Fenugreek – the Small Seed with the Strong Scent

1. What Is It Actually?

Fenugreek is a plant. Its scientific name is Trigonella foenum-graecum. That sounds long, but it is just the name that researchers all over the world understand.

A natural substance is a substance that a living being forms itself. A plant builds it, a fungus or an animal does too. Nobody pours it into a machine. That is why such substances are called natural substances.

With fenugreek, researchers mainly look at the seeds. A seed is like a tiny treasure chest. Everything a young plant needs to grow lies inside it. That is why a seed does not contain just one substance, but a whole mixture of many substances. Anyone who studies such a mixture must work very carefully: which substance in the mixture actually does what?

You may know the smell. Fenugreek seeds smell strong and spicy. Some say the smell reminds them of maple syrup or curry. You can smell the seeds and taste them too. What happens in the body, however, you cannot smell or taste. That is exactly what researchers want to find out.

2. Where Does It Come From?

Fenugreek is not a stone and not a metal. It is a plant with leaves, flowers and seeds that grows from a tiny seed. The seed becomes a plant, and the plant produces new seeds. This continues year after year.

The seeds sit in small pods, similar to peas in their pod. When the pods are dry, the seeds can be taken out. They are small, hard and firm. Between the fingers they smell strongly spicy.

For the studies mentioned here, the seeds were processed into an extract. An extract is like a strong tea: you draw out from the seed what can be drawn out and leave the rest behind.

3. What Are the Researchers Studying?

There are many studies on fenugreek. Out of 806 studies, 125 were tested on humans, and 72 of those were controlled. Controlled means: one group of participants receives the substance being studied, another group receives something for comparison. Often nobody knows who received what. This makes it easier to see whether a difference really comes from the study and not from chance.

In humans, for example, researchers looked at whether blood sugar changes in people with type 2 diabetes. In women with a condition of the ovaries, briefly called PCOS, they checked whether something measurable changed. Other studies looked at blood pressure, liver and kidneys, stress at work, and heart and blood vessels.

In some studies fenugreek was given together with another substance. Then it cannot be said which of the two caused an effect. That would require a separate study with fenugreek alone.

Much is still open. Researchers continue to investigate whether and how the seeds work and for whom. This is an exciting question, not a finished answer.

4. An Experiment to Think About

Imagine that everyone in your class is supposed to tidy up faster. Someone says: “This music makes it better!” You try it out. On the first day the music plays and everyone tidies up in five minutes. On the second day no music plays and everyone needs eight minutes. Does that prove something?

Not necessarily. Maybe the first day was a Friday and everyone was in a good mood. Maybe the task on the second day was bigger. Researchers therefore do it differently: they form two groups that are as similar as possible and allow only one single difference. Afterwards they compare the groups with each other. This way they notice whether a difference really comes from the one thing – or from chance.

For adults and professionals: the detailed page on fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum).