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Complementary and Alternative Medicine
November 25, 2024
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Potential Health Benefits of Fenugreek Leaves

Asma Abdul Latif, Shafaq Fatima, Mahnoor Pervaiz & Maira Munir

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SUMMARY

Methi or fenugreek leaves are the leafy parts of the fenugreek plant and are known for their unique, slightly bitter taste. Fenugreek is a crop that originated in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia, such as Turkey, Egypt, and India. Its leaves are used in traditional medicine, and its seeds are used to flavor food. Fenugreek leaves are rich in important vitamins and minerals that have a major positive impact on health. Fenugreek is a natural food additive and traditional medicine and has been demonstrated to have strong antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties. This chapter discussesthe potential health benefits of fenugreek. Significant ingredients of fenugreek include iron for oxygen transport, calcium and magnesium for strong bones, and vitamin C for immune support. In addition, the leaves contain advantageous phytochemicals that may be good for your health, such as modified amino acids, flavonoids, and alkaloids. Fenugreek leaves benefits include bettering respiratory health, digestion, and even lactation support for nursing moms. Fenugreek leaves are an essential ingredient in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking, giving food taste and nutrients. Herbal preparations that harness their therapeutic benefits include teas and extracts. However, fenugreek leaves can upset some people’s stomachs, trigger allergic reactions, or result in hypoglycemia.

INTRODUCTION

enugreek leaves (Trigonella foenum-graecum), also known as methi leaves (Urdu), are the foliage of the fenugreek plant, a member of the Fabaceae family
(Toppo et al., 2009). The plant leaves are used fresh or dried to add a distinctive, slightly bitter flavor to dishes, yet this
distinctive flavor finds its essence in Italian cuisine. Fenugreek is an annual plant that propagates through seeds. The taste and
smell of fenugreek resemble those of burnt sugar. The bitter taste of fenugreek reduces when it is exposed to heat. Roasted fenugreek is an excellent substitute for coffee (Srinivasan,
2006).

The leaves of the fenugreek plant are small and delicate, with a distinctive shape that resembles clover or shamrocks. Fenugreek leaves are often used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of health conditions. They are believed to have antiinflammat sometimes used as a natural remedy for lactation problems in breastfeeding mothers (Syeda et al., 2008).

HABITAT

Fenugreek leaves originate from Eastern Europe and certain regions of Asia, including countries such as Turkey, Egypt, and India. While the seeds and leaves were traditionally used in these areas, fenugreek cultivation has expanded globally. It is widely

IMPACT OF GESTATIONAL MATERNAL UNDERNUTRITION ON FETAL DEVELOPMENT

“It is on the condition of the health of the mother that the condition of the health of the child depends”, Hippocrates stated. This is one of the very early reported references to the concept that placental life has an effect on adult life. But the full concept came into being as we know it in the 1930s, during this era substandard living conditions in infancy were linked to premature death, later. Further studies were carried out which linked these substandard living conditions in early life to several cardiac disorders later in life when the living conditions were better this gave a hint that development in early life and the environment was rather important for the well-being of the individual, in 1977 (Hanson, 2015).
Approximately one-half of the world’s total population is affected by maternal and child undernutrition (Ahmed et al., 2012). Maternal and child undernutrition causes 3·5 million deaths annually, 11% of worldwide disability-adjusted lifeyears (DALYs), and more than one-third of the disease burden in children (less than 5 years of age). Optimum and balanced maternal nutrition is indispensable for proper fetal development and growth (Barker & Clark 1997). Nutritional factors and proteins present in milk promote fetal growth in pregnant women (Borazjani et al., 2013). Ignorance, poverty, food insecurity, infectious diseases, lack of proper feeding practices for infants and young children, and poor sanitation and hygiene lead to the prevailing high levels of child and maternal undernutrition in developing nations. Maternal undernutrition is highly prevalent in the resource-poor countries of southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and south-central Asia. Its prevalence in South Asia ranges from 10 to 40% (Ahmed et al., 2012; Jouanne et al., 2021).
Pakistan being a developing country, about 12.5% population (28 million) faced undernourishment, in 2021 (FAO, 2021). In Pakistan, both lactating and pregnant women suffer from a higher prevalence of malnutrition (16.1%) than their non-pregnant peers (12.5%). It is understood that undernutrition reduces a nation’s economic progress by at least 8% resulting in poorer cognition, direct productivity losses, and reduced schooling. The enormity of children and maternal undernutrition in Pakistan is so much so that about one crore children in Pakistan face stunting, largely due to maternal undernutrition (UNICEF, 2022). To cope with this grave situation, in 2014, the World Bank committed 47.95 million US dollars to improve the nutritional status of lactating and pregnant women. A similar situation is prevalent for women and children in many developing countries (World Bank, 2014).

Maternal undernutrition has been proven to have a profound effect on fetal growth, with body weight and many key organs. It has been reported previously that during the first two weeks of pregnancy, the provision of a 5% protein diet only (undernutrition) led to a reduction in brain weight, size, and cortical thickness of the brain (Gressens et al., 1997). A severe gestational maternal protein restriction in rats caused a reduced number of glomeruli and hypertension in both male and female newborns, this hypertension is salt-sensitive and worsens with age, but is approximately equivalent in males and females (Woods et al., 2004)

Chronic energy deficit or maternal undernutrition means
having a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5. If the females are
under-nourished females at the time of conception, then during
pregnancy (when there are additional demands due to the
growing fetus), they are unlikely to improve their nutritional
status. They are more likely to fail to gain sufficient weight
during pregnancy and are at a higher risk of mortality than wellnourished and healthy women (Smith et al., 2003).

IUGR predisposes developing fetuses to reduced organ and
body weights. Most information about the long-term and short term effects of IUGR has come from animal models. In recent
years, many animal models of placental insufficiency and/or
poor maternal nutrition have been developed to investigate the
causes and effects of IUGR. Both maternal dietary
manipulations and surgical interventions have been employed
for these studies. A number of animal species have been studied
for IUGR effects, including rodents, rabbits sheep, and primates
(Louey et al., 2000; Mitchell et al., 2004; Jonker et al., 2018).

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