Allium schoenoprasum Origin- USA

Freeze Dried

Also known as

Allium schoenoprasum.

Introduction

If you're a vegan and you don't make chicken soup, what do you take for a cold? The answer from Traditional Chinese Medicine is to make a soup with tofu or miso and chives. In 190 AD, the venerable master Zhang Zhong Zhing, whose Treatise on Cold is still the basic text of herbal taught to doctors in China today, recommended chives and soy to "open the pores" of the skin, inducing sweating, to sweat out the "environmental evil" he associated with cold and we associate with viruses.

Constituents

Alanine (antioxidant, cancer preventative), allyl-mercaptan, beta-carotene, caffeic acid, citric acid, ferulic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, Isoleucine, kaempferol, malic acid, methionine, niacin, octacosanol, quercetin, thiamine, vitamin C.

Parts Used

The fresh or dried stem, chopped.

Typical Preparations

Can be used to make teas, but more often used in cooking.

Summary

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, chives warm the kidney and increase the yang. Chives are used to maintain male potency, and a study published in the November 2002 Journal of the National Cancer Institute (of the United States) found that men who consumed the greatest amounts of chives had a 70% lower risk of developing cancer of the prostate.

Precautions

None.

For educational purposes only

This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Information Obtained from mountain rose herbs @ http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/

Folklore Information