Greek Uses of Fenugreek

Cattle Feed

• The Greeks originally used fenugreek as cattle feed. The name literally means "Greek hay." Fenugreek still gets used in this day and age to flavor cattle feed and stimulate the digestion of cattle and horses.

Culinary Use

• Greek women discovered that fenugreek, although bitter in taste, is a pleasant spice to use for human consumption. Fenugreek seeds would be boiled and eaten with honey. Fenugreek bread is also still very popular in Greece, especially in poor communities where the herb is grown locally.

Medicine

• Hippocrates promoted fenugreek's soothing assets, according to greekmedicine.net. He used it as a cough medicine to sooth respiratory problems. He would also use it as a tonic for tuberculosis patients.

Gynecological Remedy

• Pedanius Dioscorides, another noteworthy Greek physician, used fenugreek as a remedy for gynecological problems, according to greekmedicine.net. Some nursing mothers use fenugreek to increase their milk flow.