The Real Ashitaba

Ashitaba and gynura procumbens
@brokenbee (11090)
Philippines
July 17, 2016 6:19am CST
Have you heard of the herbal plant called "ashitaba"? Others call it "tomorrow's plant". This plant has lots of health benefits like lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. But can you distinguish the real one? A few years ago, this plant became famous in our province and my mother wanted to have it because she had learned about its health benefits. So, when those sellers of plants told her that they have the ashitaba plant, she bought a few and planted at home. It was so easy to propagate. My mother also started chewing the leaves and she said it maintained her blood pressure at a normal level. After a few months of taking this, my father had searched online about the real ashitaba. The leaves are different from what we had bought before. We had known that what we have was gynura procumbens. This year, we went to Baguio City and in Mine's View Park, they were selling herbal plants. We saw the real ashitaba plants and they are a little more expensive than the previous plants that we bought. In the photo that I attached, the first two photos on top are ashitaba while the one below is gynura procumbens.
13 people like this
10 responses
@ida123 (6206)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
17 Jul 16
We have that gynura procumbens and that is for lowering sugar, my husband usually chew it raw and I found him like a goat, eating raw leaves.
4 people like this
@Lucky15 (37346)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
Blood sugar.too? Perfect.to my sister
3 people like this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
@Lucky15 yes!!! I think both can regulate blood sugar levels.
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
Yup, I think it had lowered the blood sugar of my mother. She felt so dizzy one time and she suspected it's because of that.
1 person likes this
@jayaramas (1353)
• Bangalore, India
17 Jul 16
thank you for sharing valuable information.
2 people like this
@jayaramas (1353)
• Bangalore, India
17 Jul 16
@brokenbee but i want to know the name in India, else we cannot get it here.
3 people like this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
@jayaramas maybe the scientific name will help you in knowing the name in India. It is angelica keiskei.
2 people like this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
You are welcome!
2 people like this
@Lucky15 (37346)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
She has been tricked ;( Have to check this too. Haha. How does it taste?
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
Yup, actually there were a number of sellers who thought it was the real one but it's not. What we have tasted was the gynura and it tasted like a leaf of a grass. Haha well, the taste is tolerable. You chew it raw. Well, it also has health benefits.
2 people like this
@Lucky15 (37346)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
@brokenbee i might recommend it.to my sisters. Lol. Seriously ;)
2 people like this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
@Lucky15 do they have high bp?
2 people like this
@AkoPinay (11544)
• Philippines
26 Aug 16
We have the gynura but haven't tasted it
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
26 Aug 16
Tastes like grass.. hihihi I prefer those young leaves because the flavor seems milder.
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
26 Aug 16
@AkoPinay Yup! But I think munching it daily is also not good if you have low blood sugar because it can further lower your blood sugar, like what happened to my mother.
1 person likes this
@AkoPinay (11544)
• Philippines
26 Aug 16
@brokenbee as in we can eat it raw? Maybe we can try it on taco instead of scorpio cabbage
1 person likes this
@ilocosboy (45157)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
but why people the third photo is also an ashitaba, maybe the effect is also the same like the real one.
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
It also has health benefits like the real one but of course, the real one must be better. I had read about the story of the ashitaba and it is so amazing.
2 people like this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
18 Jul 16
@ilocosboy ah, the gynura? That's also what we have at home but my mother already stopped chewing those leaves. Hihi
@ilocosboy (45157)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
@brokenbee I have planted that not real one ashitaba.
1 person likes this
17 Jul 16
Thanks for sharing this valuable information..It is indeed helpful
2 people like this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
You're welcome!!!
@jstory07 (134465)
• Roseburg, Oregon
17 Jul 16
Now you have the real plant and that is good.
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
18 Jul 16
We didn't buy yet. Maybe next time that we go there.
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
19 Jul 16
hmm, i really have not sen these plants around
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
19 Jul 16
Hmmm I had only seen the real one in Baguio City, ate. I haven't seen it yet in my hometown. I am not sure if it grows in the lowlands.
1 person likes this
@JustBhem (70555)
• Davao, Philippines
17 Jul 16
Last time we are searching for a nettle leaf and we could not find one. We did the research and a lot came up and We cannot distinguish which one of the others are real. We gave up.
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
18 Jul 16
Maybe those plant vendors know about that plant.
• Philippines
21 Jul 16
Thanks to internet, now you know what the real Ashitaba looks like.
1 person likes this
@brokenbee (11090)
• Philippines
21 Jul 16
Hahaha yes!!
1 person likes this