So, if you’ve been listening to some of my videos, or have read my thyroid book or heard me speak in a podcast or a lecture, you know by now that we live in a world in which we’ve allowed over 80,000 chemicals into our environment, in the form of air pollution, skin care products, industrial chemicals, and even pharmaceuticals. We add chemicals into our highly processed foods and in our water supply as well.
These type of chemical toxins are so hot in nature that they can quickly pierce through the 7 tissues and go directly into the bone marrow. In fact, every time we step outside and breathe in the air pollution it goes immediately into the bone marrow.
Every immunization or flu shot you get: the chemicals automatically go into the bone marrow.
Taking medicine for acne: yep, you guessed it: it lands in the bone marrow.
How about the nitrates in your breakfast bacon, or your corned beef sandwich at lunch, or the pepperoni on your pizza? There’s a reason there’s been a ton of research showing how they cause brain tumors and leukemia. Why? Because this is what happens when toxins go that deep into the bone marrow.
The problem is this: if these chemicals build up enough they can trigger autoimmune diseases and cancer.
And it’s bad enough that we have these toxins invading us from outside the body. We also make ama visha, another hot reactive piercing toxin, whenever we don’t digest our food well. And this can wreak the same type of havoc as the gar visha, making a beeline through the various tissues: blood plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone and landing into the bone marrow.
As depressing as all this may sound, what if I told you there is an antedote to these dangerous chemicals? What if I told you there is actually a food that can also move very fast, like an arrow, in the body, piercing through the blood, muscle, fat, bone and bone marrow, only this one comes to the rescue — cleaning it instead of polluting it more.
In the Bhava Prakash, a 16th century textbook of Ayurveda, this food is called shigru, which means, “it moves like an arrow” in the body as it rapidly penetrates the tissues where it has a deep detoxifying capability.
So what is this incredible food? And where do we get it? And how can we cook it?
Well, it is known as drumstick! I know when I tell people that name their mind automatically conjures up pictures of a big hearty turkey or chicken drumstick. But this vegetable is actually the long hanging pod of the moringa tree.
The Moringa tree is known as “The Miracle Tree” for good reason. Several parts of the tree are eaten and it has so many vitamins, minerals and amino acids that it is considered one of the most nutritious plants in the world. Moringa leaves contain 24 times more iron than spinach, 16 times more calcium than milk, 9 times the Vitamin A of carrots, many times the potassium of bananas and every essential amino acid your body needs.
And Moringa contains 46, yes 46! powerful antioxidants which can neutralize free radicals before they damage your cells and cause disease.
Most of the time we eat the leaves and the pod, the drumstick, of the moringa tree. Both are detoxifying, cleaning all the tissues leading up to and including the bone marrow. This means that just one bowl of drumstick soup can clean the blood plasma, the blood, the muscle, fat, bone and bone marrow (the first six dhatus, as they are called in Ayurveda).
Because of its effects on cleaning the liver and the blood, it can prevent high cholesterol. In fact studies have shown that it works as well as simvastatin in decreasing cholesterol and triglycerides and it also prevents a buildup of plaque in the arteries. It prevents tumor formation, it can lower blood sugar and sugar in the urine, it can prevent and dissolve kidney stones. It is anti fungal and effective against athlete’s foot. It’s even famous for detoxifying the eyes. And because they enhance fat metabolism they are very good for cellulite, and are able to heal the type of headaches we get from too many toxins sitting in the blood. The list of health benefits go on and on.
Another amazing fact about drumstick is that it is both nourishing and detoxifying at the same time. There are two phases to our lives: sometimes we want to break down the tissues and detoxify, and then other times we want to build up the tissues after the period of detox is done. But this unique vegetable has the capability to do both at the same time, which is highly unusual.
I have a drumstick here — this is what it looks like — it’s about 10-16 inches long, and like our bones, it is somewhat hard on the outside, but the inside is soft and squishy — kind of like our bone marrow, where its health benefits are most pronounced.
Most Indian markets carry drumstick frozen, but if you’re lucky enough like I am to be able to get it fresh, it has even more health benefits.
They can increase heat or pitta in the body and may aggravate Vata since they have a drying capability, so it is not recommended that you eat them more than twice a week, just to be on the safe side.
And here are the moringa leaves. The leaves of the Moringa tree have even more detoxifying capability, so be careful with them as well. In fact, you should avoid both Moringa leaves and drumstick if you are pregnant as it may cause a miscarriage. If you are breastfeeding, you should also avoid Moringa, because of its detoxifying nature. Plus, it will make your milk very bitter and unpalatable for your infant. And even though it is fully packed with nutrients it is at the same time highly detoxifying and is best not to give to babies. Infancy is a time for nurturing and babies should only be fed somagenic nurturing food such as squashes, oatmeal, rice, etc. We recommend to start introducing a normal adult diet at the age of 5 years and above.
Here is a recipe for Drumstick Soup from my dear friend, Divya Alter, from her cookbook, “What to Eat For How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen (Rizzoli, 2017).
In a pot, put 9 two-inch pieces of drumstick, cover it with 4 cups of spring water, and add 3 peeled and chopped taro root, 1/2 tsp each of ghee, turmeric, cumin, coriander and fennel, 6 curry leaves, salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 20-30 minutes, mashing the drumsticks and taro root towards the end of the cooking. Strain into a bowl and serve with fresh squeezed lime.
This recipe will make enough for two people. And even though it is used for detox, it is extremely delicious at the same time.
And you can cook the fresh moringa leaves in the same way you cook spinach — just take the leaves off the hard stem, rinse them several times, and then incorporate them into soups, stews, dahl and kitcheree.
Both the leaves and the drumstick pods should be cooked and not eaten raw or drank as a juice. Cook the drumstick with cumin and curry leaves to decrease their inherent bitterness.
If you don’t have an Indian market near you, it is quite easy nowadays to get dried moringa leaves to be used in soup or made into a tea, so you can still receive the health benefits of this amazing tree.
Eating moringa leaves or the pod are a must in our highly toxic world to prevent serious disease from occurring. I’m sure you’ll feel a surge of strength after eating this miracle food.