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The Medicinal Value of Shepherd's Purse

May 10, 2025 Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Yu Yongchao
Introduction
Shepherd's purse is a common wild vegetable with tender green leaves that have serrated or lobed edges and grow close to the ground. It produces small white flowers in spring, and its fruit is small and heart-shaped, making it easy to identify. It commonly grows in fields and along roadsides. Rich in vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, it helps to supplement nutrition. Shepherd's purse is a seasonal wild vegetable that combines good flavor with health benefits.

Generally speaking, shepherd's purse has medicinal values including clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling blood to stop bleeding, promoting diuresis and reducing edema, strengthening the spleen and stomach, and regulating blood pressure. Specific details are as follows:

1. Clearing Heat and Detoxifying: Shepherd's purse is cool in nature and sweet in taste. It functions to clear heat, detoxify, cool blood, and reduce swelling and is suitable for treating various conditions caused by internal accumulation of heat toxins. For throat discomfort caused by stomach fire or lung heat, shepherd's purse can help alleviate local redness, swelling, heat, and pain.

2. Cooling Blood and Stopping Bleeding: Shepherd's purse contains abundant vitamin K,荠菜 acid, and other components that can shorten coagulation time, enhance capillary resilience, and are commonly used for treating various hemorrhagic disorders.

3. Promoting Diuresis and Reducing Edema: Shepherd's purse enters the bladder meridian and can clear heat, remove dampness, promote urination, and expel turbid substances, thus improving urinary system discomfort caused by downward invasion of damp-heat. Patients with nephritis edema can use shepherd's purse to eliminate excess water from the body.

4. Strengthening the Spleen and Regulating the Stomach: Sweet in taste and entering the spleen meridian, shepherd's purse can strengthen the spleen, stimulate appetite, and promote digestion. It is suitable for digestive system issues caused by spleen and stomach weakness or food stagnation. For damp-heat and a yellow, greasy tongue coating, shepherd's purse can clear damp-heat from the spleen and stomach and relieve stuffiness and discomfort.

5. Regulating Blood Pressure: Shepherd's purse contains components such as acetylcholine, potassium ions, and rutin, which can dilate blood vessels, reduce peripheral resistance, and assist in regulating blood pressure, especially suitable for patients with hypertension due to hyperactivity of liver yang.

Shepherd's purse is a common wild vegetable with various medicinal properties, but it should only be used as an adjunct to condition management and cannot replace professional medical treatments. Additionally, when consuming shepherd's purse, it is important to be aware of contraindicated populations to avoid adverse symptoms. If individuals with special constitutions wish to consume shepherd's purse, it is recommended to consult a qualified physician and follow medical advice to avoid harming health.

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