What Are The Health Benefits Of Nutmeg?

What are the health benefits of nutmeg?  The seed in a nutmeg contains antioxidants and it contains a lot of it. Those antioxidants in nutmeg contain plant pigments like cyanidins, essentials oils like terpenes and phenolic compounds.

Nutmegs are rich in anti-inflammatory properties such as sabinene, terpineol and pinene, etc. It helps to reduce inflammation in the body, and it helps to benefit those who have inflammatory issues. There was a study on rats where they were injected with an inflammatory solution with nutmeg oil. And those rats experienced a reduction in inflammation and joint swelling from it.

What Are The Health Benefits Of Nutmeg? Photo credit: iStock-rostovtsevayulia

Some animal studies show an increase in libido when taking nutmeg. One study done on male rats were given high doses of nutmeg extract and it was 227mg per pound, The result was significant increase in sexual activity and sexual performance compared to the control group.

Most of the research that shows some of the other health benefits was done on rats. And those benefits were:

• Improve heart health- Animal studies have shown that high dosages of nutmeg supplement reduce the risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
• Boost mood- Rat studies showed that taking nutmeg extract heightened antidepressant effect in rats and mice.
• Improve blood sugar- A study in rats showed that treatment of high dosage of nutmeg extract significantly reduced blood sugar levels.

It is important to understand that this has only been tested on animals and not human beings. If you take nutmeg in huge doses there are side effects like hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat and lastly death, etc.

The Bottom Line is nutmeg, a spice that is used often when cooking. The research studies that have been done on animals have revealed that it can help improve blood sugar control and improve heart health. There still needs to be more testing on humans to validate all the potential health effects.

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References

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