fenugreek

for a good few years, I was making my own ground fenugreek capsules and taking one or two a day. it was very convenient, because I was living in SF and rainbow sold the ground fenugreek for a really reasonable price. I loved it because just ingesting a small amount of fenugreek made my sweat smell like maple/vanilla... deodorant was unnecessary. it also gave me a little extra oomph in the bust area. ;}

now I'm living in tahoe and my local health food store only has fenugreek capsules ($10 for a bottle of 20!) and fenugreek seeds in bulk. on a whim I bought some fenugreek seeds- I was wondering if eating these or making tea out of them would have the same effect as the powdered herb? or should I somehow grind them and take them that way? the bottle of capsules wouldn't even last me a month.

what do you think?

The seeds may be more potent than the herbaceous parts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek
Thanks for the info on breast enhancement, I've wondered about that since I first read about that in herbal books.


...I think I'll try to grow it in my herb garden and convince Sharon that it is good for lowering Cholesterol

Good for breast health, lowering cholesterol, and also helps with Type 2 diabetes, and peptic ulcer. Also is an antioxidant.

http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/Volume16/vol16.3/Finished/(382-392)Reena.pdf

...and it's in the news, too.

At the moment fenugreek seeds from Egypt are blamed for an EHEC outbreak in Europe that's killed or crippled quite a few people.
(Dunno whether there were any warnings issued in the US.)

hügel wrote:
...and it's in the news, too.

At the moment fenugreek seeds from Egypt are blamed for an EHEC outbreak in Europe that's killed or crippled quite a few people.
(Dunno whether there were any warnings issued in the US.)

I saw that in the news.... That is one reason why growing yer own would be better.

ronie wrote:
I saw that in the news.... That is one reason why growing yer own would be better.

Yes, but only if the seeds are already at least an F1 you or someone you know grew.
The bacteria go dormant once the seeds are dried, and reappear once moisture hits them.
The international seed companies don't tell you where their seeds come from -  Thompson & Morgan in the UK sold infected seed from Egypt.

Bacteria are everywhere except a sterile environment.

ronie wrote:
Bacteria are everywhere except a sterile environment.

Well, this one is a man-made, deadly strain of E. coli, shipped around the world with infected vegetable seeds ...

I haven't read the article yet, but the title implies that the infected fenugreek was shipped from Egypt.

In the USA the culprit is isolated and recalled ASAP.

If this is a genetically modified E. Coli it seems that this might be an intentional biological attack.

OK i've read several articles - none say anything about a modified strain of E. Coli.  It is a bad strain that produces Shiga-toxin that seems to cause intestinal bleeding. No cases in the US so far that i can find. Looks like it came from Egypt to Germany and to France.

heard that the E. Coli was spread in sprouts as well. I know of this because I work at Sprouts Cafe in Tahoe and we had a LOT of orders to "hold the sprouts" in the past month or so.

but my real question is, does the fenugreek seed work in the same manner as ground fenugreek? I know different parts of plants aid in different ways. I'm sure if I was a master at searching the web I could find out the answer, but I've looked around and as of yet I can't figure it out... I had a good pot of spearmint leaf/fenugreek seed tea the other night and I am pretty sure I smell fenugreek in my sweat now. could just be wishful thinking though. 

and ronie- it really does help in the bust area. what it does is make your body retain more water, so the only thing is your breasts are slightly tender most of the time. kind of like the week before your period.

The recommendation is to make tea using boiled water and to let it sit for at least 5 minutes, and to not use fenugreek as a raw spice.

Sprouts are a great way to spread diseases:
Seeds from all around the world, soaked in warm water, grown in a greenhouse atmosphere, and eaten raw ...

lexxiinthesky wrote:
heard that the E. Coli was spread in sprouts as well. I know of this because I work at Sprouts Cafe in Tahoe and we had a LOT of orders to "hold the sprouts" in the past month or so.

but my real question is, does the fenugreek seed work in the same manner as ground fenugreek? I know different parts of plants aid in different ways. I'm sure if I was a master at searching the web I could find out the answer, but I've looked around and as of yet I can't figure it out... I had a good pot of spearmint leaf/fenugreek seed tea the other night and I am pretty sure I smell fenugreek in my sweat now. could just be wishful thinking though. 

and ronie- it really does help in the bust area. what it does is make your body retain more water, so the only thing is your breasts are slightly tender most of the time. kind of like the week before your period.

Thanks for the info...did you look at this link? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek

It indicates that there is more medicine in the seeds than the leaves...The leaves are best for some things and the seeds for other things.

ronie wrote:


If this is a genetically modified E. Coli it seems that this might be an intentional biological attack.

Conspiracy theory, anyone?

Soapy wrote:
Conspiracy theory, anyone?

Not sure what you mean, but when I had time to read the articles, I found that there was no genetically modified E. coli involved.

ronie wrote:
OK i've read several articles - none say anything about a modified strain of E. Coli.  It is a bad strain that produces Shiga-toxin that seems to cause intestinal bleeding. No cases in the US so far that i can find. Looks like it came from Egypt to Germany and to France.

What a shame for me, I exported fenugreek seed extract several tons one year, but I can not say its efficiency immediately.