1. Moringa
Moringa Oleifera is one the best natural plant supplements available. The tree itself is amazing in all of the bounty it can provide, but the nutrition is truly staggering. This tree can grow in very poor soil conditions and has been used for more than 40 years by the World Health Organization as a low-cost way to treat malnutrition.
The seeds and flowers can be eaten for sustenance. They can also be pressed to produce beneficial oil that can be used on the skin as a moisturizer (appearing in many high-end cosmetics), or can also be used as clean-burning cooking oil.
The pressed seed pulp can be added to contaminated water and the pulp can actually attract the contaminants and allow them to be extracted. Yes, it cleans water. The same cleansing principles apply to the main nutrition source of the plant: the leaves.
Moringa leaves have been used for thousands of years in ayurvedic medicine and are said to treat over 300 ailments. Traditionally, the leaves are used as a leafy green in salads or to complement other dishes. They are also used, along with the flowers, to produce moringa tea.
Of late, it has been discovered that as the moringa leaf fries, the nutritional content goes up significantly. Moringa leaves are now dried much like tobacco in a dark environment, not allowing the sun to zap the nutrients. The leaves are then milled into a fine powder and consumed.
Gram for gram, moringa contains:
- seven times the vitamin C of oranges
- four times the vitamin A of carrots
- four times the calcium of milk
- three times the potassium of banana
- two times the protein of yogurt
If you're looking for a green, whole food supplement that provides you with a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, protein and detoxification, then there are few plants in the world better than Moringa Oleifera.
2. Algea
Scientists believe that all life on earth first evolved from simple single-celled organisms like algae. If would make sense then that these beneficial algae contain all the fundamental building blocks of life. These simple organisms are powerful when taken as a supplement to a healthy diet.
Spirulina
This is a blue-green algae and probably the most famous of the algae supplements. It is actually given to astronauts in space due to its powerhouse of nutritional content.
Chlorella
This is a green algae and a close cousin to spirulina. Chlorella is a little more underground, but gaining popularity fast. With high levels of chlorophyll, chlorella is a powerful nutritional source.
These two single-celled algae have the potential to change the scope of the nutritional landscape within the next 10 years and are well on their way to doing it. The more studies that are done, the more support is found to back up the nutritional claims of these algae.