This vegetable lowers blood lipids and fights aging, and it is even better for people with high blood pressure

Perilla is distinctive, with a unique fragrance and a very elegant character. Perilla is a spice, and its shape somewhat resembles a woman's lips, and it keeps mosquitoes from biting and coming near. Many people's memories of perilla stay in childhood, when a few plants were grown in flower pots to steep in water or to treat mosquito bites. Today perilla seems to have become the preserve of Japanese and Korean cuisine, with a few leaves arranged on an elegant small plate as an appetizer before the meal.

Perilla leaves resemble lips in shape, with serrated edges and slender pointed tips, and they are green or purple on the outside; some are green on one side and purple on the other, and some are purple on both sides. The best quality is leaves that are intact and purple with a strong fragrance, and because people have discovered their dual use as food and medicine, they are now cultivated artificially. Perilla leaves (or leaves with tender stems) are best harvested in summer when the branches and leaves are luxuriant, then cleaned of impurities and used fresh or dried in the sun for later use. The fruits are harvested in autumn when ripe, cleaned of impurities, and dried in the sun for later use. From June to September, perilla stems are harvested, and the main stems left after the leaves and fruits have been removed are cut into sections for medicinal use.

Perilla is native to our country, and more than two thousand years ago, China's earliest dictionary, the Erya, described perilla this way: take (tender perilla stems and leaves), grind them into juice and cook porridge with it; it is good, and taken over a long period it makes the body white and the person fragrant. This explanation is truly powerfully tempting, and it will make people feel endless goodwill toward perilla.

In the Han Dynasty, Mei Sheng in his famous fu "Qi Fa" already listed delicacies such as "carp slices garnished with perilla," showing that perilla as a designated seasoning for raw fish had already begun in the Western Han period. And perilla tea was extremely popular in ancient times.

The effects of perilla oil recorded in relevant World Health Organization literature include: 1. improving intelligence and benefiting the brain, and delaying aging; 2. lowering cholesterol levels and reducing blood lipids; 3. resisting thrombosis; 4. inhibiting tumors; 5. improving retinal reflex ability and enhancing vision; 6. being beneficial for healthy birth and childbearing, etc. Therefore, perilla oil is suitable for people with high blood lipids as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers.