Wild Betel Leaf for Energy, Relieving Asthma, Plus More

Interesting how you can cook beef langonisa-style using plant leaf for wrapping the meat. In Vietnam they do this with the Wild Betel Leaf or what they call lalot. For a different kind of "sausage" try this herb leaf with your meat. I would like to taste this one of these days.

The leaf is ordinary looking, but once used in wrapping meat and cooked, the piper sarmentosum aroma can wake up the appetite and make your mouth clamoring to eat. The cooked "sausage" looks very much like fried langonisa.

Health Benefits of Betel Leaf

First, betel leaf is aromatic, increasing your appetite for food. That's healthy, especially if the food recipe you use it with is a healthy vegan recipe. The leaf has a clove-like aroma that makes it ideal for cooking. Cloves are derived from an Indonesian tree.

Second, betel leaves have anti-bacterial properties and mild stimulant effect. They can induce euphoria or a feeling of well being. They are also said to be anti-fungal and ideal for good digestion. The leaves can also be used as an expectorant and an aphrodisiac.

Thus, betel leaf can be chewed and the juice is good to relieve asthma and cold. They reportedly do this in Indonesia. Warming it with some mustard oil and applied topically on the chest can relieve folks having breathing difficulties.

It's a pain reliever as well. Mix the juice with hot oil and apply topically to the pain area. Betel leaf extract can also be used for getting extra energy and relieve nervous exhaustion. In animals, the herb was found to up T3 levels and lower T4 levels in thyroid patients.

If you have unpleasant body odor you want to get rid of, try betel leaf.

But the betel nut shouldn't be eaten because studies have shown it to be cancerous. So, just to play it safe, consult a herbal nutrition expert about using betel leaf for health and cooking, as well as other herbs and plants in the Philippines and Asia.