Fenugreek seed Defeating Diabetes – Glucose Control

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 Kulambu

Kulambu 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.

Cumin: Keeping Diabetes Under Control – Protecting Bones

Cumin is a commoner. Sitting in the jar, it isn’t much to look at—just kind of brown and drab. It isn’t pleasant to touch—a little too oily. Its flavor won’t send your taste buds into orbit—it’s bitter and stale. And the aroma is akin to musty old pine.

But once it’s out of the jar and into the cooking pot, its transformation is akin to Cinderella’s, as the pungent and bitter smell mellows to a rich, nutty aroma that brings to mind the scent of a Mexican cantina. That’s because while chile gives Mexican food the fire, cumin gives the zest—it is the most popular spice in Mexican cuisine.

Cumin has a flavor unlike any other because it’s loaded with cuminaldehyde, a compound with medicinal qualities that are active as, well, Mexican jumping beans.

Fighting Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease of chronically high levels of blood sugar (glucose). And that flood of extra sugar damages blood vessels throughout the body, increasing the risk for heart disease and stroke (the cause of death in 75 percent of people with diabetes), blindness, and kidney disease. Cumin to the rescue . . .

In a study from India, scientists treated laboratory animals with type 2 diabetes with either cumin or glibenclamide (Diabeta), an antidiabetes drug. They found that both worked equally well to reduce levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, heart-damaging blood fats common in people with diabetes. The animals also had a “significant reduction” in blood sugar, lowered levels of A1C (the amount of glucose attached to red blood cells, a measure of long-term blood sugar levels), and lower levels of damaging fat and inflammation in the cells of the pancreas, the organ that manufacturs insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels.

Cumin “supplementation was found to be more effective than glibenclamide in the treatment of diabetes mellitus,” concluded the researchers in Pharmacological Research.

People with diabetes have a 60 percent higher risk of developing cataracts, a vision-clouding covering on the lens of the eye. In another animal study from India, researchers tested cumin against the eye disease. They found that feeding cumin powder to diabetic rats delayed the progression of cataracts—by preventing changes in the lens caused by high blood sugar. Dietary cumin “was able to delay the diabetes-caused cataract progression and maturation,” said the researchers.

Researchers at India’s National Institute of Nutrition found that cumin (along with cinnamon, black pepper, and green tea) can cut the formation of AGE, or advanced glycation endproducts, by 40 to 90 percent. AGE are toxic cellular time bombs that form when an overdose of glucose warps proteins. “The inhibition of the formation of AGE is believed to play a role in the prevention of diabetic complications,” wrote the researchers in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Will the Real Cumin Please Stand Up?

Cumin suffers from a bit of an identity crisis . . .

It’s not caraway. In Europe, its popularity has lost out to caraway seed—but caraway can’t stand in for cumin in dishes such as chili and curry.

It’s not black cumin. Cumin isn’t the same as (nor is it a substitute for) black cumin. Black cumin is English for the Indian spice kolonji. Black cumin seeds are jet black, and are sometimes called imperial cumin (because black cumin is somewhat pricey compared to cumin).

It’s not curcumin. Cumin has no relationship to curcumin, the principal ingredient in the spice turmeric.

Protecting Bones

Eating more soy protein or taking soy supplements is commonly suggested as a way to prevent, delay, or even reverse osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease that afflicts tens of millions of Americans. That’s because soy is a phytoestrogen, a plant compound that helps keep calcium in bones. Well, now researchers are looking at cumin as a possible bone-protector, because it’s also rich in phytoestrogens.

In a study from India, researchers tested the ability of cumin to stop bone loss in laboratory animals with induced osteoporosis. They found those given the spice had greater bone density than those who didn’t receive cumin. In fact, the spice’s “osteoprotective effect” was comparable to that of the hormone estradiol (Estrace), which was popular for the prevention of osteoporosis before researchers discovered it also increased the risk of heart disease and breast cancer.

The researchers’ remarkable conclusion: “Cumin can help postmenopausal women from losing their bone and seems to be a potential candidate for the development of new herbal approaches for osteoporosis treatment without any serious side effects.”

Combating Cancer

Cumin’s volatile oil and rich content of vitamins C and A make it a potent antioxidant—and a potential cancer-stopper. Animal studies have found that cumin:

• Prevented the formation of colon tumors in rats fed cancer-causing substances.

• Reduced the risk of cervical cancer by 82 percent compared to animals not receiving the spice.

• Significantly decreased the incidence of stomach and liver cancer.

Cumin to the Max

Other conditions that cumin may help control include:

Epilepsy. Researchers in the Middle East found that cumin suppressed convulsions in animals with chemically induced seizures.

Food poisoning. In India, researchers found that cumin was the most effective spice in blocking the action of the bacteria that cause food poisoning.

Tuberculosis. Cumin boosts the infection-fighting power of rifampicin, a antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis.

Cumin may help prevent and/or treat:

Cancer

Diabetes, type 2

Epilepsy

Food poisoning

Osteoporosis

Tuberculosis

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Cumin pairs well with these spices:

Ajowan

Allspice

Basil

Black pepper

Caraway

Chile

Cinnamon

Cocoa

Coriander

Fennel seed

Fenugreek seed

Garlic

Ginger

Mustard

Onion

Oregano

Pumpkin seed

Saffron

Tamarind

Turmeric

and complements recipes featuring:

Black beans

Chile con carne

Curries

Mexican food

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Tex-Mex dishes

Getting to Know Cumin

Like most popular spices, cumin has a world-historical pedigree. Ancient Greeks kept cumin on the dining table in its own box, just as they did with pepper. It was currency for the early Romans, who used it to pay taxes. (If only we could send a jar of cumin seeds to the IRS!)

Other recipes containing cumin:

Adobo

Alamelu’s Salt Substitute

Baharat

Black Pepper Rice with Almonds

By-the-Bay Fisherman’s Chowder

Caribbean Curry Paste

Chaat Masala

Cocoa Rub

Coconut Meatballs with Peanut Sauce

Colombo Powder

Dukkah

Garam Masala

Garbanzo Beans with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Grilled Lamb Patty Pockets with Cucumber Mint Sauce

Hot Curry Powder

Madras Curry Paste

Madras Curry Powder

Onion and Tomato Chutney

Panch Phoron

Potato Cauliflower Curry

Ras-el-hanout

Sambaar Masala

Spicy Hash Brown Potatoes

Vindaloo Curry Paste

Yucatan Pickled Red Onions

Today cumin is a staple in the kitchens of North Africa, western Asia, India, Greece, Turkey, and, of course, Mexico and Latin America. However, those countries south of the border didn’t use cumin until it was brought to the Americas by merchants from India.

India has appreciated cumin for millennia, for both its aroma and medicinal qualities. Cumin is one of the essential ingredients in curry powder and most curry spice mixes. It is also a key ingredient ingaram masala, the Indian basic spice mix. The whole seeds are used in the spice mixes chaat masala and panch phoron.

Cumin comes from a flowering plant that thrives in hot, arid lands.

In Mexico, cumin is used in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos, as well as other popular dishes. It is as essential as chili powder in making Mexican chili (and Texan chili con carne).

In the Caribbean, the seeds are a main ingredient in Colombo powder, a super-hot spice blend.

The Dutch make a cumin-flavored cheese. Cumin bread is a regional French specialty. In Spain, cumin is cleverly combined with cinnamon and saffron to flavor casseroles.

In Morocco it is used in couscous (cracked wheat steamed in spices) and is a main ingredient in ras-el-hanout, the famous Moroccan spice blend. Iranians use it to make pickles.

How to Buy Cumin Americans know cumin

Americans know cumin best as a dark powder that feels somewhat oily to the touch. However, cumin starts out as seeds, which is the way it is sold in Indian markets, where it is referred to as jeera. Indian as well as many Asian cuisines use the seeds whole.

Buying whole seeds is better than buying ground cumin, and both are available in most supermarkets. If you are cooking ethnic dishes, chances are you’ll need a jar of whole seeds. Once the seeds are ground the flavor starts to deteriorate. (If you’ve had a bottle of cumin for a year or more, throw it out. Ground cumin doesn’t retain its quality for more than a few months.)

All-American Chili con Carne

We call this all-American because it combines the best of this country’s chilies, from Texas, Arizona, and (believe it or not) Cincinnati, Ohio, which claims to have more chili parlors than anywhere else in the country. The secret ingredient in Cincinnati chili is the allspice. Make chili at least a few hours ahead and let the aromas meld. Reheat before serving.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

2½ pounds extra-lean ground beef or ground turkey

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano or other oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 twenty-eight-ounce can crushed tomatoes, chopped

½ cup red wine vinegar

3 cans red kidney beans

2 or more jalapeños, seeded and diced

½ cup Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

½ cup sour cream (optional)

½ cup diced onions or sliced scallions (optional)

1. In a large heavy-bottom casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook until soft but not brown. Stir in the garlic and cook one minute more.

2. Add the ground beef or turkey, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until just brown. Combine the chili powder, cumin, oregano, basil, allspice, cocoa, turmeric, salt, and pepper and add to the meat. Blend well and cook one minute.

3. Add the canned tomatoes, red wine vinegar, kidney beans, and jalapeños and stir. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Serve with the optional ingredients on the side.

Makes 8 servings.

Cumin seeds should be dry roasted before they’re ground, which will intensify the flavor. For instructions on how to dry roast see Roasting Spices.

Cumin seeds are yellowish-brown and oval shaped and somewhat resemble caraway seeds. If you can’t find the seeds in the supermarket, you can buy them in an Indian market or via the Internet. The“Buyer’s Guide” can help you find a retailer.

In the Kitchen with Cumin

Cumin is one of the most frequently used spices and is found in virtually every cuisine in the world. The reason: its versatility. Though the ground spice is quite pungent, keep in mind that it mellows when cooked.

Use cumin in stews and casseroles and any long-cooking food that requires liquid. It pairs well with other strong spices, especially chili powder. In fact, cumin can come in handy if you find a dish you are making is too strong or “off” the intended aroma. Adding a pinch of cumin will help even out the flavor. Here are some other ways to enjoy cumin:

• Make a glaze for roasted vegetables by combining ½ cup canola oil with ½ cup orange juice and 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

• Use it as a flavoring in cheese sauces.

• Sprinkle it in a cheese omelet.

• Add roasted seeds to marinades.

• Make a spice blend with ½ cumin and ½ chili powder.

• Use cumin to help spice up creamy dips.

• Add toasted seeds to lentils and rice pilaf.

Cumin: Keeping Diabetes Under Control – Protecting Bones

Cumin is a commoner. Sitting in the jar, it isn’t much to look at—just kind of brown and drab. It isn’t pleasant to touch—a little too oily. Its flavor won’t send your taste buds into orbit—it’s bitter and stale. And the aroma is akin to musty old pine.

But once it’s out of the jar and into the cooking pot, its transformation is akin to Cinderella’s, as the pungent and bitter smell mellows to a rich, nutty aroma that brings to mind the scent of a Mexican cantina. That’s because while chile gives Mexican food the fire, cumin gives the zest—it is the most popular spice in Mexican cuisine.

Cumin has a flavor unlike any other because it’s loaded with cuminaldehyde, a compound with medicinal qualities that are active as, well, Mexican jumping beans.

Fighting Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease of chronically high levels of blood sugar (glucose). And that flood of extra sugar damages blood vessels throughout the body, increasing the risk for heart disease and stroke (the cause of death in 75 percent of people with diabetes), blindness, and kidney disease. Cumin to the rescue . . .

In a study from India, scientists treated laboratory animals with type 2 diabetes with either cumin or glibenclamide (Diabeta), an antidiabetes drug. They found that both worked equally well to reduce levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, heart-damaging blood fats common in people with diabetes. The animals also had a “significant reduction” in blood sugar, lowered levels of A1C (the amount of glucose attached to red blood cells, a measure of long-term blood sugar levels), and lower levels of damaging fat and inflammation in the cells of the pancreas, the organ that manufacturs insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels.

Cumin “supplementation was found to be more effective than glibenclamide in the treatment of diabetes mellitus,” concluded the researchers in Pharmacological Research.

People with diabetes have a 60 percent higher risk of developing cataracts, a vision-clouding covering on the lens of the eye. In another animal study from India, researchers tested cumin against the eye disease. They found that feeding cumin powder to diabetic rats delayed the progression of cataracts—by preventing changes in the lens caused by high blood sugar. Dietary cumin “was able to delay the diabetes-caused cataract progression and maturation,” said the researchers.

Researchers at India’s National Institute of Nutrition found that cumin (along with cinnamon, black pepper, and green tea) can cut the formation of AGE, or advanced glycation endproducts, by 40 to 90 percent. AGE are toxic cellular time bombs that form when an overdose of glucose warps proteins. “The inhibition of the formation of AGE is believed to play a role in the prevention of diabetic complications,” wrote the researchers in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Will the Real Cumin Please Stand Up?

Cumin suffers from a bit of an identity crisis . . .

It’s not caraway. In Europe, its popularity has lost out to caraway seed—but caraway can’t stand in for cumin in dishes such as chili and curry.

It’s not black cumin. Cumin isn’t the same as (nor is it a substitute for) black cumin. Black cumin is English for the Indian spice kolonji. Black cumin seeds are jet black, and are sometimes called imperial cumin (because black cumin is somewhat pricey compared to cumin).

It’s not curcumin. Cumin has no relationship to curcumin, the principal ingredient in the spice turmeric.

Protecting Bones

Eating more soy protein or taking soy supplements is commonly suggested as a way to prevent, delay, or even reverse osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease that afflicts tens of millions of Americans. That’s because soy is a phytoestrogen, a plant compound that helps keep calcium in bones. Well, now researchers are looking at cumin as a possible bone-protector, because it’s also rich in phytoestrogens.

In a study from India, researchers tested the ability of cumin to stop bone loss in laboratory animals with induced osteoporosis. They found those given the spice had greater bone density than those who didn’t receive cumin. In fact, the spice’s “osteoprotective effect” was comparable to that of the hormone estradiol (Estrace), which was popular for the prevention of osteoporosis before researchers discovered it also increased the risk of heart disease and breast cancer.

The researchers’ remarkable conclusion: “Cumin can help postmenopausal women from losing their bone and seems to be a potential candidate for the development of new herbal approaches for osteoporosis treatment without any serious side effects.”

Combating Cancer

Cumin’s volatile oil and rich content of vitamins C and A make it a potent antioxidant—and a potential cancer-stopper. Animal studies have found that cumin:

• Prevented the formation of colon tumors in rats fed cancer-causing substances.

• Reduced the risk of cervical cancer by 82 percent compared to animals not receiving the spice.

• Significantly decreased the incidence of stomach and liver cancer.

Cumin to the Max

Other conditions that cumin may help control include:

Epilepsy. Researchers in the Middle East found that cumin suppressed convulsions in animals with chemically induced seizures.

Food poisoning. In India, researchers found that cumin was the most effective spice in blocking the action of the bacteria that cause food poisoning.

Tuberculosis. Cumin boosts the infection-fighting power of rifampicin, a antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis.

Cumin may help prevent and/or treat:

Cancer

Diabetes, type 2

Epilepsy

Food poisoning

Osteoporosis

Tuberculosis

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Cumin pairs well with these spices:

Ajowan

Allspice

Basil

Black pepper

Caraway

Chile

Cinnamon

Cocoa

Coriander

Fennel seed

Fenugreek seed

Garlic

Ginger

Mustard

Onion

Oregano

Pumpkin seed

Saffron

Tamarind

Turmeric

and complements recipes featuring:

Black beans

Chile con carne

Curries

Mexican food

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Tex-Mex dishes

Getting to Know Cumin

Like most popular spices, cumin has a world-historical pedigree. Ancient Greeks kept cumin on the dining table in its own box, just as they did with pepper. It was currency for the early Romans, who used it to pay taxes. (If only we could send a jar of cumin seeds to the IRS!)

Other recipes containing cumin:

Adobo

Alamelu’s Salt Substitute

Baharat

Black Pepper Rice with Almonds

By-the-Bay Fisherman’s Chowder

Caribbean Curry Paste

Chaat Masala

Cocoa Rub

Coconut Meatballs with Peanut Sauce

Colombo Powder

Dukkah

Garam Masala

Garbanzo Beans with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Grilled Lamb Patty Pockets with Cucumber Mint Sauce

Hot Curry Powder

Madras Curry Paste

Madras Curry Powder

Onion and Tomato Chutney

Panch Phoron

Potato Cauliflower Curry

Ras-el-hanout

Sambaar Masala

Spicy Hash Brown Potatoes

Vindaloo Curry Paste

Yucatan Pickled Red Onions

Today cumin is a staple in the kitchens of North Africa, western Asia, India, Greece, Turkey, and, of course, Mexico and Latin America. However, those countries south of the border didn’t use cumin until it was brought to the Americas by merchants from India.

India has appreciated cumin for millennia, for both its aroma and medicinal qualities. Cumin is one of the essential ingredients in curry powder and most curry spice mixes. It is also a key ingredient ingaram masala, the Indian basic spice mix. The whole seeds are used in the spice mixes chaat masala and panch phoron.

Cumin comes from a flowering plant that thrives in hot, arid lands.

In Mexico, cumin is used in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos, as well as other popular dishes. It is as essential as chili powder in making Mexican chili (and Texan chili con carne).

In the Caribbean, the seeds are a main ingredient in Colombo powder, a super-hot spice blend.

The Dutch make a cumin-flavored cheese. Cumin bread is a regional French specialty. In Spain, cumin is cleverly combined with cinnamon and saffron to flavor casseroles.

In Morocco it is used in couscous (cracked wheat steamed in spices) and is a main ingredient in ras-el-hanout, the famous Moroccan spice blend. Iranians use it to make pickles.

How to Buy Cumin Americans know cumin

Americans know cumin best as a dark powder that feels somewhat oily to the touch. However, cumin starts out as seeds, which is the way it is sold in Indian markets, where it is referred to as jeera. Indian as well as many Asian cuisines use the seeds whole.

Buying whole seeds is better than buying ground cumin, and both are available in most supermarkets. If you are cooking ethnic dishes, chances are you’ll need a jar of whole seeds. Once the seeds are ground the flavor starts to deteriorate. (If you’ve had a bottle of cumin for a year or more, throw it out. Ground cumin doesn’t retain its quality for more than a few months.)

All-American Chili con Carne

We call this all-American because it combines the best of this country’s chilies, from Texas, Arizona, and (believe it or not) Cincinnati, Ohio, which claims to have more chili parlors than anywhere else in the country. The secret ingredient in Cincinnati chili is the allspice. Make chili at least a few hours ahead and let the aromas meld. Reheat before serving.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

2½ pounds extra-lean ground beef or ground turkey

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano or other oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 twenty-eight-ounce can crushed tomatoes, chopped

½ cup red wine vinegar

3 cans red kidney beans

2 or more jalapeños, seeded and diced

½ cup Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

½ cup sour cream (optional)

½ cup diced onions or sliced scallions (optional)

1. In a large heavy-bottom casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook until soft but not brown. Stir in the garlic and cook one minute more.

2. Add the ground beef or turkey, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until just brown. Combine the chili powder, cumin, oregano, basil, allspice, cocoa, turmeric, salt, and pepper and add to the meat. Blend well and cook one minute.

3. Add the canned tomatoes, red wine vinegar, kidney beans, and jalapeños and stir. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Serve with the optional ingredients on the side.

Makes 8 servings.

Cumin seeds should be dry roasted before they’re ground, which will intensify the flavor. For instructions on how to dry roast see Roasting Spices.

Cumin seeds are yellowish-brown and oval shaped and somewhat resemble caraway seeds. If you can’t find the seeds in the supermarket, you can buy them in an Indian market or via the Internet. The“Buyer’s Guide” can help you find a retailer.

In the Kitchen with Cumin

Cumin is one of the most frequently used spices and is found in virtually every cuisine in the world. The reason: its versatility. Though the ground spice is quite pungent, keep in mind that it mellows when cooked.

Use cumin in stews and casseroles and any long-cooking food that requires liquid. It pairs well with other strong spices, especially chili powder. In fact, cumin can come in handy if you find a dish you are making is too strong or “off” the intended aroma. Adding a pinch of cumin will help even out the flavor. Here are some other ways to enjoy cumin:

• Make a glaze for roasted vegetables by combining ½ cup canola oil with ½ cup orange juice and 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

• Use it as a flavoring in cheese sauces.

• Sprinkle it in a cheese omelet.

• Add roasted seeds to marinades.

• Make a spice blend with ½ cumin and ½ chili powder.

• Use cumin to help spice up creamy dips.

• Add toasted seeds to lentils and rice pilaf.

Fenugreek seed Defeating Diabetes – Glucose Control

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.

___________________________________

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 Kulambu

Kulambu 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.

Almond: Heart Guard – High-Fat Weight Control

Almond—a spice? You bet!

Though we think of almond as a nut, it’s really a seed from the fruit of the almond tree. And, by definition, a dried seed is a spice. Its spicy nature is why almond imparts so much flavor to an array of sweet and savory dishes. It’s also why almond has such a storied history as a traditional medicine. So let’s rescue almond from the nuthouse (so to speak) and bring it home to the spice cabinet, where it belongs.

As a spice, almond is unique in several ways. Where most spices are virtually calorie-free, almonds are calorie-crowded—one ounce (about 20 almonds) contains 150 to 200 calories. And 78 percent of those calories are from fat. But never fear—most of that fat is in the form of “good” monounsaturated fatty acids, which (as you’ll see in a moment) research links to a healthier heart. (And even to weight control.)

Almonds also contain other heart-helping nutritional factors. Just one ounce of almonds supply 50 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, a nutrient long touted for aiding circulation. The same ounce provides 25 percent of the DV for magnesium, a heart-calming mineral. The spice is also rich in folate (a B-vitamin linked to lower levels of heart disease), in plant sterols (natural compounds that have a similar composition to cholesterol, helping block its absorption), and in fiber (also linked to lower cholesterol).

Let’s look more closely at why almond is one of your heart’s best friends . . .

Be a Mono-Maniac—About the Health of Your Heart

Want to eat a meal that contains the top six nutritional heart protectors? Dine on a serving of fish flavored with garlic and topped with slivered almonds. Don’t forget a side or two of vegetables. Drink a glass of red wine with the meal. And for dessert, munch on an apple and a small piece of dark chocolate. Yes, say British researchers (who used statistical evidence from the scientific literature on heart disease to dish up this heart-protecting meal), eating these foods every day would reduce the worldwide rate of “cardiovascular events” such as angina, heart attacks, and stroke by 76 percent and extend life by an average of 6.6 years.

“We selected these foods because each possesses a substance that benefits the heart in a special way,” said lead researcher Oscar H. Franco, MD, of the University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Almond was chosen because two ounces supply the day’s requirement of heart-protecting monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Statistically, almond accounted for about 12 percent of the total calculated reduction in heart disease and increase in longevity.

Other findings about almonds and the heart:

Lower cholesterol. A team of world-class nutritional researchers at the University of Toronto tested almonds to see if they could help the hearts of 27 people with high cholesterol. After one month of eating one ounce of almonds a day (about a handful), heart-clogging LDL cholesterol fell by 4.4 percent. Eating 2.5 ounces a day lowered LDL by 9.4 percent. The ratio of “bad” LDL to “good” HDL cholesterol also improved. And almonds decreased the oxidation of LDL, one of the first steps in turning dietary cholesterol into artery-clogging blockages.

What accounted for the improvement in the cholesterol profile? The high levels of MUFA, said the researchers. They point out that years of studies show MUFA can increase artery-clearing HDL, improve LDL/HDL ratios, and lower LDL—thereby significantly decreasing the risk of heart disease. And when you’re consuming more MUFA from almonds, said the researchers, you’re also consuming less saturated fat from meat and dairy—and saturated fat is a known risk factor for heart disease.

“Almonds . . . reduce lipid [blood fat] risk factors for coronary heart disease,” conclude the researchers in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. They recommend them for “inclusion in lipid-lowering diets.”

Lower C-reactive protein. C-reactive protein is a biomarker of chronic, low-grade inflammation—and the most up-to-date thinking points to artery-damaging inflammation as the process behind the epidemic of heart disease (and many other chronic diseases). The University of Toronto researchers teamed almonds up with several other nutritional components in an approach they call a “Dietary Portfolio” (an analogy to an intelligently varied investment portfolio). The foods—almonds, plant sterols from a heart-healthy brand of margarine, soy protein from soy foods such as tofu, soluble fiber such as that found in oatmeal—lowered high levels of C-reactive protein by 23.8 percent. That was more than a statin drug, which research shows can also lower the inflammatory biomarker.

Lower blood pressure. In a similar study of the Dietary Portfolio—this time on 50 people with high blood pressure—eating almonds and the other foods for one year lowered systolic blood pressure (the upper measurement in the blood pressure reading) by 4.2 points and diastolic blood pressure (the lower measurement) by 2.3 points. The researchers then analyzed the diets of the study participants to find out which of the Portfolio foods they actually ate and didn’t eat over the course of the year—and discovered that “only compliance with almond intake . . . related to blood pressure reduction.” In other words, it was the almonds that made the difference, not the plant sterols, the soy, or the soluble fiber. The study was reported in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

EATING ALMONDS CAN LOWER HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE.

Almonds lower high blood pressure and increase HDL. And high blood pressure and low HDL are two factors in a condition called the “metabolic syndrome”—which also includes high blood sugar, excess stomach fat, and high triglycerides (a blood fat). Having all or most of these risk factors increases your risk of death from a heart attack or stroke by 74 percent. And metabolic syndrome also is a setup for type 2 diabetes—which itself increases the risk of heart disease six- to seven-fold! Almonds to the rescue . . .

Mastering the Metabolic Syndrome

Researchers at the City of Hope National Medical Center in California conducted a study on weight loss that also measured the parameters of the metabolic syndrome. Sixty-five overweight people were put on a low-calorie diet formula and about 2.5 ounces a day of almonds. Another group used the formula and ate foods equal to the almonds in calories and protein. After six months, those on the almonds lost 62 percent more total weight, lost 50 percent more belly fat, had 56 percent less body fat, and had an 11 point drop in systolic blood pressure (compared to no change in the no-almond group). The almond group also had an increase in HDL (again, no change in the no-almonds). Of those in the study who already had diagnosed diabetes, 96 percent of those eating almonds reduced their diabetes medications, compared to 50 percent of the no-almonds. Both the almond and no-almond group had positive changes in levels of blood sugar, insulin (the hormone that controls blood sugar), total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and LDL/HDL ratio.

“An almond-enriched low-calorie diet improves a preponderance of the abnormalities associated with the metabolic syndrome,” concluded the researchers in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders.

High-Fat Weight Control

Almonds aren’t shy about calories. A handful supplies 150 to 200. Snack on a handful of almonds twice a day, and you’re taking in 400 calories—maybe 20 percent of your total intake! But here’s the big surprise in the little almond: studies show that people who eat more almonds are much less likely to gain weight!

Researchers in Spain analyzed two years of health data in nearly 9,000 people and found that those who ate almonds at least twice a week were 31 percent less likely to gain weight than those who didn’t.

Scottish researchers found that adding almonds to the diet for 10 weeks didn’t cause weight gain—because people started to eat less of other foods. You can eat heart-healthy almonds without risk of putting on the pounds, they concluded.

Scientists in the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University in Indiana took a close look at the effect of eating almonds, asking a group of 13 healthy volunteers to chew a mouthful of about 10 almonds either 10, 25, or 45 times. Chowing down on the almonds “acutely suppressed” hunger, the researchers note in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It also “elevated fullness”—the feeling of satisfaction after eating. The ideal amount of chewing for those benefits: 25 times per mouthful (10 was too few, and 45 was too much).

In addition to controlling your weight, eating almonds will simply make you healthier. In a study reported in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers followed the eating patterns of 81 people. After six months, they were told to keep eating as usual—but add two ounces of almonds a day, an additional 220 calories and 16 grams of fat.

The outcome? Well, they ate the almonds, but they ended up eating less calories and less fat than they were eating before adding almonds. They also ate less sodium, less dietary cholesterol, less trans fats, and less sugar.

Getting to Know Almond

Washington D.C. is famous for apple blossoms—and Majorca for almond blossoms. From January through early March, Spain’s largest island is covered in a carpet of geranium-pink flowers from four million almond trees.

Almond is not native to Spain, however, but to western Asia and North Africa. Ancient Egyptians believed the almond had medicinal powers, and they used it to treat everything from colds to cancer. India’s traditional Ayurvedic physicians used almond to treat digestive, skin, and dental problems. They also ground it into a paste and mixed it with porridge to help patients pass kidney stones.

The lush, beautiful
almond tree grows in
warm, temperate climates.

Almond may help prevent and/or treat:

Cholesterol problems (high total cholesterol, high “bad” LDL cholesterol, low “good” HDL cholesterol)

Diabetes, type 2

Heart disease

High blood pressure (hypertension)

Insulin resistance (prediabetes)

Metabolic syndrome

Overweight

Stroke

Triglycerides, high

Today, Majorca is reputed to produce the world’s tastiest almonds—and Spanish cuisine has the world’s largest collection of almond recipes, ranging from the savory (including soups and sauces) to the sweet (including confections, biscuits, and a variety of desserts). Almond is the basis for Catalonia’s famous romescu sauce, a puree that also includes tomatoes, garlic, and red chiles.

The Germans make lavish use of almond. Lübock in the north is world famous for its marzipan, a sugary almond paste that is an ingredient in many cake fillings and confections.

Italians use almond in their universally popular liqueur amaretto. In France, there’s the almond syrup orgeat, an emulsion of almond, sugar, and water that is used to flavor a mai tai and other cocktails.

In the US, almonds are most popular for making sweets, including butter pastries, cakes, and pralines.

In India, almonds are popular in savory dishes, accenting rice dishes, curries, and vegetable dishes.

In the Middle East, chefs grind almonds into flour, which they use as a thickener for stews, soups, and gravies.

How to Buy Almond

The almond tree—a lush, beautiful weather-sensitive tree that grows only in warm, temperate climates, such as Spain, Italy, and California—produces the familiar almond: a shell-covered oval seed with off-white flesh covered by thin, brown, leathery skin. Once picked, you can buy almonds in a variety of ways—in the shell, shelled and whole, natural, blanched, with or without their skins, dry roasted, sliced, slivered, diced, and as a paste, powder, butter, oil, or extract.

The freshest almonds are still in the shell. Look for unshelled almonds that aren’t split, moldy, or stained. If you buy shelled almonds, get them in sealed bags rather than from open bins, which expose them to air and humidity, dissipating freshness. If buying from bins, look for almonds that are plump and uniform in color. And smell them: they should smell sweet and nutty. If the smell is bitter and sharp, they’re rancid—the fat in the almond has spoiled.

When purchasing dry roasted almonds, opt for those with no additives or preservatives.

The more intact the almond, the longer the shelf life. Almonds in the shell stay fresh longer than shelled almonds in the skin, which stay fresh longer than skinned almonds, which stay fresh longer than skinned and slivered . . .

As with all spices, keep almond in an airtight container away from excessive heat and direct light. (The cooler the temperature, the longer they’ll keep.) You can refrigerate almonds, where they’ll stay fresh for several months. They keep in the freezer for about a year.

You can find almonds in all their forms in most markets, specialty stores, Indian and Asian stores, and online. The best almonds come from Spain (Majorca), Italy, and California.

You’ll find purveyors of almonds by place of origin in the “Buyer’s Guide”.

Almonds come in two varieties: sweet and bitter. Bitter almonds aren’t for sale because they’re poisonous. (They’re loaded with cyanide, among other toxic compounds.) However, bitter almonds are used to make almond oil, with the poisonous compounds extracted in the oil-making process.

Almond pairs well with these spices:

Ajowan

Allspice

Anise

Chile

Cinnamon

Cocoa

Coconut

Garlic

Mint

Nutmeg

Sun-dried

tomato

Vanilla

Wasabi

and complements recipes featuring:

Casseroles

Chicken

Cookies

Curries

Green beans

Lamb

Pudding

Salads

___________________________________

Other recipes containing almond:

Black Pepper Rice with Almonds

Garbanzo Beans with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

Los Banos Low-Fat Brownies

Sage Sausage and

Apricot Stuffing

Wasabi Orange Chicken with Toasted Almonds

In the Kitchen with Almond

Almond’s sweet, buttery taste makes it a natural for almost any sweet or savory dish. Almonds are easy to grind in a spice mill. Give the grinder a few quick pulses until you get the size of crushed nuts desired. (If you let the grinder run, you’ll end up with almond butter.)

Raw almonds should be blanched or roasted before using.

You can remove almond skins by blanching the almonds in boiling water until you see that the skins are starting to swell. Rinse under cold water. The skins should come off easily when you pinch the flesh.

Prawns with Almond Hot Pepper Sauce

This seafood dish is made with romescu sauce, a signature dish from Spain’s Catalonia region. It is traditionally served with grilled seafood. If you have leftover sauce, serve it warmed over penne.

To prepare the shrimp:

2 pounds jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon coarsely ground sea salt

To make the sauce:

cup blanched, slivered almonds

1 large ripe tomato, seeded

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 dried red chiles, seeded

½ teaspoon ground red chile (cayenne)

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Combine the shrimp, the 3 tablespoons of olive oil, pepper, and salt in one layer in a baking dish and set aside while making the sauce.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the almonds in one layer on the foil and bake for 10 minutes or until the almonds color lightly. Cool. Pulverize the almonds in a spice grinder with a few quick turns.

3. Put the tomato, garlic, red chiles, and vinegar in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the almonds and blend with a few quick turns. With the processor running slowly add the 1 cup of olive oil through the feed tube.

4. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Put the shrimp in the oven and roast for 10 minutes or until they turn pink and are firm.

5. Serve the shrimp on a bed of hot rice and spoon the sauce, room temperature, over the shrimp. You can also lightly heat the sauce and serve it tepid. Just continually stir the sauce as it heats so it does not separate. You can also serve the sauce chilled in place of traditional cocktail sauce to go with cold, peeled shrimp.

Serves 8 as a first course or 4 as an entree.

To roast almonds, put them on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes. Slivered and sliced almonds should be baked about half that time.

To put more almonds in your diet, eat a handful at least five times a week as a snack. Here are other ways to increase almond intake:

• Churn almonds into butter by putting almonds in a spice grinder and letting it run. Eat it with a sliced apple.

• Spread almond nut butter instead of peanut butter or cream cheese on your morning bagel.

• Add a new twist to your kids’ PB&J by substituting almond for peanut butter. (They may not even notice the difference.)

• Add slivered or sliced toasted almonds to cereal, yogurt, salads, and sandwiches.

• Make almonds into a cocktail snack by mixing 1 cup of unblanched almonds with 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 teaspoons of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of salt, and an egg white. Toast in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.

• Add sliced almonds to chicken or tuna salad.

• Add a drop of almond extract to sweets containing almond.

• Add a few drops of almond extract to whipped cream.

The use of cereal beta-glucans to control diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Kestin et al. (1990) compared three different cereal brans (wheat, rice, oats) in mildly hypercholesterolaemic men. The bran was incorporated in bread and muffins and was given to the subjects for four weeks in a crossover design. In comparison with wheat and rice bran, oat bran significantly reduced the plasma cholesterol concentration with 5.6 and 3.8 per cent, respectively. The main difference between the test products was that oat bran contained twice as much water-soluble fibres as rice and wheat bran.

The dose±response effect of oat bran and oatmeal was studied in hyper­cholesterolaemic subjects by Davidson et al. (1991). The oatmeal or oat bran were given in doses of 28, 56 and 84 g/day for six weeks. Oat bran in doses of 56 and 84 g and oat meal in a dose of 84 g significantly reduced the total and LDL-cholesterol concentration compared with a control group given 28 g farina. The higher efficiency of the oat bran is probably due to its higher beta­glucan content. The conclusion that beta-glucans is the active component was further confirmed in a study by Braaten et al. (1994a). They gave a purified preparation containing 80 per cent beta-glucans mixed in a beverage to hypercholesterolaemic participants for 4 weeks. The preparation significantly reduced the total and LDL-cholesterol levels without changing HDL­cholesterol in comparison with a maltodextrin placebo drink. In this study blood samples were taken each week and it was thus possible to follow the hypocholesterolaemic effects developed in more detail.

When the participants took the beverage containing beta-glucan, the LDL-cholesterol level was reduced almost linearly during 4 weeks, and when the intake was stopped, the LDL-cholesterol level went back to the baseline value in 2 weeks. Other, longer, studies have indicated that the cholesterol-lowering effects of an intake of beta-glucans can diminish with time (Uusitupa et al. 1992). In this study there were significant cholesterol-lowering effects after 4 weeks but not after 8 weeks. Oat bran can also alter the postprandial effects after a meal in normolipidaemic humans (Dubois et al. 1995). The oat bran was added to a test meal when the subjects have been on a low-fibre diet or a diet supplemented with oat bran (40 g/day) for 2 weeks. No change in fasting blood lipid values or plasma insulin was observed after the 2-week oat bran period compared with the low-fibre period. Adding oat bran to the test meal markedly reduced the postprandial insulin rise. The postprandial effects were enhanced after 14 days of oat bran feeding and increased plasma phospholipids, increased plasma and HDL-free cholesterol, decreased plasma and HDL-cholesterol esters, were observed.

Some studies did not show significant effects on the blood cholesterol levels when oats was consumed. An oat bran concentrate was baked into a bread, one roll containing 11.2 g beta-glucan (ToÈrroÈnen et al. 1992). The bread was consumed for 8 weeks by 13 men with mild to moderate hypercholesterolaemia. Another group of 15 men instead took a control product (wheat bread). No significant blood cholesterol-lowering effect was observed even if the cholesterol level for the oat group was reduced from 6.30 to 6.05 mmol/L after 4 weeks of consumption. The authors conclude that the insignificant effect could be due to a poor solubility of the beta-glucan preparation, enzymatic hydrolysis after ingestion and thus a low viscosity in the intestine. The number of subjects in the study was also rather low which could have contributed to the insignificant result. Another study on healthy young men for 2 weeks did not detect any cholesterol-lowering effects of an oat beta-glucan concentrate (9 g beta-glucan/day) with a peak molecular weight of 1000 000 (Beer et al. 1995).

The authors point out that to be able to estimate the physiological effects of the beta-glucans not only the content but also the solubility and the viscosity should be measured. Fourteen days may also be too short a time to detect any significant effects of the beta-glucan diet. In another study the cholesterol lowering effect of 3 g oat beta-glucan/ day, the level prescribed as the minimum in the FDA health claim, was investigated (Lovegrove et al. 2000). The study had a parallel design and as a control wheat bran was used. The subjects were asked to eat the supplement together with low-fat yoghurt or low fat milk each day for 8 weeks. The beta­glucan diet did not reduce total or LDL-cholesterol, despite having a high viscosity.

There are thus conflicting results concerning the hypolipidaemic effects of beta-glucans but most of the studies with a good design indicate that oats have a cholesterol-lowering effect. This was confirmed by Ripsin et al. (1992) who made a meta-analysis to estimate the effect of soluble fibre from oats on the blood cholesterol levels. They included studies that had different designs (parallel, crossover), intervention times (2.5±12 weeks), background diets (usual, American Heart Association step 1 diet (AHA-1), low fibre, low fat), study subjects (sex, age, cholesterol levels), selection of control product (low fibre, wheat bran) and soluble fibre dose (1.1±7.6g/day). When 12 well-designed studies were included in the meta-analysis, the soluble oat fibre reduced the blood cholesterol with 0.13 mmol/L, a modest reduction. The reduction was larger if the subjects had higher blood cholesterol values (>5.9 mmol/L) and if the dose was over 3 g/day.

A later meta-analysis (Brown et al. 1999) concluded that soluble fibre is associated with a small but significant decrease in total cholesterol (-0.045 mmol/L/g) and LDL-cholesterol (-0.057 mmol/L/g). The effects of soluble fibre from oats, psyllium or pectin were not significantly different.

To be able to document the relatively small cholesterol-reducing effects of beta-glucan containing functional foods it is important to use an appropriate study design. It is also important to check that the beta-glucans are soluble. In a recent study (Lia Amundsen et al. 2003), an oat bran concentrate were added to food products such as bread, teacake, muesli, muffins, macaroni, pasta and apple drink. The authors also checked how much of the beta-glucans that were soluble with the method of Aman and Graham (1987). It was found that the solubility of the beta-glucans in the products was surprisingly low (50 per cent) but the daily dose of soluble beta-glucans consumed by hypercholesterolaemic subjects (2.7 g) was still high enough to decrease the blood cholesterol levels significantly compared with a control diet.

Tables below summarise clinical studies on hypercholesterolaemic subjects given oats. The reduction in blood lipids are compared with a control group given no oat supplement, wheat bran, wheat, rice, maltodextrins, farina or corn flakes. For some of the studies the oat supplement was consumed for 8 weeks but to make a more similar comparison a study length of 4 weeks was selected. There are large variations in the type of oats (oat bran concentrate, oat bran, oats), the preparation (hot, cold, cereal, beverage, bread, cookies) and in the daily doses (2.2±13.4 g soluble fibre or beta-glucan) in the studies. However, all studies except one seems to reduce the total and LDL-cholesterol level in comparison with the control group. The reduction in total cholesterol varied between 0 and 12.6 per cent and for LDL-cholesterol between 0 and 16.5 per cent. The effect on the HDL­cholesterol and triglyceride levels was more variable. No clear correlation between the dose of beta-glucan/soluble fibre and the reduction in blood lipid values was found. Also it is difficult to conclude which preparation that is the most efficient one. In a study by Kerckhoffs et al. (2003) a larger reduction of the cholesterol values was observed when the oat bran was mixed in a juice compared with when it was incorporated in bread and cookies.

Only few studies so far have investigated the effects of an intake of barley on the lipid metabolism in humans. There are somewhat more animal studies in this area. In a study in hamsters, barley were given in doses of 0, 25, 50 and 75 per cent of the diet and it was shown that barley lowered the total cholesterol concentration but no dose±response was found (Ranhotra et al. 1998). The cholesterol-lowering effects of beta-glucan fractions from barley and oats were also compared in hamsters (Delaney et al. 2003). The cereals were given in three doses; 2, 4 and 8 g/100 g diet. The diets gave a clear dose-dependent decrease in the total cholesterol level but no differences in the cholesterol-lowering effects between barley and oats were observed. Chicken has also been fed beta-glucans from barley and the effect on the blood cholesterol concentration was followed (Fadel et al. 1987). A non-waxy (Franubet) and a waxy (Washonupana) starch genotype was compared and it was shown that only the waxy genotype had an effect on the blood cholesterol. This was probably due to the waxy genotype having a higher viscosity when mixed with water, a greater average degree of polymerisation and a lower endogenous beta-glucanase activity (Bengtsson et al. 1990).

Blood lipid values in the end of the diet period indifferent clinical studies on hypercholesterolaemic subjects given oats. The study with the largest total blood cholesterol-lowering effect in comparison with the control group is listed first1

In a human study, McIntosh et al. (1991) investigated the cholesterol-lowering effects of barley bran and barley flakes using a 4-week crossover design. The bran and the flakes were incorporated in different foods: bread, muesli, spaghetti and biscuits. Wholewheat flour was substituted for barley in the control products. The intake of beta-glucan was about 8 g/day in the barley period and 1.5 g/day in the wheat period. Consumption of barley led to a significant fall in total (6 per cent) and LDL-cholesterol (7 per cent) compared to the wheat diet. It was also shown by Lupton et al. (1994) that barley bran flour enhanced the cholesterol-lowering effect of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) step 1 diet in individuals with hypercholesterolaemia. In another study barley was cooked with rice (50/50) and consumed by people with normal or increased lipid levels (Ikegami et al. 1996). In the participants with normal lipid levels no effects on the cholesterol level was seen when barley was included in the diet, while for those with hypercholesterolaemia the total and LDL-cholesterol levels were decreased significantly. In a recent study no significant effects on the total and LDL-cholesterol levels were observed in a group of mildly hypercholesterolaemic men that were given 8.1±11.9 g barley beta-glucans/day (Keogh et al. 2003). More human studies are needed to confirm if beta-glucans from barley have similar cholesterol-lowering properties to oat beta-glucans.

The main biomarkers for the efficiency of a food to control diabetes are measurement of blood glucose and insulin after a standardised meal (glycaemic index, GI, postprandial effects) or the fasting glucose, insulin or HbA1c levels (long-term effects). Both metabolic and epidemiological evidence suggests that replacing high-GI forms of carbohydrates with low-GI forms of carbohydrates will reduce the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes (Willett et al. 2002).

Granfeldt et al. (1995) investigated the postprandial effect of two oat products, flaked oats (muesli) and boiled oat flakes (oat porridge) in healthy subjects. Both these products had a similar GI as white bread, while intact boiled oat kernels tested at the same time gave lower glucose and insulin responses. The same is also valid for barley that consumed as porridge gave a similar postprandial response as white bread in healthy subjects (Liljeberg et al. 1996). A porridge with a high fibre barley genotype gave however a lower glycaemic and insulin response. Other studies (van der Sluijs et al. 1999) also showed that if a more concentrated oat extract (Oatrim) is consumed in a cooked, boiled or baked form, it lowers the glucose and insulin responses. This effect of more concentrated forms of oats (oat bran and oat gum) seems to be valid both for people with type 2 diabetes and for healthy people (Braaten et al. 1994b). Tappy et al. (1996) gave diabetic subjects a cooked extruded oat bran concentrate for breakfast in different doses (4.0, 6.0, 8.4 g beta-glucan). The maximum increase in plasma glucose for the oat bran meals were 67, 42 and 38 per cent compared with a continental breakfast (35 g available carbohydrates).

Battilana et al. (2001) have studied the mechanism of action of beta-glucans on postprandial glucose metabolism. Healthy men were given a diet with (8.9 g/ day) or without beta-glucans for 3 days. On the third day the diet was administered as fractionated meals ingested every hour for 9 hours. In this way it was possible to study effects on the metabolism that were unrelated to a delayed carbohydrate absorption, for example fermentation effects. However, the glucose metabolism (glucose and insulin concentrations) was similar for the diet with or without beta-glucans. Thus, the main effect of the beta-glucans seems to be a delayed intestinal absorption of carbohydrates.

Wood et al. (1994, 2000) suggested that the reductions in glucose and insulin responses after a meal are mainly due to the viscosity of oats. They studied mixtures of oat beta-glucans with different viscosity and there was a highly significant linear relationship between the viscosity and the glucose and insulin responses. This can be explained by a delay in the carbohydrate absorption due to the high viscosity. Wuzrsch and Pi-Sunyer (1997) have in a review concluded that a concentration of 10 per cent beta-glucan in a cereal food gives a 50 per cent reduction in the postprandial glucose peak.

The effect on the glucose metabolism of a long-term intake of oat beta­glucans has also been investigated. An intake of oat beta-glucans (3 g in muesli) taken for breakfast for 4 weeks in men with type 2 diabetes led to a decreased cholesterol level and lower postprandial glucose peaks but no effects on the fasting plasma glucose, insulin and HbA1c were observed (Kabir et al. 2002). The intervention period of 4 weeks may be too short to detect a change in the glucose metabolism in the fasted state. In a longer 12±week pilot study, a bread containing an oat bran concentrate (9 g soluble fibre/day) improved the postprandial glucose metabolism in partcipants via type 2 diabetes (Pick et al. 1996).

Cereals rich in beta-glucans may be a useful nutritional tool to control the metabolic disorders hyperlipidaemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. One problem, however, is that such products may be unacceptable to many consumers. This can be improved by offering a wider range of foods enriched in beta-glucans. This is the goal for an ongoing EU-funded project coordinated by the author Gunilla Onning `Design of foods with improved functionality and superior health effects using cereal beta-glucans (QLR1±2000±00535)’. In the project beta-glucans are isolated and incorporated in different foods that normally do not contain cereals, such as ready-meals. The sensory and functional properties are followed carefully in the designing of the new, food enriched with beta-glucan. This and other projects will lead to enhanced possibilities for the consumer to select from a wider range of beta-glucan containing foods in the future.

The main part of the studies on the health effects of beta-glucans has been devoted to their effects on glucose and lipid metabolism. In the future other physiological aspects will certainly attract increased attention. An interesting area is, for example, the importance for gut health of the beta-glucans. To reach a deeper understanding of the health effects of beta-glucans, newly developed nutrigenomic techniques can be used. From a nutrigenomic perspective, nutrients are dietary signals that are detected by the cellular sensor systems that influence gene and protein expression and, subsequently, the production of metabolites. It is known that nutrients can be potent dietary signals that influence the metabolic programming of cells and thus have an important role in the control of homeostasis (MuÈller & Kersten 2003). Transcription factors are probably the main agents through which nutrients influence the gene expression. For example, dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids potently repress the hepatic expression of several genes involved in fatty acid synthesis by binding to the receptor family of PPARs (Kersten et al. 2000). By using nutrigenomics it is possible to measure the response of thousands of actively transcribing genes in a cell.

So far, only a few human trials in the nutrigenomic area have been done. In a study by Vidon et al. (2001), a high-carbohydrate diet and a high-fat diet gave the same mRNA concentration for the LDL receptor in blood lymphocytes. Other studies have analysed the gene expression profile and investigated the effect of diabetes (Sreekumar et al. 2002; Maier & Olek 2002) and the function of short-chain fatty acids in the colon (Mariadason et al. 2000).

1986) and Oat Bran (Wood 1993). The first book is very comprehensive and gives a good review of oats chemistry, usage, and nutritional value including health aspects and one post on oat beta-glucans. Oat Bran focuses on the dietary fibre components, including the beta-glucans. Later, another book on oats was published: The Oat Crop: Product and utilization (Welsch 1995), including chapters presenting the botany, production, processing and food uses of oats. The AACC has also published one corresponding book on barley entitled Barley: Chemistry and Technology (MacGregor and Bhatty 1993). The book covers aspects such as the use of barley in malting, feed and as a human food.

There are also several recent review articles in this area. Mazlkki has written a chapter in the Handbook of Dietary Fibre (2001) with the title `Oat fibers: production, composition, physico-chemical properties, physiological effects, safety and food applications’. Wood and Beer have written a chapter about `Functional oat products’ included in Functional Foods. Biochemical & processing (1998). A review of the role of viscous soluble fibre in the metabolic control of diabetes with special emphasis on cereals rich in beta­glucans has been published by Wuzrsch and Pi-Sunyer (1997). A more recent review on the influcence of beta-glucans on the human serum lipoproteins has been made by Kerckhoffs et al. (2002). This article also reviews the effect of other dietary components such as soy protein, plant sterols and isoflavones.