Micronutrient deficiencies are now recognized as an important contributor to the global burden of disease. According to nutrition expert Prof. Mike Golden: “Much of the problem with nutrition is not the quantity of food but the quality of food. You need about 40 different nutrients to be healthy.” “If you have a poor diet it makes you less able to resist disease, so the diseases come more frequently and they last longer. And when you get over your diarrhea or respiratory chest infection or your coughing or cold, if you are on a poor diet you don’t have the convalescence so you don’t regain the weight you have lost. So you suffer from infection to infection.”
Furthermore he states, “Malnutrition severely impacts on the socio- economic development of a nation because a work force that is stunted both malnutrition causes a great deal of human suffering and is associated with more than half of all deaths of children worldwide. Mentally and physically may have a reduced work capacity. The interaction of poverty, poor health and poor nutrition has a multiplier effect on the general welfare of the population and also contributes significantly towards keeping a population in a downward trend of poverty and nutritional insecurity. Thus, nutrition plays an important role in the reproduction of poverty from one generation to the next.”
This statement applies directly to our situation here in the United States. We must began to understand that malnutrition is not only starving third world children with pot bellies and flies circling around their heads. Many well fed and obese people right here in this country are malnourished and do not realize it! For example, many people eat the wrong types of food all day long such as the Standard American Diet but lack the essential nutrients necessary for optimal health. This lack of nutrients is a result of consuming artificial processed foods or fast foods, white sugar and flour, unhealthy refined oils, refined salt, heavy meats and dairy.
As illustrated in the picture of this article, most children will always go for the “fun” food or junk food if adults give them the opportunity to eat this crap. When kids have a choice between a hamburger, fries, cookies candy or a soda and a salad, which one do you think they are going to choose? The picture says it all. Now this scenario could certainly change, depending on the healthy choices of the parents/caretakers. Hamburgers, fries and most comfort food and sweets could be made healthier with some effort.
Our bodies require some 90 different nutrients in order to produce and maintain optimal health. These nutrients are pure water, fatty acids (dietary fats) amino acids (from protein in nuts, vegetables, fruits, grains), vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. If these types of natural foods are not replenished every day, new cells in our bodies cannot be made to protect us from disease
According to Dr. Lowell Fuglie, the West Africa representative of the Church World Service who used the Moringa tree as a base for a nutrition program, “for a child aged 1-3, a 100 g serving of fresh cooked leaves would provide all his daily requirements of calcium, about 75% of his iron and half his protein needs, as well as important amounts of potassium, B vitamins, copper and all the essential amino acids. As little as 20 grams of leaves would provide a child with all the vitamins A and C he needs.”
“For pregnant and breast-feeding women, Moringa leaves and pods can do much to preserve the mother’s health and pass on strength to the fetus or nursing child. One 100 g portion of leaves could provide a woman with over a third of her daily need of calcium and give her important quantities of iron, protein, copper, sulfur and B-vitamins.”
“One rounded tablespoon (8 g) of leaf powder will satisfy about 14% of the protein, 40% of the calcium, and 23% of the iron and nearly all the vitamin A needs for a child aged 1-3. Six rounded spoonful’s of leaf powder will satisfy nearly all of a woman’s daily iron and calcium needs during pregnancy and breast-feeding.”
The Magical power of Moringa steps in to rescue the body from malnutrition and overall degenerative health. Moringa contains over 90 essential vitamins and nutrients and over 46 types of antioxidants which is a great protein source and good for alkalizing the body, curbing appetite, diabetes, brain health, breast milk production, energy, skin, circulatory system and a gamut of other benefits.