I remember that there was a moringa frenzy in Zimbabwe a few years ago. An organization came out of nowhere saying moringa was good for people who were HIV positive and many wanted to get their hands on the tree. Some got the trees and planted them at home for easy access, but others forgot about the precious herbal plant a few months down the line. But all this doesn’t mean that moringa has lost its medicinal as well as health benefits. Now many people want to know moringa benefits for men. The moringa herb has many medicinal and health benefits which include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anticancer, liver protective and neuroprotective properties.
Moringa benefits for me
1. Benefits for men who use moringa to enhance sexual performance
The issue of sexual performance is a hot topic among men. Men always search for anything that gives them an extra edge during sexual intercourse. To make matters worse, different sources have come up with different ways to demean men with poor sexual performance. You may also have been a victim of this demeaning behaviour or even a perpetrator.
Studies show that moringa may act as an aphrodisiac for men. This means that it can help in improving their sexual performance. A good aphrodisiac should help improve your sexual performance under stressful conditions.
What an aphrodisiac does
Aphrodisiacs must improve sexual performance under stressful conditions in men. And poor sexual performance may result from oxidative stress.
Several studies show that eating moringa products reduces oxidative stress in your body. Your body produces toxic compounds called oxidants during normal metabolic processes. These toxic compounds can accumulate inside your body and cause oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can negatively affect your sexual performance. Herbal plants like moringa contain antioxidant compounds which fight this type of stress. So, antioxidants in moringa may help reduce stress-induced sexual dysfunction.
In a 2015 study, extracts of moringa leaves were shown to improve sexual performance in Winstar rats. And this may have been an effect of the antioxidant compounds in moringa. This antioxidant effect can help reduce oxidative stress in your body. It may also help boost your body’s testosterone and dopamine levels in your body. And both of these compounds play an important part in normal sexual performance.
Whilst there are no conclusive human studies to support the claims, moringa may help you with sexual problems by reducing and repairing oxidative stress-induced damage.
2. Manage diabetes
The ability to manage diabetes is also one of the many moringa benefits for men.
Some studies show that eating moringa products can help you improve and manage your blood sugar levels. This can be attributed to the different health-promoting chemicals in moringa. However, the mechanisms of how this happens are still not well known.
In a 2010 study, participants with type diabetes were treated with 8 g of moringa leaf powder for 40 days.
This treatment was shown to reduce post-meal glucose levels by 26% and fasting glucose levels by 28%. The same treatment was also been shown to lower blood lipid levels. In simple terms eating moringa helps you in managing your blood glucose levels. Some scholars even believe that high doses of moringa leaves may be more effective in preventing and managing diabetes.
3. Manage the number of lipids in your body
Several studies show that moringa is useful in managing blood lipid levels. This is good for your heart health. Taking moringa can help you reduce the risks associated with the development of heart disease. Moringa herbal remedies can reduce blood lipids, harmful LDL cholesterol as well as total cholesterol in your blood.
If you take moringa, you also take in compounds like flavonoids. These compounds and other phenolic compounds have important roles in lipid regulation. They play a part in reducing the absorption of cholesterol and the digestion of lipids in your gut. This helps in reducing the lipids and cholesterol in your blood.
All these factors can contribute to the development of several heart diseases. For example, too much blood cholesterol is harmful to your health, but moringa can alleviate this effect. Moringa can reduce the buildup of plaque in your blood vessels. And this greatly helps in reducing the development of atherosclerosis in your body.
4. Moringa boosts your body’s antioxidant defence
Due to the high concentrations of antioxidants in moringa, you can use this herbal plant for inflammatory conditions. These include conditions such as cancer, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
Most cases of chronic diseases arise from chronic inflammation as well as oxidative stress. These two conditions will then result in organ and tissue damage. As you live every day, several natural processes occur to keep you living. Now, this is a good thing because you want to live right? However, this comes at a cost of your body producing toxins and other compounds that will harm you.
How the antioxidants in moringa work
Now, the body is equipped with different mechanisms to deal with these toxins. The problem is only that the body can sometimes be overwhelmed by these substances. This results in the development of oxidative stress. And oxidative stress leads to the development of chronic diseases. You can use your diet to help your body deal with these problems. Moringa is rich in many anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. These can help your body build a good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory defence.
What research says?
In a 2012 study on post-menopausal women, taking 7 g of moringa a day for 3 months increased the levels of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and vitamin C transferase by 18%, 10% and 44 % respectively.
The levels of glutathione transferase were also greatly improved. Now, this sounds like a lot of technical jargon to take in, however, all these enzymes form your body’s natural defence against oxidative stress. Moringa can therefore help your body in fighting oxidative stress. And the risks of associated chronic diseases are greatly reduced.
In a 2014 study, moringa was found to reduce damage to pancreatic cells that produce insulin. This means that your risks of diabetes are greatly reduced.
Now, since moringa can improve the levels of glutathione, it is a good way to fight oxidative stress and build up your antioxidant defence. Glutathione is the primary antioxidant in your liver cells. And it can help protect your DNA from damage. It may also reduce oxidative damage in diabetics as well as normal people.
5. Moringa has anti-cancer properties
Cancer has become one of the most troublesome chronic diseases in recent times with no effective cure in sight. Many supposedly excellent herbal remedies and tonics have sprouted, robbing patients of their hard-earned money. Now, besides these herbal remedies on the market, plant extracts can naturally help you prevent or minimize cancer damage. And one such plant is moringa.
In a 2016 study, moringa leaves were found to have anticancer properties. Taking moringa leaf extracts improves the cancer-fighting activities in your body. Moringa was found to have cancer-fighting activities against lung cancer cells and several other cancer cells. So, according to this study, the moringa leaf extracts can kill cancer cells, inhibit their growth and reduce free radicals in cancer cells. Now, this is a good thing since free radicals can cause serious cell as well as tissue damage through oxidative stress.
So, according to this study, and several others, moringa has good anticancer properties. And it can help you as an everyday preventative remedy for each of the conditions above. In addition, moringa protects your cells from oxidative DNA damage associated with cancers and degenerative diseases.
6. Protects several body tissues
Moringa can protect your liver
Moringa leaf extracts have many bioactive phytochemicals that can benefit whoever consumes them. The liver acts as an organ that has many functions that include fighting and neutralizing toxins. As the liver detoxifies toxins that affect your health, sometimes it can be overwhelmed. And as a result, the liver cells can be damaged or they can be affected by the toxins resulting in liver toxicity. This means you have lost your ability to detoxify these toxins. And this can be detrimental to your health. Moringa can protect your liver from damage as well as toxicity. It also helps in reducing heavy metal-induced liver damage. Eating moringa also helps you in improving glutamine levels in your body. This better prepares you to fight oxidative stress and damage.
In simple words, moringa can protect your liver from serious metabolic damage as well as exposure to toxins.
Moringa can protect your kidney
Moringa has protective effects on your liver. It can help reduce inflammation in your kidneys. Also, eating moringa reduces diabetes-induced kidney damage as well as oxidative kidney damage.
7. Moringa can help you modulate your immune system
Moringa benefits for men in modulating their immune system.
There was a program a few years back in Zimbabwe in which a certain organization encouraged HIV-positive people to take moringa. They wanted the locals to depend on moringa to naturally boost their immune systems.
This wasn’t a lie or a money-making scheme, for moringa can surely stimulate your immune system. Some studies show that taking low doses of moringa is more effective for the immune system than high doses.
According to a 2010 study, moringa prevents your immune system from being suppressed by infections, diseases or health conditions. It also improves your ability to heal and close wounds as well as skin-breaking strength. Ulcer formation is also reduced and wound healing becomes faster.
8. Good for your eyes
The major cause of blindness, which includes impaired dark adaptation and night blindness is vitamin A deficiency. Moringa leaves and pods including their powders are rich sources of vitamin A. Now, vitamin A is a vitamin that can help you prevent eye problems including night blindness and also, impaired dark adaptation. In addition, eating moringa leaves improves vitamin A nutrition as well as delay the development of cataracts.
Improving vitamin A is one of the main moringa benefits for men.
Conclusion on moringa benefits for men
Whilst additional studies are needed to further support the information provided in this blog, there is also no doubt that moringa is good for your health. It can help you keep and maintain good health. Eating about 8 g per day of moringa has been shown to promote good health in men and women.