Hi everyone this is Monica Reinagel and you're listening to the nutrition

divas quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous. Another year

another superfood.

This year appears to be the year of Meringa.

At least that's the rumor that some

Meringa marketers are trying to start.

What makes Meringa so special? According to promoters, it's jam-packed

with more nutrients than any other food in the world. Now that's a pretty big claim and you know me I can't resist taking a closer

look. So what is this meringa? Maringa olfera is a tree it's native to Africa and it's also cultivated in

other tropical locations its name literally means drumstick virtually all of the parts of the plant are edible including the roots, seeds, flowers,

but as with many plants the leaves are the most nutritious part.

Miringa could be a valuable source of nutrition for both people and livestock in hunger-prone

areas of the world.

It has natural antiseptic qualities that might help reduce the risk of waterborne diseases in areas without

modern sanitation. And as a traditional medicinal herb, it's also been used to

treat a wide variety of diseases. But as with many traditional herbal cures, there hasn't yet been a whole

lot of research to verify its effectiveness or even just to test whether it's more effective than

other available treatments for these conditions.

But Meringa's true value to developing countries may be as an export.

Ironically, farmers in poor countries are scaling up production in order to meet the growing demand as

Meringa is being pitched to well-nourished Westerners as a nutritional supplement.

People selling Meringa will often compare its nutritional profile to other foods and these comparisons can be pretty impressive.

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