Waterleaf, vegetable that keeps the heart healthy
By Sade Oguntola - updated: Thursday 17-07-2008
WaterleafCommon problems no doubt
have common solution. This is
best in describing the protective effect the consumption of waterleaf will have on you against developing hypertension, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases that are becoming rampant world over.
Waterleaf (Talinium triangulare) is a leafy vegetable found in West Africa, the West Indies, South America and warmer parts of the world. It bears different names like Gbure Nte-oka/inene and Alenyruwa in the different Nigerian dialect and it comes useful in preparation of vegetable stew.
Like other vegetables that serve as source of vitamin C, its consumption can be maximized to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in humans because it is good plant source of Omega 3 fatty acids.
Though the prevention of heart-related diseases with a diet rich in fibres from vegetables like waterleaf had been accorded prominence, by scientists. It is now known that its other components like Omega 3 fatty acids equally play a vital role in our health and partly informs why we should always eat a balanced diet that is rich in vegetables and fruits.
Professor O. B. Oloyede, a biochemist in his inaugural lecture title “All for the love of nutrients”, at the University of Ilorin, corroborated the fact that soluble fibres which are present in food items such as oats, beans, apples, citrus fruits and vegetables, can mix with food in the stomach to prevent or reduce the absorption of potentially dangerous substances by the small intestine.
They can also bind dietary cholesterol and hence prevent the latter from entering the blood stream where it can find its way to accumulate in the inner walls of arteries to cause heart-related diseases.
According to him, the insoluble fibres which are present in vegetables, whole grain products and bran provide roughages that speed up the elimination of faeces, decreasing the period the body is exposed to harmful substances and thus reduce the risk of colon cancer, thus accounting for lower incidence of colon cancer in blacks compared to Americans.
A study done by Dr. Michael O. Ezekwe (animal nutritionist), Dr. Samuel A. Besong (animal/human nutritionist), Dr. Patrick E. Igbokwe (horticulturist) and Edith I. Ezekwe (registered dietician) corroborated the fact that when you eat waterleaf, you are protected from such diseases as heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. They discovered a non-pharmacological means to reduce cardiovascular disease risks by using a component of waterleaf.
The four Alcorn State University scientists, who were recently awarded a U.S. patent for an agricultural invention, conducted a two-prong strategy to determine the agronomic properties of waterleaf and its nutritional influence in individuals with high blood cholesterol.
All participants in the study were determined to have high blood cholesterol. According to Alcorn, participants consuming six grams of freeze-dried leaves of waterleaf per day in their meals showed significant reduction in the total plasma cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and increase in HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol) and blood hemotocrit over five weeks of trial. Furthermore, people with high blood cholesterol levels will benefit from waterleaf consumption.
According to the researchers, though waterleaf naturally contains all the essential nutrients needed for optimum cardiovascular health, the present invention demonstrates how the nutritional qualities of waterleaf can be maximized to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in humans.
This implies that for those who are vegetarian, or simply have an aversion to fish, consuming waterleaf and other plant sources of Omega 3 fatty acids like spinach and walnut, which are good and cheap alternatives can also gain the benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids.
The benefits of Omega 3 are broad, benefiting not just healthy adults, but pregnant women, children and those suffering with all kinds of illnesses. It is called “brain food”, because Omega 3 is a building block essential for developing cell membranes, signal pathways and other neurological systems. It is a primary component of your retina, and helps maintain good eyesight.
Omega 3 is as crucial in the healthy physical and mental development in babies, as it is in adults. Whether planning a baby, pregnant or breast-feeding, some research has shown that with the mothers having the recommended amounts of Omega 3, babies develop faster than those whose mothers don’t.
Meanwhile, the tuber extract of waterleaf (Ebodondon in Esan) is taken orally for schistosomiasis, scabies and fresh cuts according to a study of medicinal herbs used for managing some common ailments in 21 selected communities in Esanland, an ethnic group located in Edo State, Nigeria.
The researchers include: R.I. Okoli ; O. Aigbe; J.O. Ohaju-Obodo; and J.K. Mensah of the Departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Medical Biochemistry, and Botany, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State. The study is titled "Medicinal Herbs Used for Managing Some Common Ailments among Esan People of Edo State, Nigeria".
Similarly, in a study on “Ethno botanical potentials of common herbs in Nigeria: A case study of Enugu state” by Aiyeloja A.A and O.A Bello from the Department of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria and Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Ibadan, Nigeria found that waterleaf root in the locality is used as a rat poison.
An assessment of “Pro- and Antioxidant Effects and Cytoprotective Potentials of Nine Edible Vegetables in Southwest Nigeria” in the December 2005 Journal of Medicinal Food said waterleaf has antioxidant properties in the body.
The researchers include E.O. Iwalewa, C.O. Adewunmi, N.O.A. Omisore, O.A. Adebanji, C.K. Azike, A.O. Adigun, O.A. Adesina, O.G. Olowoyo, all from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
The vegetables assessed include bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina), Pumpkin (Telfaria occidentalis), Smooth pigweed (Amaranthus hybridus), and Jatropha tanjorensis. In traditional medicine, to treat hypertension, people cut waterleaf root into pieces and put about 10 handfuls into 10 litres of water. Bring to boil.
Drink 100ml twice daily for 60 days. This is substanciated by evidences from several studies suggesting that its Omega 3 fatty acid lowers blood pressure slightly, as well as reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known heart disease.
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