Guide
Health Benefits & Medicinal Uses of Horse Purslane
Purslane is a medicinal plant and considered a weed that is widely grown in many gardens. It is a leafy vegetable filled with many powerful medicinal values and it can be eaten raw or by cooked in many places.
It has a mild sour or salty taste. It is an invasive plant for many gardeners because it can interfere with the cultivated plants.
However, Purslane contains numerous health benefits and has been widely used to treat many diseases in Chinese medicine since ancient times.
It can spread easily throughout the land, and it is used in many dishes, salads, soups, etc. It includes lots of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, antioxidants, etc. that helps to treat many diseases.
The entire plant, such as leaves, roots, flowers, stem, and seeds are edible and contain different health benefits.
About Horse Purslane
Purslane is a succulent leafy plant that is widely grown throughout the world. It grows well in gardens, crop fields, and roadsides.
It contains many powerful medicinal values and is used in cooking in Asia and Mediterranean areas. It is a green leafy, succulent annual plant that grows up to 40 cm tall.
It prefers nutrient soils, less water, and grows well in summer and withstands all types of soils. The purslane plant contains small, oblong leaves that are dark green in color.
It contains a taproot that has secondary roots, and it withstands poor soils. The flowers of this plant are followed by the last leaves of the branches that are small, clustered, and yellow in color.
Finally, the flowers provide small, egg-shaped seeds. Purslane contains a reddish, smooth, watery stem that is 30-60 cm in diameter and contains branches.
The purslane plant is filled with 93% of water. The leaves are juicy that are used in soups, salads, stir-fries, and sandwiches.
Common Names of Horse Purslanes (Sakthi Saranai):
Botanical Name: Portulaca Oleracea
English Name: Horse Purslane
Tamil Name: Sakthi Saranai
Malayalam Name: Talutama, Tavilama
Telugu Name: Ambatimadu
Kannada Name: Muchchugoni, Bili Komme
Hindi Name: Sabuni, Salasabuni, Vishakhapara
Marathi Name: Pundhari-Ghentuli
Bengali Name: Gadabani, Godabani, Kulphasag, Swetpunarnova
Health Benefits & Medicinal Uses of Horse Purslanes (Sakthi Saranai)
Horse purslane contains many powerful medicinal values that provide various health benefits. It has been widely used to treat many diseases in Chinese medicines since ancient times.
It is an effective remedy to treat various diseases such as headaches, diabetes, osteoporosis, burns, hypotension, etc. and it helps to prevent cancer, improves heart health and immune system.
Apart from the medicinal uses, it has been used in many dishes due to its medicinal values, tangy taste, and juicy leaves.
It is an excellent ingredient that provides additional taste to your food without increasing fat and calories.
Treats Headaches including Migraine
Headaches are a common problem for many people, but the frequent migraines can affect the people. Horse purslane contains a large amount of vitamin B2 that helps to provide effective treatment for normal headaches as well as migraines.
It is highly recommended to take 400 mg of riboflavin to relieve headaches, and it provides great relief for those who suffer from migraines often.
Consuming vitamin B2 filled foods helps to decrease the severity of migraines and reduces the pain, symptoms, and duration of migraines.
Improves Heart Health
Heart diseases are one of the severe diseases, and it is not easy to cure. Purslane is the rich source of omega-3 fatty acids that helps to improve the health of your heart by reducing the amount of bad cholesterol and promoting the good cholesterol in your body.
The omega-3 fatty acid plays a major role in balancing the levels of cholesterol in your blood. The regular consumption of purslane in your food helps to decrease the risk of heart diseases, atherosclerosis and inhibits heart blocks, strokes, and heart attacks.
Besides this, purslane contains a huge amount of potassium that helps to decrease the level of blood pressure due to its vasodilator behavior. It also helps to calm your blood vessels and decreases your heart stress.
Treats Diabetes
The seeds of purslane are an effective remedy to treat type-2 diabetes. In research, there are 24 people who consumed purslane seeds daily in their food for two weeks.
At the end of the research, they get better results in decreasing the blood sugar level. According to studies, the seeds of purslane provide effective treatment for type-2 diabetes because it has good amounts of flavonoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and polysaccharides.
Strengthens Bones
Purslane contains rich amounts of minerals that help to strengthen bones for people who have weak bones, and it prevents bone damage.
It effectively helps to increase the mineral density of your bones. It also helps to strengthen the bone tissues that contribute to the health of your bone.
Purslane also contains huge amounts of calcium, iron, manganese, and magnesium, which are the important elements for the bone tissue development, and it helps to increase the speed of the bone healing process.
Due to the presence of these nutrients, the regular consumption of purslane helps to prevent osteoporosis that is a common age-related disease suffered by many people.
Treats Gastrointestinal Disorders
Purslane is an effective traditional remedy that provides effective treatment for diarrhea, hemorrhoids, intestinal bleeding, and other intestinal-related diseases.
Purslane is widely used to treat all diseases related to intestines since ancient times, but it is still used to treat intestinal diseases.
It contains lots of powerful bioactive compounds such as alanine, malic acid, glucose, dopamine, citric acid, and others. It also improves the digestive system by eliminating gas formation.
Improves Immune System
Purslane contains rich amounts of vitamin C that help to prevent infections, and it is an essential source for improving the health of teeth and bones.
It is an effective remedy to boost your immune system that helps to fight against infection-causing bacterias and viruses. Purslane increases the capacity of your body to heal wounds quickly.
It is important for collagen that is the main protein present in connective tissue. The oral consumption of Vitamin C helps for the better and quick healing process of wounds. Applied this externally, helps to protect your skin from the damage of free radicals and the exposure of UV rays.
Helps in Child Development
Purslane contains a high level of omega-3 fatty acids that plays a major role in child development. According to the research, a high level of omega-3 fatty acid is very important for your children that help to reduce the risk of many developmental diseases such as ADHD, autism, and other diseases.
There are many children affected by these diseases throughout the world. Therefore, the regular consumption of omega-3 fatty acids in your food helps to decrease and prevent these diseases.
Reduces Weight
According to studies, it is found that purslane is an effective remedy for weight loss because it has less amount of fat and calories.
It is filled with dietary fiber, so it an excellent food for the obese people who want to control their foods. Thus, it is recommended to consume purslane in your daily food to reduce your weight. After consuming this, people feel full without increasing the calories and fat in your body.
Improves your Vision
Purslane contains vitamin A and beta-carotene, which are the two important factors to improve the health and vision of your eyes.
The free radicals present in your body cells affect your eyes and cause common diseases related to age. Consuming purslane in your food helps to inhibit cataracts and macular degeneration by removing the free radicals.
The regular consumption of purslane in your food helps to provide a better vision of your eyes. You can also consume the food filled with vitamin A to improve the vision of your eyes and slow down the age-related eye diseases.
Increases the Speed of Wound Healing
The rich amounts of iron present in purslanes effectively help to increase the speed of the wound healing process.
It helps to form the RCBs, which is the most important compound of hemoglobin that carries oxygen throughout your body.
Oxygen supply is very important for wound healing. Therefore, regular consumption of purslane increases the speed of wound healing by increasing the supply of oxygen.
Improves Circulation
Purslane contains a huge amount of copper and iron that helps to induce the red blood cell production. Copper and iron are the important minerals that help to promote the circulation.
It means enough amounts of oxygen supply is very important for all parts of your body to increase the speed of wound healing in organs, improve the metabolic system, and increase the hair growth. Therefore, it is recommended to consume purslane in your daily food for the better health.
Treats Skin Disorders
Purslane is an effective remedy to treat various skin diseases. The high level of vitamin A present in purslane is one of the main elements that helps to cure the skin disorders.
The combination of Vitamin A and other important elements present in purslane helps to decrease the inflammation and cure snake bites.
Moreover, it helps to improve the health of your skin, decreases wrinkles, and blemishes. The regular consumption of purslane improves the healing of your skin cells to eliminate scars and make your skin glow. It also reduces acne, pimples, itches, black spots, etc.
Fights Diseases & Prevents Cell Damage
Purslane contains numerous nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and powerful antioxidants that effectively help to prevent or slow down certain cell damage occurring in your body.
Consuming foods with antioxidants stimulates your body to fight against diseases. Purslane contains large amounts of constituents that act as antioxidants such as flavonoids, glutathione, melatonin, etc
Improves Thyroid Glands
The rich amounts of copper present in purslane effectively helps to improve the function of thyroid glands. The excess amount of copper may lead to thyroid diseases, so it is important to have a proper level in blood. Otherwise, the hormonal level can imbalance, and it leads to the symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
How to Eat Purslane
- Purslane can be eaten raw as a leafy vegetable.
- The seed of purslane is used to make seed cake.
- It can be eaten fresh as salads or cooked like spinach, stir-fried. It is succulent, so it is used to add in soups and stews.
- The leaves and stems of purslane are used in salads and sandwiches.
- The purslane seeds are used to prepare herbal drinks.
Other Purslane Uses of Traditional Benefits
- The leaves of purslane are used to treat snake or insect bites, sores, boils, and pain of bee stings.
- Purslane provides effective treatment for dysentery, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, postpartum bleeding, and intestinal bleeding.
- The crushed purslane can be applied on the forehead to reduce the body heat, and it can be applied to eyes for relieving inflammation.
- Consuming purslane helps to improve the functioning of blood, muscles, and nerves.
- Purslane breaks the fats and cholesterol to prevent heart diseases.
- It effectively helps to manage the level of blood sugar by stimulating insulin production.
- Placing this purslane herb under your tongue soothes thirst.
- The fresh, extracted juice of purslane is effective for strangury. The mixture of the extract with honey and sugar provides great relief from breathing difficulties, dry coughs, and excessive thirst.
- Apart from the medicinal uses, purslanes have been widely used in culinary uses to add in various dishes.
Nutritional Values of Horse Purslane (Sakthi Saranai)
Purslane contains rich amounts of nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, carbohydrates, iron, manganese, fatty acids, etc. It helps with powerful medicinal values and various health benefits. It is the richest source of omega-3 fatty acids, so it is the best option for the vegetarians who don’t eat fish.
| Nutrient | Value |
|---|---|
| Energy | 9 Kcal |
| Total Fat | 0.15 g |
| Carbohydrates | 1.46 g |
| Protein | 0.87 g |
| Sodium | 19 mg |
| Potassium | 212 mg |
| Calcium | 28 mg |
| Iron | 0.86 mg |
| Magnesium | 29 mg |
| Phosphorus | 19 mg |
| Vitamin C | 9 mg |
| Vitamin A | 568 IU |
| Thiamin | 0.02 mg |
| Niacin | 0.206 mg |
| Manganese | 0.13 mg |
| Copper | 0.049 mg |
| Zinc | 0.07 mg |
| Riboflavin | 0.048 mg |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.015 mg |
| Pyridoxine | 0.031 mg |
| Folate | 5 µg |
Purslane Side Effects
Generally, purslane is safe to consume and doesn’t have any conflicting side effects. Purslane contains high amounts of oxalates that occur naturally in various vegetables, green leaves, and fruits.
The high amount of oxalate is not a big problem for many people, but people who have urinary tract diseases should avoid purslane, especially in high amounts. Pregnant women should avoid using purslanes because it can interfere with the uterus.
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