Tips for healthy living: Benefits of bitter leaf

Glory Ife

Bitter leaf has numerous medicinal values and benefits to human health and lifestyle. The leaf exhibit some anti-bacterial and antifungal properties that make it a good home remedy to several health issues, such as dysentery, diarrhoea, high blood pressure and many others. Bitter leaf contains flavonoid and other plant compounds that have nutritional values, which promote overall health.

Other benefits include:

Helps to clear fever: Bitter leaf has powerful antioxidant effects in treating several health issues, such as: feverish conditions. Other elements like andrographolide lactones, glucosides and diterpene are also present in the leaves and work together to treat and trim down fever. A glass of bitter leaf juice is a strong herbal medicine that helps to combat malarial symptoms and reduce fever effects.

Lowers high blood pressure: Chewing fresh bitter leaf or drinking the juice extracted from it is known to be effective in reducing the level of sugar in the blood and controls blood pressure due to the bitterness. It also contributes to sugar reduction in the blood and also reduces the risk of diabetes.

Treats stomach upset: They are eaten raw or mashed to get the juice, which is used in treating abdominal difficulties, such as diarrhoea, stomach upset and gastrointestinal tract diseases like dysentery and related other issues. Bitter leaves are the major agents that are recommended as a natural remedy for intestinal problems and stomach cramps.

Improve fertility in women: Bitter leaf has the ability to improve a very important female sex hormone that contributes to reproductive development and regulation. It helps to improve quality hormone profile and as well prevents the toxification of immunoglobulin that fights an important female sex hormone, estrogen and reproduction.

Helps in weight loss: Most of the properties of the bitter leaf have a direct association with weight loss. To start with, incorporating bitter leaf as a vegetable in daily meals or eating just a few fresh leaves a day or drinking the juice helps to reduce excess calories.

Helps in treating several infections: Aside all the health benefits pin-pointed above, bitter leaf has the properties to treat skin wounds; it can also help in treating mouth inflammations, skin infections, toothache, typhoid, ear inflammation, tuberculosis and respiratory tract diseases.