diabetes plant

I have planted two Gynura procumbens in the garden, courtesy of a Northey St friend.

Info found about this plant: 

Diabetes plant, also known as Sambung Nyawa, Moluccan Spinach, Leaves of the Gods, Longevity Spinach, 平卧菊三七 (Píng wò jú sānqī), is a hardy perennial, of the Asteraceae family. 

The plant is well known in South East Asia, with folklore medicinal uses in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and the leaves of the plant are also eaten as a vegetable. Leaves have a mild flavour (some people say far better than spinach as a vegetable, while others say the leaves taste like green beans) and can be used raw in salads, added to soups, stir-fries, casseroles, condiments and sauces, rice dishes and other savoury meals. 

The herb has been noted for antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine, antipyretic, antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-ageing properties, and also acts as a blood cleanser, tonic, diuretic and painkiller.

Sambung contains asparaginase, an enzyme that has been found to lower levels of acrylamides in the body. Acrylamides are seen as cancer-causing substances that are created when some foods are fried, baked, grilled or roasted. Acrylamides have also been found in foods grown on mineral-depleted soils. The addition of asparaginase to foods is one strategy to lower acrylamide levels in foods, and this is where Sambung comes in by eating a few leaves daily. 

Research has shown that it is an efficient regulator of blood sugar, and that the herb is also found to protect the kidneys, and also retinas, from damage caused by high blood sugar. It also lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, and has anti-inflammatory and antiviral action. Diabetics who use the herb have experienced very satisfying results in lowering glucose levels, and normalising the blood sugar.

Now for non-diabetics, it is said, the herb does not have this lowering glucose level affect, and it is interesting, that, non-diabetics are able to get the other therapeutic benefits of Sambung without the danger of having their blood sugar levels manipulated below normal levels.

Taken and edited from www.rareplants.net.au/information/tip-of-the-week-focus-on-diabetes-plant