Water hyacinth is popular floating water plant. It has a thick dark green leaves and beautiful flowers in purple and blue with yellow spots. This plant is also known as the natural water purifier.

Therefore, people love to collect them not just for their loveliness, but also for their ability to fix their green water problem on their pond. Water hyacinth is also one of the favorite plant to be included in an aquatic garden.

However, besides the ability to offer the beauty to your water garden, it actually has health benefits of water hyacinth which aid you skin, hair, and body health.

Nutritional Information of Water Hyacinth

In some region of Asia, water hyacinth is included in the menu. It is boiled then cooked in many different ways.  But it is not just a food. It can be a super food to give you ample of benefits. And the benefits, it comes from the nutritional values lies inside this beautiful aquatic water. In every single serving size, about 210 grams contains:

Calorie 722

• Total fat 4g
• Sodium 44mg
• Total carbohydrate 128g
• Protein 50g
• Vitamin A 0%
• Vitamin C 0%
• Calcium 27%
• Iron 59%

Health Benefits of Water Hyacinth

From the nutritional value, we know that there might be something useful from water hyacinth we can have. Well, the health benefits of water hyacinth come from its stem, leaves, flower stalk, and even its beans. The list of the health benefits is down below:

1. Promote healthy skin

Water hyacinth is beneficial as it gives the health benefits of water hyacinth foe skin. It is able to improve the skin radiance and smoothness. Nowadays, skin care products include water hyacinth in the ingredients to promote the healthy and glowing skin.

2. Treat eczema

Eczema is one of the common skin ailments. The symptoms are itching, dry skin, and redness due to inflammation. In this case, water hyacinth is effective to cure the symptom by acting as the inflammatory agent. You can also add some natural ingredient such turmeric and rice flour to reduce the itching and alleviate the problems. As we know, turmeric can perform better in Excellent Benefits of Turmeric for Beauty.

3. Make a good shampoo

The water hyacinth is surprisingly able to replace your regular shampoo. You can combine the water hyacinth extract with the other natural ingredients to give you the shiny and strong hair. In addition, it also gives you the lovely and fresh fragrance to your hair. Therefore, there is no doubt that shampoo and conditioners use the water hyacinth extract to add their quality. You can also combine the water hyacinth with essential oil such as almond oil to get the addition Health Benefits of Almond Oil For Hair.

4. Treat cholera

The bulbous stem of water hyacinth is not just unique. It has the function to support its live on the water. In addition to that, it has the health benefits of water hyacinth for human health. Well, the stem can be used to treat cholera as it is effectively cure the symptom. The symptom such as nausea and vomiting can be cured by the stir fried water hyacinth stem.

5. Cure toothache

The leaves of water hyacinth are known to be powerful to ease the pain in toothache. In addition, it can also maintain the healthy teeth. All you can do is just boiling the water hyacinth leaves with water, and simply drink the water.

6. Heal sore throat

Sore throat might happen if we have the inflamed throat. As we know, water hyacinth is a powerful anti inflammatory agent. Therefore, consuming the juice of hyacinth plants is able to relieve the sore throat.

7. Treats snake bite

Although the effect may vary from the species of the snake, snake bite should handle immediately and carefully. Prepare a poultice of water hyacinth leaves to treat the snake bite. However, if the case worsens, make sure to see the doctor for some advices and treatments.

8. Treat SDI

SDI or Sexual Diseases Infection is the sexually transmitted disease such gonorrhea. In this case, water hyacinth is very effective to treat such disease. It because the ability of the plant to perform as an antibacterial, antivirus, and anti-inflammatory agent.

9. Powerful anti inflammatory

People in Philippine love using water hyacinth as the anti-inflammatory agent. It may included as one of the  List of Herbal Plants Found in the Philippines . They make a juice from water hyacinth, combine it with lemon juice which is rich in vitamin C, and then apply it topically into the abscess. As the result, it relieves the inflammation, and reduces the abscess.

10. Aid healthy digestion

Water hyacinth beans have been used as traditional Chinese medicine from long ago. It might make the List of Medicinal Plants in China for Home Remedy Solutions. The stir fried beans is effective to relieve some digestion problems such as diarrhea, nausea, worms, and flatulence. However, the raw beans may be dangerous for you. Make sure it is cooked.

11. Controls cholesterol

One of the water hyacinth parts which are beneficial is its beans. The beans are known to perform as hypocolesterolemic properties. The hypocholesterolic property of hyacinth beans is able to control the cholesterol levels within the blood. It should be included in the list of Proven Foods That Lower Cholesterol Level in 5 Minutes

12. Promote lactation

In Kenya, women use this plant to promote lactation. They boil the water hyacinth and consume it. In addition, women also believe that the flower also helpful for women as it helps the irregular period.

13. Maintain healthy nervous system

Water hyacinth contains some mineral values. One of them is magnesium. As we know, magnesium is powerful to promote the healthy central nervous system. It is able to maximize the performance of calcium to function the muscle and nerves. Calcium is also beneficial for nerves, as it keeps the nerves healthy and promotes the proper functioning.

14. Lose weight

One of the health benefits of water hyacinth is to perform the weight management. Water hyacinth contains high dietary fiber which effectively aid weight loss. It helps you to control the weight and prevent you from obesity.

15. Prevent hemorrhage

Water hyacinth contains amino acid which is able to help vitamin C during the process of collagen synthesis. It helps reduce the risk of hemorrhage substantially and helps you stay healthy.

Cautions in Using Water Hyacinth

Despite the health benefits of water hyacinth, we need to consider the caution in using water hyacinth to get the health benefits of water hyacinth. The first thing is that never ingested the uncooked water hyacinth. The uncooked water hyacinth may cause some digestion problems. Therefore, it is better if the water hyacinth is consumed boiled or stir fried. A certain research also recommends people suffering from cold or flu to avoid using this water plantation medication. And the last, make sure if you ask your doctor before use it with other medication.