What is so great about oats?

Oats are a grain, commonly eaten for breakfast as oatmeal.  Oats can benefit you in many ways.  Oatmeal is prepared simply by pressing grains of oat between two large rollers, flattening them so that they cook a little faster and are easier to chew.

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Oatmeal by itself is a stick to your ribs kind of breakfast, providing plenty of fiber, protein and calcium and potassium, which makes it beneficial for your heart.  Calcium and potassium are known to reduce blood pressure, while soluble fiber helps to keep your digestive system operating normally while regulating the rate that your body absorbs energy from your food.

Starting the day with oatmeal can get your day going by jump starting your digestive system with plenty of protein and complex carbohydrates to keep you fuller longer, and feeling more satisfied with your food. There is actually a compound in oats, known as β-glucan, that has been proven to actually help your body to not feel hungry.

Oatmeal can also make an excellent addition to smoothies.  Adding 1/4 cup of uncooked oatmeal to a fruit smoothie increases the protein and fiber content significantly, while adding all kinds of important nutrients.  Also, oatmeal lends a creamy texture to the smoothie, thickening it and making it more substantial.

What is Jiaogulan?

One herb that is growing in popularity in the US is known as Jiaogulan.  Also known as Gynostemma Pentaphyllum, "Poor Man's Ginseng" or "Southern Ginseng" because of the similarity of some compounds found in both ginseng, and jiaogulan.  Jiaogulan is a twisted, twining vine that defies cultivation because of it's tangly growth patterns and wild nature.  When translated from Chinese to English, the name "絞股藍" means "Herb of Infinite Blue Entanglement".

jiaogulan extract

It's definitely a tangly plant.  The vines grow long and quick, with a leaf group every 6 inches or so.  Each leaf has a single growth node that usually includes a tendril that is tenacious at grasping onto fences, wires or other plants.  The plant also grows with very little light.  It prefers partial shade, and grows quite well in the understory of a forest without any direct light at all.  

Jiaogulan is touted as an adaptogen, helping the human body to recover from stress quicker.  It has also been used to help people who have trouble regulating their blood sugar levels.  In terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we could say that it has a balancing effect on the Chi.  It helps the body to regulate it's own energy levels, so that theoretically, an overweight person who consumes jiaogulan would tend to have a more balanced metabolism, which would result in a healthier body weight.

Long distance runners use jiaogulan to increase their stamina.  Horse owners use it to help treat laminitis in their horses.  It is known for helping people to regulate body weight and for regulating bad cholesterol levels in the blood.  It also contains saponins that have been known to improve heart health and colon health.  

While I have no personal experience with ingesting jiaogulan, I am growing it fairly successfully and am interested to learn more about how it can benefit people.  I have found many positive references to it and not a single negative comment about it's effectiveness.