A recent study by South Korean scientists suggests that lotus root, a common dish in many Asian countries, is effective in inhibiting the gum disease periodontitis.
Lotus root has high nutritional and medicinal value. Its medicinal values were first recorded more than 2,000 years ago in Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica, which recommended lotus root as beneficial for the blood and spleen. The Ming Dynasty pharmacological work Herbal Foundation Compendium, written about five centuries ago, attributed cardiovascular benefits to lotus root.
All parts of the lotus—roots, leaves, flowers, and fruits—are used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine. In China, lotus root is often ground into a powder and turned into a gelatinous, soup-like paste, to be consumed by adults and children, as well as the elderly and sick….