Traditional Uses: Traditionally used in ancient Mesopotamian, Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese, and Korean medicine for over 5,000 years as a blood purifier, detoxifying tonic, digestive aid, and to treat various conditions, including high blood pressure, skin diseases, fevers, diabetes, and gastrointestinal complaints.
Potential Benefits: May modestly reduce total and LDL cholesterol levels, shows some evidence for reducing disease activity in ulcerative colitis and lowering transfusion needs in beta-thalassemia, and exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties; however, most other claims remain unproven by high-quality human trials.
Warnings: Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding (insufficient safety data); contraindicated in individuals with wheat allergies, celiac disease (due to cross-contamination risk), or grass/pollen allergies; may interact with anticoagulants (e.g., warfarin) due to their high vitamin K content; and diabetes medications may lower blood sugar.
