Basic introduction of Amaranthus

Amaranthus (Chinese name: horse tooth amaranth, horse power amaranth, Latin name: PortulacaoleraceaL.) alias Amaranthus, is an annual succulent herb.

Leaves plump and juicy, glabrous, stems often purplish, leaves opposite, obovate-cuneate; summer flowering, flowers small, yellow; fruit conical.

Born in fields, vegetable gardens, roadsides and garden ruins and other sunny places. It is distributed throughout China.

Amaranth is a dual-use plant, the whole grass can be used for medicinal purposes, with heat and dampness, detoxification and swelling, anti-inflammatory, thirst, diuretic effect; seeds can be bright eyes, can be used as veterinary medicine and pesticides; young stems and leaves can be used as a vegetable, acidic flavor, but also can be used as fodder.

Annual herb, the whole plant is glabrous.

Stem procumbent or reclining, ambulatory spreading, much branched, cylindrical, 10-15 cm long light green or dark reddish.

Leaves alternate, sometimes subopposite, blade flattened, plump, obovate, horse-toothed, 1-3 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, tip rounded or truncated, sometimes retuse, base cuneate, entire, dark green above, light green or dark reddish below, midvein faintly raised; petiole stout and short.

Flowers sessile, 4-5 mm in diameter, often in clusters of 3-5 at the ends of the branches, in full bloom at midday; and bracts 2-6, leafy, membranous, nearly verticillate.

Sepals 2, opposite, green, galeate, compressed from side to side, ca. 4 mm, apically acute, dorsally keeled, base connate; petals 5, sparsely 4, yellow, obovate, 3-5 mm, apically retuse, base connate.

Stamens usually 8, or more, about 12 mm long, anthers yellow.

Ovary glabrous, style slightly longer than stamens, stigma 4-6-lobed, linear.

Capsule ovoid, ca. 5 mm long, dehiscent.

Seeds minute, numerous, obliquely spherical, black-brown, glossy, less than 1 mm in diameter, with small warty projections.

Flowering May-August, fruiting June-September.

Amaranth is native to South Asia and has spread throughout the world.

It is distributed throughout the north and south of China, mostly in the wild. In addition, Amaranthus has its wild type in Europe, South America, and the Middle East, but the UK, France, the Netherlands, and the United States are dominated by cultivated species.

The `effects and functions of Amaranth

1. Enhancement of myocardial function

Amaranth is rich in active substances such as L-norepinephrine, dopamine and dopa.

Norepinephrine can stimulate vascular B-receptors, causing vasoconstriction and elevation of blood pressure, increasing the perfusion pressure of coronary arteries and increasing coronary flow.

In addition, these substances stimulate B-receptors in the heart, resulting in increased myocardial contractility and cardiac arrhythmia.

2. Prevention of heart disease

Amaranth is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have a very good effect on reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease.

3. Antihypertensive effect

Amaranth is rich in potassium, which includes potassium nitrate, potassium oxide, potassium sulfate and so on.

It has been determined that the potassium content in amaranth is 1.7%. Potassium salts can lower blood pressure, slow down the heart rate and have a protective effect on the heart.

4. Hypoglycemic effect

Norepinephrine in Amaranthus can promote insulin secretion, regulate sugar metabolism in the body, with the effect of lowering blood glucose concentration and keeping blood glucose stable, and it has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect on diabetes.

5. Protect the gastric mucosa

It is found that 10% alcohol extract of Amaranthus has a significant therapeutic effect on ulcers caused by gastric mucosal damage.

Researchers believe that this new effect of amaranth may be related to the fact that it is rich in to-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, etc. These substances have a strong antioxidant effect and protect the gastric mucosa.

Patients with chronic gastritis and gastric ulcer may want to eat some amaranth.

6. Beauty, weight loss

Anti-aging: Amaranth also contains a large number of vitamin E, C, carotene and glutathione and other effective components of anti-aging.

China's scholars He Shengwen and other animal experiments show that amaranth can improve the body of rabbits antioxidant capacity, so that the serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content is reduced, with an important role in anti-aging.

Elimination of pigmentation spots: In addition, vitamin C has a certain role in the elimination of pigmentation spots, and vitamin E can protect the phospholipids of the mitochondria, anti-free radicals, is a good beauty product.

White hair into black hair: amaranth contains high copper (21 micrograms / 100 grams), and the body of copper ions is an important part of tyrosinase, the lack of which can lead to a decrease in melanin production, resulting in an increase in gray hair. Therefore, eating amaranth can increase the density of black cells in the epidermis and the activity of related enzymes, making gray hair black.

7. Amaranth can cure skin diseases

Amaranth enters the heart meridian, can clear the heart fire. It also enters the lung meridian and can disperse lung heat.

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says: "All pain and itchy sores belong to the heart. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty. That is to say, all kinds of carbuncles, ulcers, wet ringworm, are related to heart fire and lung heat.

The amaranth is not only clear heart fire, but also scattered lung heat, its detoxification effect is not only to go to the blood, but also to go to the skin, internal and external treatment, so for the above mentioned skin problems have efficacy.

Conditioning skin diseases, you can take internally and externally two-pronged, the fresh amaranth mashed compress in the affected area, or use the dried product boiled water to soak in the bath, are very good methods.

8. Amaranth is an intestinal cleanser, the first choice of medicine for various intestinal diseases

The biggest effect of amaranth is the treatment of diseases of the large intestine meridian.

It is both detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, and an expectorant of heat, and is basically a generalized treatment for intestinal disorders that are heat-related.

What kind of intestinal diseases belong to the heat evidence? Like hemorrhoids bleeding, bacterial dysentery, intestinal polyps, solid heat constipation these are.

Simply put, most intestinal diseases fall into this category, except for diarrhea caused by cold and prolonged loose stools caused by spleen deficiency.