Artemisia Annua is a tropical plant that comes from Latin America and Central America. Nowadays, it becomes popular and can be easily found in Asia and Europe. Many people include it to must-eaten vegetable. It has a nice smell, but the taste is quite bitter, so some people cook it with other ingredients or eat it directly after finishing their meals or using it directly for the body. Here are presented the health benefits of Artemisia Annua.

Nutrients of Artemisia Annua

Artemisia Annua has many nutrients that are good for the body, such as :

• Quercetin
• Coniferyl Alcohol
• Flavonoid
• Terpenoid
• Hydroxyeugenol
• Tocopherol
• Saponin
• Polyphenol
• Mineral
• Calcium
• Magnesium

From these nutrients, we know that Artemisia Annua is good for our body. Here is listed its health benefits.

1. Anti-Cancer

In Artemisia Annua contain saponin compounds, terpenoids, flavonoids and antioxidants that can fight various types of cancer, such as breast cancer, gastric cancer, and liver cancer. Artemisia Annua has a high anticancer activity because of its interaction with the iron complex in the blood.

In fact, this plant has been used as a treatment in China and is capable of killing 98 percent of breast cancer cells in less than a day. To treat cancer can be done by consuming stew of leaves Artemisia  Annua as often as possible, but in addition to consuming this, must also be balanced with drinking enough water so that substances can be carried properly by the blood.

2. Cure Mumps Disease

Polyphenols compounds contained in Artemisia Annua can cure mumps disease. Mumps is a swelling that occurs in the neck area. It will be dangerous and disturb the digestion or breathing that happen in the throat if we let it happen.

How to use it?

Mash the leaves until they are smooth. Then, add vinegar with 1:1 ratio. Finally, use it to the part that is affected 3 times a day.

3. As an Ulcer Treatment

Irregular eating patterns can be one cause of ulcer disease. Another cause is too high acid content in the stomach. By consuming the leaves of Artemisia Annua, it will neutralize the stomach acid and also will treat the wound that is in the wall of the stomach.

Artemisia Annua has content of tocopherols, polyphenols, and hydroxyeugenols that are useful for neutralizing stomach acid. This substance can also strengthen the gastric sphincter muscles, which work to receive a variety of food intake without harm to one’s stomach.

4. Prevent Hemodialysis

Blood is very important for the body because all of human organs’ activities need the blood to help them work well. However, there are some substances that may be dangerous enter the blood. Fortunately, Artemisia Annua contains vitamin E, antioxidant, and flavonoid that can kill poisons or toxins in the blood.

5. For Healthy Bones

Artemisia Annua contains many substances that are good for bone health. Mineral content, calcium, and magnesium in the Artemisia Annua are able to strengthen bone and certainly very good for bone growth, especially in childhood. In addition, it also plays a major role in the process of bone formation, the process of bone cell regeneration, and fill the lack of bone structure due to age factor.

6. Increase Appetite

Artemisia Annua is good for children that want to grow and don’t eat too much because it contains quercetin compounds that can increase appetite. It is good for patients that are after surgery to increase their stamina.

We can use Artemisia Annua for complementary food that is eaten after finishing the main dish. We can cook it with other ingredients to make the food tastier and smell good too.

7. Make a Fragrant Breath

The best anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial aspects of the Artemisia Annua are found in the coniferyl alcohol and quercetin. Both play a good role to help improve the balance of bacteria in the mouth and help normalize the acidity of the mouth. This condition will help reduce the risk of thrush formation in the mouth, gum bleeding complaints, and help also overcome the problem of bad breath.

Besides that, Artemisia Annua have the ability as anti-bacterial, because it has coniferyl alcohol content in it. This compound is proven to cleanse the tongue and saliva from germs that cause bad breath.

8. Prevent Breast Swelling and Accelerate Breastfeeding

Woman’s breast can be harmed because it is often used to feed the milk to baby or woman is still in menstruation period. Artemisa Annua contains terpenoid compounds and anti-inflammatory that can relieve the swelling that occurs on the breast, so it can accelerate the breastfeeding for baby.

How to use it?

Collect the leaves and burn it with a small fire. When it is still warm, scrub it around the breast and do these step  3 times a day.

9. Strengthen a Weak Heart

Artemisia Annua contains substances antioxidants and flavonoids that play a role to repair damaged cells. If in the heart area, these flavonoid compounds will be useful to smooth the flow of blood by strengthening the heart muscle and blood vessels to drain the blood. Thus, it will strengthen the heart muscles and heart will also be healthier.

The content of saponins and quercetin in the Artemisia Annua help maintain heartbeat stability and heart pump power. Other anti-oxidants will help maintain the regeneration of heart cells, maintain cardiac fitness and help lift cholesterol deposits, toxins, and residues in blood vessels that will interfere with blood circulation and cardiovascular function.

10. Improve the Immune System

Artemisia Annua contains many vitamins A and E which are very good for body immunity. Coupled with the presence of protein content in it that can help the formation of phagocytes, which serves to boost the immune system. In addition, the vitamin C content in it is also proven to help increase the body’s metabolism to its peak condition.

So, with the amount of content that is in the Artemisia Annua, then the need for nutrients our bodies will be more fulfilled. And indirectly will build the immune system in the body. So our body becomes not easily attacked by disease.

11. Anti-Malaria

Artemisinin is an extract substance from the plant Artemisia Annua which used as a drug for malaria disease. The content of these substances is more effective to treat malaria disease rather than substances produced by quinine plants. Therefore, the plant could replace the quinine plant as a malarial medicine, because quinine plants are too resistant to malaria.

12. For Youthful Skin

The more aging of the skin or the occurrence of premature aging of the skin is not only caused by the age factor. It can be caused by lifestyle or never do the treatment on the skin, so the skin itself is not given enough nutrition.

Artemisia Annua has several vitamins and substances that are useful for healthy skin and look younger. The content of vitamins C and E has benefits for facial beauty and smoothness and skin. In addition, the flavonoid content clearly plays a role in helping cleanse the blood vessels and help smooth blood circulation to the skin and better meet the needs of oxygen and skin nutrition.

More Artemisia Annua Uses

Here are more health benefits of Artemisia Annua that we can get from using it.

1. Make Eyes Healthy
2. Increase Stamina
3. Easier to Defecate
4. Restore Damaged Body Cells
5. Anti-free radicals

Cautions of Artemisia Annua

From the above, we can conclude that Artemisia Annua has many health benefits for our body. However, there are some cautions before using it below.

1. The Hygiene of Artemisia Annua

We need to care the hygiene of Artemisia Annua because it is harvested directly from trees that have many bacteria or virus. So, we need to wash it carefully and ensure that it is already clean and can be used or eaten directly.

2. Allergy of Artemisia Annua

There are some people who can get the allergy from using Artemisia Annua that can lead to other problems such as itchy, sneeze, hard to breathe, etc. So for people who get those problems, it is not recommended to use it for medical or health purposes.

3. The Right Dosage

Until now, people use Artemisia Annua for herbal medicine or consume it without knowing the right dosage. We should consult it to the doctor to ensure it because it can affect us in the future.

Those are all of the health benefits of Artemisia Annua that we can get from using or consuming it. However, we need to pay attention to the cautions to get the best benefits from it. Good luck and stay healthy.