Malaysian cuisine is very often flavoured with a tint of the aromatic Pandan (Screw Pine). Lately the Pandan is gaining international attention both as a gastronomic flavour and as a super plant with many health benefits such as:
Lowers High Blood Pressure
Detoxifies Liver And Body
Controls Blood Sugar Levels
Natural Mosquito and Cockroach Repellent
Mild Laxative for Children
Contains Nourishing Essential Oils
Reduce Fevers
Reduce Cramps
Pain relief
Relieves stress, anxiety and insomnia
Relieves gout and arthritis
Anti-carcinogenic properties
Here’s how to make some refreshing healthy Pandan tea.
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Step 1: Take six stalks of pandan leaves.
Step 2: Clean the leaves and knot them as otherwise they are too long to fit into a pot.
Step 3: Bring a pot of filtered water to a boil and then drop the knotted leaves in.
Step 4: Reduce the flame to keep the boil slow and steep the tea for about 20-25 minutes.
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Step 5: Drink as it is or add lemongrass or add lemon and /or honey to taste.
We invite first-person testimonials as to the efficacy or otherwise of the claimed benefits of Pandan.
Here’s a worthwhile home project to do during the lockdown regime. Bean sprout is touted as a superfood that’s reputed to be more nutritious than the original bean. Many types of beans can be germinated as bean sprouts but here we are focussed on the green mung beans.
Folate (B9): 80% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
Manganese: 30% of the RDI
Magnesium: 24% of the RDI
Vitamin B1: 22% of the RDI
Phosphorus: 20% of the RDI
Iron: 16% of the RDI
Copper: 16% of the RDI
Potassium: 15% of the RDI
Zinc: 11% of the RDI
Vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6 and selenium
With those properties, bean sprouts should be good for our health. In fact, HealthBenefitsTimes (https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/bean-sprouts/) suggest that bean sprouts provide the following health benefits.
Scientific name: Gymnanthemum amygdalinum [Family: Asteraceae] Synonym: Vernonia amygdalina Common name: Bitter Leaf, Vernonia Tree, Pokok South Afrika aka Pokok Bismillah Chinese name: 扁桃斑鸠菊, Lam Fei Yip, Por si Yip
A friend who was concerned about my high blood pressure, introduced me to this plant. He brought a couple of stems for me and surprisingly, they took root quite readily. I took a fistful of the leaves and made a tisane to drink. Unfortunately, it did not work as quickly as I had hoped. I began to research around to see what I may have missed and discovered the following claimed benefits. Disclaimer: I am still in the testing phase and cannot vouch for its efficacy. If anyone has a better experience, please share your personal testimonial here.
It really grows easily and its health benefits are :-
1) reducing cholesterol
2) reducing urea acid
3) reducing wind or flatulence
4) balancing blood pressure
5) countering insomnia as it promotes good sleep at night
I picked 10 leaves from my South African Plant, brought a pot of water (about 1 litre) to a boil, put in the leaves and bring down the flame to a slow boil for 20 minutes.
Day 2: My average BP (from 4 readings) : 134/92
I drank/sipped the tea the whole day yesterday. I measured my BP this morning and was disappointed that there was no improvement (yet?). Boiled another fresh pot of tea today.
Day 3: My average BP (from 4 readings) : 140/92
Another disappointing result. In fact the reading has increased somewhat. Never mind, to continue with another pot of tea.
Day 4: My average BP (from 4 readings): 135/91
This morning, I felt good. The BP has improved a bit and I have boiled another pot. I hope it will be even better tomorrow.
Day 5: My average BP (from 4 readings): 130/89
The BP has started dropping. Today it averaged 130/89, very encouraging indeed!
Day 6: My average BP (from 4 readings): 133/89
No improvement, slightly higher. But the readings seem to have stabilised around 127-133/84-92
Day 7: My average BP (from 4 readings): 142/93
Oh dear, the BP readings have gone up.
Day 8: My average BP (from 3 readings): 144/95
Looks like the South African leaves do not reduce my BP. I will stop the experiment now.
Related plants: Huo Tan Mu (火炭母)(Polygonum chinensis)Black Face General 黑面将军(Hei Mian Jiang Jin, Strobilanthes Crispus)Yu Xun Cao or Sabah Snake Grass 优遁草, 沙巴蛇草(Sabah Snake Plant, Clincanthus Nutans L. )Shang Ye 桑椹叶(Mulberry Leave)
