What are the functions and effects of shepherd's purse?
Generally speaking, the effects and benefits of shepherd's purse include enhancing immunity, lowering blood pressure, clearing heat and dampness, cooling the blood to stop bleeding, and providing nutritional supplementation. Detailed explanations are as follows:
1. Enhancing Immunity
The polysaccharides present in shepherd's purse can enhance the body's immunity and improve disease resistance. Meanwhile, the dietary fiber in shepherd's purse can promote gastrointestinal motility, increase secretion of digestive fluids, aid digestion, and help prevent constipation.
2. Lowering Blood Pressure
Components such as acetylcholine in shepherd's purse help reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood and liver, thereby lowering blood pressure. Additionally, potassium in shepherd's purse helps maintain heart health and stabilize blood pressure levels.
3. Clearing Heat and Dampness
Shepherd's purse has the effect of clearing heat and eliminating dampness, making it suitable for treating conditions such as damp-heat jaundice, edema, and urinary disorders. It contains dietary fiber, vitamins, and alkaloids that help regulate water metabolism in the body, prevent fluid retention, and improve symptoms of edema and urinary dysfunction.
4. Cooling the Blood and Stopping Bleeding
Shepherd's purse, being cool in nature, can cool the blood and stop bleeding. It is rich in citric acid, an effective hemostatic component that can shorten bleeding and coagulation time, reduce capillary permeability, and thus alleviate symptoms of bleeding such as hematemesis, hematochezia, and metrorrhagia.
5. Nutritional Supplementation
Shepherd's purse contains abundant protein, dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B2, carotene, calcium, iron, and other nutrients. These components help provide various nutrients required by the body and maintain overall health.
Despite its multiple benefits, shepherd's purse is cool in nature and thus excessive consumption is not recommended for individuals with spleen-stomach deficiency cold or diarrhea. When consuming shepherd's purse, it should be appropriately combined and consumed in suitable amounts according to individual constitution.