, so will stick with it. I have a lot of odd reactions and sensitivities, so maybe that's what's going on here.

Chilove, what dosage are you on now?
 

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
What I've found is that it really increases my bowel activity. I'm not talking about diarrhea, but more bowel movements and more massive ones. Eww, sorry!

Don't worry, @perchance dreamer, that's what anonymous internet forums are for!

I don't know if you've been following this fascinating thread:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...ge-is-it-the-key-weve-been-looking-for.26976/

The links lead to a huge and ongoing conversation about resistant starch and its effect on gut microbiota. People seem to be having a lot of success with it with a big range of health conditions and there's a lot of research behind some of it.

In the vastness of that conversation, somewhere I read that once you've got well underway with resistant starch and have established a well-functioning gut microbiome for yourself, your bowel habit will change and will consist of several bowel movements a day, one of which will be... :eek: HUGE.

I have no clue how true it is that that's a sign of intestinal health or how general that experience is but maybe what you're experiencing is not a bad thing and possibly a good sign. I also recall reading (on this forum, I think) of a PWME who was trying some treatment or another and one day had a very large bowel movement and suddenly started feeling very much better. So again, maybe it's a good thing!

Ah, the wonderful world of TMI...
 

Iquitos

Senior Member
Messages
513
Location
Colorado
I've been eating moringa leaf as a food for about 5-6 months. I would second what Sasha said about bowel movements.

I currently use about 3/4 teaspoon of the leaf powder in my breakfast egg preparation: I microwave some mixed vegetables (stir-fry veggies at the moment) in a little oil, then add the moringa powder, garlic powder, dried Italian herbs, a couple of shakes of cayenne, grind some black pepper into it, add two eggs and some salt, stir it up and microwave two minutes, covered. (Eggs can pop and splatter if not covered. They need to be stirred up, too, or the yolks will explode.)
 

South

Senior Member
Messages
466
Location
Southeastern United States
Dear Members,
Fresh moringa leaf and seed powder belong to a grouping of foods, which I term enerceuticals™. Beyond their nutritional value, enerceuticals™ can ....

John, in your posting, the word that starts with an "e" has a trademark symbol after it. Is this a product you are affiliated with? (do you sell it)? Or did that little trademark symbol just appear from our site's software?
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Thanks, Sasha. I'm going to stick with the moringa and just go up really slowly. It's powerful stuff.

hi perchance

This must be powerful stuff and I should have re-read this thread before I started taking this a couple days ago. I got the leaf powder and from my symptoms I'm assuming I started out taking too much at first. After a teaspoon of it, roughly about an hour later, I feel like a ton of bricks have hit me that I just have to push thru till that symptom gradually lessens. Going to cut back on the dose for sure.
 

perchance dreamer

Senior Member
Messages
1,688
Hi, Rand. I backed down to 1/8 tsp. and am now at 1/4 tsp. Any more than that, and I experience massive bowel movements I talked about earlier in this thread. (And, again, sorry for that image!!!!)
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Hi, Rand. I backed down to 1/8 tsp. and am now at 1/4 tsp. Any more than that, and I experience massive bowel movements I talked about earlier in this thread. (And, again, sorry for that image!!!!)

Interestingly, I haven't noticed any change in bowel movements, but maybe I just haven't taken it long enough yet to see that effect.