New Yorkers like to say that they’ve seen it all, but apparently they haven’t smelled it all. One night a few years ago, the city’s hotline was flooded with phone calls about a mysterious odor reminiscent of maple syrup wafting across the western end of lower Manhattan. It wasn’t the first time such an “incident” was reported, and the mayor promised city officials would get to the bottom of it.
A few days later, the mayor called a press conference. With pointer in hand he spent the next 20 minutes aiming at dots on a map where the smell was reported and at arrows showing wind patterns coming across the Hudson River from northern New Jersey. The odor, said the mayor, occurred on days when the wind speed was moderate and the air somewhat humid. His investigators had traced the odor to a plant in north Jersey that manufactures flavors for the food, beverage, and fragrance industries. The maple syrup-like scent, he revealed, was the smell of fenugreek seeds being processed.
“I can think of a lot of things worse than maple syrup,” the mayor told a reporter. “It just happens to be one of the aromas that we’re going to have to live with in a city like New York.”
From Folk Medicine to the Medicine of the Future
What’s fenugreek?!?, you say? Fenugreek, for sure, is Greek to most of the Western world (even New Yorkers), but it is a common culinary spice in South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East. It also has a storied history as a medicinal spice: since ancient times (and right up to the present), fenugreek has been used as a folk remedy for an astonishingly long list of ills.
Fenugreek is a legendary aphrodisiac. Men have used it to grow hair and women to increase bust size. (Its rich content of the hormone-like compound diosgenin is probably responsible for any effects fenugreek might have on increasing libidos or bustlines.) It’s been used to help regulate menstrual cycles, ease labor pains, and encourage milk flow for breastfeeding. Soaked in water, the seeds soften and swell, and are used to normalize digestion, countering both constipation and diarrhea. It has battled asthma, allergies, and other respiratory ills. And in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, it’s a classic “drug” for blood sugar (glucose) control—a use that modern science has strongly seconded.
Good News for Glucose Control
The body works best on a steady supply of blood sugar: not too much, not too little, but just right. The hormone insulin, manufactured by the pancreas, keeps levels normal, ushering glucose into liver cells for processing, muscle cells for instant energy, and fat cells for storage. But the standard American diet—loaded with sugars and refined carbohydrates that turn into a flashflood of glucose—overwhelms the insulin-generating capacity of the pancreas. And all the fat in the American diet clogs insulin receptors on cells. The end result is chronically high levels of blood sugar: 57 million Americans have prediabetes(fasting blood sugar levels 100 to 125 mg/dL), and another 24 million have type 2 diabetes (fasting blood sugar levels above 125 mg/dL). The long-term consequences of diabetes are disastrous: year after year, extra blood sugar batters blood vessels, leading to heart disease, stroke, blindness (from damage to the vessels of the retina), kidney disease (from damage to these vessel-rich organs), nerve pain (from damage to the tiny vessels called capillaries that nourish nerves), and amputations (from poor circulation to the feet and legs).
Fenugreek to the rescue. More than 100 scientific studies—mostly in animals with experimentally induced diabetes—show that fenugreek has the power to regulate blood sugar. Fenugreek can: balance daily blood sugar levels, lower A1C (the percentage of red blood cells that have been frosted by hemoglobin, the best measurement of long-term blood sugar control), increase enzymes that help regulate blood sugar, and activate insulin signaling in cells. Fenugreek can also help control the circulatory aftershocks of high blood sugar: high total cholesterol, high “bad” LDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, and low “good” HDL cholesterol.
In the most recent study on people, researchers in the Food Science Department at Louisiana State University (LSU) made flour from fenugreek seeds, baked up a batch of fenugreek bread, and fed two slices a day to eight people with type 2 diabetes. The bread lowered insulin resistance—the inability of cells to use the hormone insulin. Another demonstration, said the researchers in the Journal of Medicinal Food, that fenugreek “will reduce insulin resistance and treat type 2 diabetes.”
In another recent study, this one in the International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research, scientists studied 18 people with type 2 diabetes, feeding them powdered fenugreek seeds in either yogurt or hot water. After two months, there was a 25 percent decrease in fasting blood sugar, a 30 percent decrease in triglycerides, and a 30 percent decrease in “bad” LDL cholesterol. “Fenugreek seeds can be used . . . in the control of type 2 diabetes,” the researchers concluded.
Fenugreek seed may help prevent and/or treat:
Cancer
Cataracts
Cholesterol problems (high total cholesterol, high “bad” LDL cholesterol, low “good” HDL cholesterol)
Diabetes, type 2
Gallstones
Infection, bacterial and viral
Insulin resistance (prediabetes)
Kidney stones
Liver disease
Overweight
Triglycerides, high
In China, researchers studied 69 people with type 2 diabetes that wasn’t well-controlled with a standard diabetes drug. They divided them into two groups—one group continued taking the drug; one group took the drug and fenugreek seeds. After three months, those taking the drug and fenugreek had “remarkable” results, said the researchers: much lower fasting blood sugar, lower blood sugar levels after meals, lower A1C, and fewer symptoms of diabetes (such as fatigue). The combined therapy of an anti-diabetes drug and fenugreek “could lower blood glucose and ameliorate clinical symptoms in the treatment of type 2 diabetes,” said the researchers in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine.
Indian researchers gave 60 people with type 2 diabetes a mixture that included fenugreek seeds. After three months, many in the study had either lowered their dose of glucose-controlling medication or gotten off the medication completely.
In another study from India, doctors at the Jaipur Diabetes and Research Centre studied 25 people newly diagnosed with diabetes, dividing them into two groups. Half received an extract of fenugreek seeds and half were treated with diet and exercise. After two months, those on the fenugreek had more normal levels of glucose and insulin, a bigger drop in triglycerides, and a bigger increase in HDL. “Use of fenugreek seeds improves glycemic control and decreases insulin resistance in mild type-2 diabetic patients,” the researchers concluded.
Why is fenugreek so effective in controlling type 2 diabetes? “Fenugreek stimulates the insulin signaling pathway,” said the researchers from LSU. In other words, it helps cells respond to the hormone that moves glucose out of the blood, said the researchers. Fenugreek also stimulates insulin secretion from the pancreas, slows the absorption of glucose from the intestines, and helps generate enzymes that regulate the use of glucose for energy in muscle cells. And, they note, “fenugreek is very safe.”
Fenugreek: Multi-Tasking Natural Medicine
The LSU scientists point out that “fenugreek has other beneficial effects in addition to its effect on diabetes”—including stopping kidney stones, helping with weight loss, and controlling fatty liver disease. Let’s look at these and other benefits of the spice.
Weight loss. Researchers from the University of Minnesota studied 18 obese people (body mass index over 30), dividing them into three groups: at breakfast, one group took four grams of fenugreek fiber powder with orange juice, one took eight grams, and one didn’t take any. Between breakfast and lunch, the group taking eight grams of powder had a greater feeling of fullness, felt more satisfied (satiety), and felt less hungry—and they ate 10 percent fewer calories for lunch! “Fenugreek fiber may have a role in the control of food intake in obese individuals,” said the researchers in Phytotherapy Research. Fenugreek fiber powder—also called galactomannan—is widely available as a supplement.
In another experiment on fenugreek and food consumption, French researchers found that people taking fenugreek seed extract (about 600 mg a day) ate 17 percent less fat and 12 percent fewer calories. Fenugreek seed extract might help with “weight reduction in the long term, particularly in some . . . overweight or obese patients for whom a low-fat diet is recommended,” the researchers concluded in theEuropean Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Cancer. In a paper called “Fenugreek: A Naturally Occurring Edible Spice as an Anti-cancer Agent,” scientists at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University discuss how their studies have shown fenugreek seed extract can slow or stop the growth of breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer cells. “These studies add another biologically active agent to our armamentarium of naturally occurring agents with therapeutic potential,” said the scientists in Cancer Biology and Therapy.
High cholesterol. Fenugreek doesn’t just lower cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes. Indian doctors studied 20 healthy people, dividing them into two groups—one took fenugreek seed powder and one didn’t. After one month, there was a “significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL levels,” wrote the researchers in Plant Foods in Human Nutrition.
Fatty liver disease. An estimated one-third of Americans have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): at least 20 percent of liver cells are filled with fat globules. The causes: overweight, insulin resistance, and diabetes. Another 10 million Americans have alcoholic fatty liver disease, caused by heavy drinking (more than two drinks a day for a woman and more than three drinks a day for a man). Fatty liver can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. In an animal study, Canadian researchers found that fenugreek seeds prevented or reversed fatty liver. “These findings . . . provide a strong impetus to explore the therapeutic benefit of fenugreek and its active components in [fatty liver disease] associated with obesity and insulin resistance,” the researchers said in the International Journal of Obesity.
Cataracts. Researchers in India used a chemical to induce cataracts in the eyes of two groups of experimental animals—one that was fed fenugreek seeds and one that wasn’t. Fenugreek seed completely prevented the development of cataracts; 72 percent of the animals not eating fenugreek developed the disease. The researchers found a high level of antioxidant activity in the eyes of the fenugreek-fed animals.
Kidney stones. Eighty percent of kidney stones are made of calcium oxalate. Noting that fenugreek seeds are “widely used in Morocco” to prevent the development of kidney stones in those prone to form them, Moroccan researchers tested the seeds on experimental animals. Fenugreek decreased the deposition of calcium oxalate in the kidney by 27 percent.
Gallstones. Researchers in India induced gallstones in experimental animals and then divided them into three groups: one group received a high dose of fenugreek seed powder, one group received a low dose, and one didn’t receive any powder. Fenugreek reversed gallstones by 64 percent in the high dose group and 61 percent in the low dose; there was no reversal in the other group. Fenugreek could help prevent gallstones, shrink ones that already exist, and prevent recurrence, the researchers concluded.
Fenugreek is a plant with yellow and white flowers that resembles alfalfa.Fenugreek seed pairs well with these spices:
Asafoetida
Black cumin
seed
Black pepper
Chile
Clove
Coriander
Curry leaf
Garlic
Ginger
Mustard seed
Onion
Star anise
Tamarind
Turmeric
and complements recipes featuring:
Bread
Chutney
Pickles
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Vegetables
Caution: Pregnant women should not eat fenugreek seeds, because they contain saponins, an active compound that is found in oral contraceptives. Research indicates that fenugreek could induce a miscarriage.
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Other recipes containing fenugreek seed:
Berbere
Caribbean Curry Paste
Colombo Powder
Garbanzo Beans with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds
Hot Curry Powder
Panch Phoron
Sambaar Masala
Infections. Researchers in India fed experimental animals a fenugreek extract and tested their immune systems. They found the spice increased the activity of macrophages, white blood cells that gobble up bacteria and viruses. “Overall, fenugreek showed a stimulatory effect on immune functions,” they wrote, a result that “strengthens the rationale of its use in several Ayurvedic drugs.”
Getting to Know Fenugreek Seed
Fenugreek—known to botanists as Trigonellafoenum-graecum—is a plant with yellow and white flowers that resembles alfalfa. In fact, its Latin name means “Greek hay,” and it was grown by the ancient Egyptians as fodder for animals. Today, fenugreek is grown around the world—in South Asia, the Middle East, South America, Europe, and China.
As a spice, fenugreek is popular in India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Iran, and Turkey, where it is used to make curries, chutneys, pickles, relishes, and an array of vegetarian dishes.
In India, the seeds are dry roasted or fried in hot oil and used whole to flavor curries (especially fish curry), broth-based stews called sambars, and fermented flat breads, such as dosas and idlis. It is also an ingredient in many Indian spice mixes, including curry powder. A few fenugreek seeds are always added to starchy vegetables and hard-to-digest legumes, especially if asafoetida is not available.
In the Middle East, seeds are soaked overnight in cold water and mixed into a paste with other spices to make a condiment called hilbeh and a sweetmeat called halva. Cooks also grind fenugreek into a paste and rub it into salted meat, which is then dried.
In Yemen, fenugreek is mixed with other spices to make zhug, which is put on top of stews. Armenians mix it with garlic and red chile to make a peppery spice mix called chemen, which is used to spice beef. The Greeks boil the seeds and eat them with honey.
How to Buy Fenugreek Seed
Fenugreek seeds are hard, yellowish-brown ovals that resemble tiny pebbles. You can recognize them by the deep furrow across one side. They are sold whole or ground in Indian markets. Fenugreek is also available in specialty spice shops and online, usually ground. (To find whole seeds, see the “Buyer’s Guide”.)
In terms of quality, one batch of fenugreek seeds is pretty much like another. But double-check for cleanliness. Because the seeds look like stones, it’s not uncommon to find them contaminated with little stones and grit. Examine them carefully before putting them in your grinder so you don’t damage it.
Brussels Sprouts KulambuKulambu is a sweet-and-sour stew popular in India. This authentic Indian recipe, courtesy of Alamelu Vairavan’s Healthy South Indian Cooking, is a vegetarian entree to be served over rice. You can also serve it as a side dish to a roast. Check the “Buyer’s Guide” section to find some of the more unusual ingredients.
2 tablespoons canola oil
¼ teaspoon asafoetida powder
4 to 6 curry leaves (optional)
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal (split white lentils)
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped tomato
¼ teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons sambaar masala or commercial curry powder
1 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon tamarind paste
1½ cups brussels sprouts, cut in half (if large, cut into quarters)
1. Place oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the asafoetida powder, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, and urad dal. Cover and fry over medium heat until the mustard seeds pop and urad dal is golden brown, about 30 seconds.
2. Add the onions, tomato, and turmeric, stirring constantly.
3. Add the sambaar masala, tomato sauce, and salt. Stir well. Add 2 cups of warm water to the saucepan. Stir and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add tamarind paste and mix thoroughly.
5. When the mixture in the saucepan begins to boil, add the brussels sprouts. Cover and cook over low heat until the brussels sprouts are just tender, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook.
Makes 4 servings.Whole seeds stay fresh for three years, as long as they’re kept in an airtight container and out of sunlight. Fenugreek’s flavor dissipates once the seeds are ground, and ground seeds keep for only a few months.
In the Kitchen with Fenugreek Seed
Don’t eat fenugreek seeds raw—hard as a rock, they’re impossible to chew. Cooking turns their pungent, slightly bitter taste into a nutty, maple syrup-like flavor. It also softens the seed, so it’s easier to grind. A light roasting of a minute or two is all that’s needed. (For directions on how to roast spices, see Roasting Spices.) Be careful, however, not to burn the seeds, which makes the flavor so bitter it’s unpalatable. You can also soak the seeds overnight to make them soft and jelly-like.
Add fenugreek to a dish cautiously—the strong flavor can overtake other flavorings.
Here are some ways to get more fenugreek into your diet:
• Add a sprinkling of ground seeds to the breading for fried foods.
• Sprinkle a few seeds in vegetable casseroles.
• Add a pinch of ground fenugreek to cookie recipes.
• Add a pinch or two to mayonnaise to give it a mustard-like bite.
• Mix roasted ground seeds with dried, ground chiles and other spices, and use as a dipping sauce for bread.
• Add roasted and coarsely chopped seeds to salads, which adds an interesting crunchiness.
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