Lotus Leaf Extract

Product Description

The Health Benefits of Lotus Leaf Extract
The lovely lotus, which lives in the water but pokes its head above the surface, and whose beautiful flowers open in the morning as the Sun rises, and close at night, has charmed eastern and middle eastern cultures for millennium. The pales green leaves, which lay flat upon the surface of the water, reach a diameter of up to *8 inches. They are collected in the summer and autumn, and dried and processed into an herbal extract, which is effective as an astringent, cardiotonic, anti-febrile agent, hypotensive, resolvent, styptic, tonic and vasodilator.

In Chinese medicine, the lotus leaf is classified as a bitter herb. According to traditional practitioners, bitter herbs trigger the production of bile and hydrochloric acid, effects which stimulate digestion and ease flatulence. Bile secretion assists in the breakdown of fats, and serves as a liver tonic. According to traditional Chinese medicine, lotus leaf stimulates the liver and spleen meridians. As an astringent, lotus leaf has the ability to stop bleeding, and is used to treat conditions such as hematuria (blood in urine), hematemesis (blood in vomit) and metorrhagia (excessive menstrual bleeding).

Amazingly, modern scientific research is confirming that lotus leaf extract exerts positive effects on the body's fat metabolism. The extract stimulates the breakdown of current fat, and blocks the formation of new fat by preventing triglyceride formation. In fact currently, lotus leaf extract is being used in conjunction with l-carotene to help obese people reduce. According to a study in "Nutrition and Metabolism," a very respectable nutrition journal, the results are very promising.

Scientific research has revealed that lotus leaf contains alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins. The isoquinoline alkaloids in the leaf have sedative and antispasmodic properties, which may aid in digestion, and the flavonoids and tannins, are powerful antioxidants which protect the heart and assist in weight loss.

The ability of the extract to stimulate and tonify the liver and spleen make it a useful detox agent, and at least one natural products production and marketing company, eHelps has included it as one of the herbal ingredients for its all natural detox foruma BioRestore