Health Benefits and Functions of Shepherd's Purse
Shepherd's purse, a plant from the Brassicaceae family, is widely known for its significant medicinal properties. It has a sweet taste and neutral nature, making it effective for harmonizing the spleen, promoting diuresis, stopping bleeding, improving vision, cooling the blood, and clearing heat while removing dampness. Traditionally, it has been used to treat conditions such as dysentery, edema, urinary tract infections, chyluria, vomiting blood, rectal bleeding, uterine bleeding, excessive menstruation, and painful red eyes.
Nutritional Value and Health Advantages
This nutrient-dense herb contains a high amount of dietary fiber, which helps stimulate intestinal movement and promotes healthy digestion and waste elimination. By enhancing metabolic function, shepherd's purse contributes to overall wellness and may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, colorectal cancer, and hemorrhoids.
Medicinal Uses of Shepherd's Purse Flower
The flower of the shepherd's purse plant also holds therapeutic value. It has a cooling effect and a sweet flavor, and is associated with the liver and spleen meridians. The flower is particularly useful for cooling the blood and stopping hemorrhages, as well as clearing internal heat and reducing dampness. It is commonly used in the treatment of conditions like uterine bleeding, hematuria, hematemesis, hemoptysis, epistaxis, infantile indigestion, dysentery, and leukorrhea or other abnormal vaginal discharges.