Medicines

Lotus

Category: Medicines - plant based

Type

Voluntary

Introduction and description

Nelumbo known by the common name lotus or Water lotus, is a plant in the Nelumbonaceae family. There are two similar living species in the genus:

The Sacred lotus Nelumbo nucifera is better known. Native to Tropical Asia, it is commonly cultivated in water gardens and is found as far afield as Queensland in Australia. It is also used in Chinese medicine and cooking. This species is the national flower of Egypt, India and Vietnam. In other words it is a widespread plant growing all over Asia, parts of Australia and parts of Africa. It is also known as the Rose of India

The American lotus Nelumbo lutea is native to North America and the Caribbean - Eastern United States, Mexico, Greater Antilles, and Honduras.

This description will concentrate on Nelumbo Nucifera. Having said this, horticultural hybrids have been produced between these two geographically separated species, which makes identification and chemical analysis difficult.

Botanically, Nelumbo nucifera may also be referred to by its former names, Nelumbium speciosum or Nymphaea nelumbo. It is not related to water lilies despite the old name.

Background

A bit of history

The effects of lotus were known to the ancient Greeks and Ancient Egyptians amongst many others. The Odyssey described well the land of the Lotus Eaters.
Why do we talk, for example, of the ‘lotus’ position. If you think about it, the seated position has no obvious links with a lotus at all, but of course if the Hindu holy man sat with his lotus brew and drank a sip in that position, we have a more meaningful association, although its symbolism also comes into play here.
In Hindu religious literature, Surya is often depicted with two hands holding a lotus. Vishnu, the Indian god known as the preserver, is depicted as a blue bee resting on a lotus flower.
The ‘Sahasrara chakra’ has a special place in much Hindu and eastern religious thought. It is the name given to the crown chakra. It is symbolized by a lotus with one thousand petals. So there is a very direct link here between Hindu spiritual experience and the lotus flower.

The chemical analysis

It is difficult to show just what a very complex plant the lotus is, without showing its chemical composition, so in the following table I will list the chemicals as they are recorded in the Dr Duke database. You should be able to see that the rhizome might be better classified as a food, the flower has its own very unique properties and the seed is highly nutritious - both rhizome and seed contain a good supply of vitamins and minerals - and thus might also be better thought of as a food. [β-carotene is a precursor (inactive form) to vitamin A] .

Lotus appears to be an extraordinarily good source of the amino acids regarded as essential for humans - phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, and histidine. Additionally, cysteine (or sulphur-containing amino acids), tyrosine (or aromatic amino acids), and arginine are always required by infants and growing children. I have indicated in green the aminoacids the plant contains. They are almost a complete food.

From Dr Duke’s database of plants and chemicals

Part of Plant	Chemical showing low and high ppm
Flower	HYPEROSIDE ISOQUERCETIN KAEMPFEROL-3-GLUCURONIDE LUTEOLIN MERATINE QUERCETIN QUERCETIN-3-GLUCURONIDE
Rhizome	ALANINE 540 2585 ARGININE 880 4210 ASCORBIC-ACID 15 ASH 9700 68000 ASPARAGINE 20000 ASPARTIC-ACID 3690 17655 BETA-CAROTENE CALCIUM 450 3704 CARBOHYDRATES 120000 824880 CYSTINE 220 1055 FAT 1000 6790 FIBER 8000 49383 GADOLEIC-ACID 20 95 GLUTAMIC-ACID 1390 6650 GLYCINE 1560 7464 HISTIDINE 380 1820 IRON 7 70 ISOLEUCINE 540 2585 KILOCALORIES 560 2680 LEUCINE 690 3300 LINOLEIC-ACID 140 670 LINOLENIC-ACID 60 285 LYSINE 940 4500 MAGNESIUM 200 1215 METHIONINE 220 1050 MUFA 200 955 MYRISTIC-ACID NIACIN 21 130 OLEIC-ACID 140 670 PALMITIC-ACID 280 1340 PALMITOLEIC-ACID 20 95 PHENYLALANINE 470 2250 PHOSPHORUS 1000 4785 POTASSIUM 3820 34925 PROLINE 1360 6500 PROTEIN 26000 167000 PUFA 200 955 RAFFINOSE REDUCING-SUGARS 15600 96296 RIBOFLAVIN 0.6 3.7 SERINE 600 2870 SODIUM 395 1935 STACHYOSE STARCH 92500 570988 STEARIC-ACID 10 50 SUCROSE 4100 25309 TANNIC-ACID THIAMIN 2.2 14 THREONINE 510 2440 TRIGONELLINE TRYPTOPHAN 200 955 TYROSINE 290 1390 VALINE 550 2630 WATER 750000 838000
Seed	ALANINE 2390 7242 ARGININE 3380 10242 ARSENIC 0.11 ASCORBIC-ACID ASH 9000 52000 ASPARTIC-ACID 5050 15303 BETA-CAROTENE 0.06 0.18 CALCIUM 590 13333 CARBOHYDRATES 139000 762000 COPPER 17 CYSTINE 540 1636 ERUCIC-ACID 310 939 FAT 2000 27000 FIBER 10700 131000 GADOLEIC-ACID 120 364 GLUTAMIC-ACID 9570 29000 GLUTATHIONE GLYCINE 2210 6697 HISTIDINE 1150 3485 IRON 9.5 71 ISOLEUCINE 2050 6212 ISOLIENSININE KILOCALORIES 630 3900 LEUCINE 3260 9879 LIENSININE LINOLEIC-ACID 2850 8636 LINOLENIC-ACID 270 818 LOTUSINE LYSINE 2640 8000 MAGNESIUM 560 2650 MANGANESE 125 METHIONINE 720 2182 MUFA 1040 3152 MYRISTIC-ACID 10 30 N-NOR-ARMEPAVINE N-NORNUCIFERINE NEFERIN NIACIN 4 78 NUCIFERINE O-METHYLCORYPALLINE OLEIC-ACID 620 1879 OXOUSHINSUNINE PALMITIC-ACID 770 2333 PHENYLALANINE 2060 6242 PHOSPHORUS 590 7130 POTASSIUM 3670 16652 PROLINE 3440 10424 PRONUCIFERINE PROTEIN 41300 242000 PUFA 3120 9454 RIBOFLAVIN 0.4 2.6 SERINE 2520 7636 SFA 880 2667 SODIUM 10 490 THIAMIN 1.5 7.5 THREONINE 2000 6060 TRYPTOPHAN 590 1788 TYROSINE 1000 3030 VALINE 2660 8061 WATER 143000 80200 ZINC 28
Rest of Plant	1-(P-HYDROXYBENZYL)-6,7-DIHYDROXY-1,2,3,4-TETRAHYDROISOQU... Plant 2-HYDROXY-1-METHOXYAPORPHINE Plant 4'METHYL-N-METHYLCOCLAURINE Leaf ANONAINE Leaf CALCIUM Fruit 1360 1511 CARBOHYDRATES Fruit 666000 740000 CERYL-ALCOHOL Leaf CETYL-ALCOHOL Leaf D-CATECHIN Root D-GALLOCATECHIN Root D-PRONUCIFERINE Leaf DEHYDROANONAINE Leaf DEHYDRONUCIFERINE Leaf DEHYDROROEMERINE Leaf DL-ARMEPAVINE Leaf DL-N-NORARMEPAVINE Stem FAT Fruit 24000 26667 FIBER Fruit 26000 28889 GLUCOLUTEOLIN Leaf HIGENAMINE Plant ISOLIENSINE Plant KAEMPFEROL Plant LEUCOCYANIDIN Leaf LEUCODELPHINIDIN Leaf LIRIODENINE Leaf LIRIODENINE Stem LOTUSINE-CHLORIDE Embryo LUTEOLIN-7-GLUCOSIDE Embryo N-METHYLCOCLAURINE Leaf N-METHYLISOCOCLAURINE Leaf NELUMBINE Leaf NELUMBOSIDE Leaf NEO-CHLOROGENIC-ACID Root NORNUCIFERINE Leaf NUCIFERINE Leaf PHOSPHORUS Fruit 2940 3267 PROTEIN Fruit 172000 191111 REDUCING-SUGARS Fruit 24000 26667 ROBININ Plant ROEMERINE Leaf RUTIN Embryo SUCROSE Fruit 41000 45556

Seeds and leaf - If we take just some of the chemicals as an example, Nuciferine, in the seeds and leaf, has a calming sedating effect.

Flowers - The stamens of the flowers appear to be AchE inhibitors. Acetylcholinesterase, also known as AChE is an enzyme that degrades the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine (often abbreviated ACh) is a neurotransmitter that is the body’s answer to deep relaxation and the meditative state, as such an AchE inhibitor has the effect of boosting any of this endogenous neurotransmitter we have in our bodies. It stops the degradation process and in some senses acts a bit like Acetylcholine itself. If you follow the link you will be able to see what Acetylcholine and AchE inhibitors do in detail, but Acetylcholine in simplified terms helps to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system – it acts as a relaxant.

It is also worth adding that the plant also appears to have considerable antiviral activity.

Sacred lotus and the Mysteries

In the days of the Ancient Egyptians and the Mystery religions when sexual stimulation was key to obtaining a spiritual experience, Lotus flowers were regarded as sacred, because if your parasympathetic nervous system is active, men get an erection, but they don’t get ejaculation because it takes an excitatory response to get the ejaculation.

Nelumbo nucifera diamond Blue

The importance of the lotus from the point of view of Mystery religions is well summarised by the fact that it appears to be a natural contraceptive for women. Nelumbo nucifera seeds have been used as an antifertility agent in females by the local tribes of Rajasthan [in India] especially of Udaipur district for some time and the Iranian Journal of Reproductive Medicine Vol 6 2008 ‘Effect of Nelumbo nucifera seeds on the reproductive organs of rats’ – Anja Mutreja Msc et al, reported that their use was well justified by clinical proof [at least in rats].

Method

This is advice from a site which sells lotus extract, and it makes interesting reading because apart from being useful advice, hints at medical uses as yet undiscovered for the flowers, or at least they may be known but no papers on Pubmed seem to cover them

Using Lotus flower extract

Do not use if you are on diabetes type drugs. Theoretically, lotus may lower blood sugar levels. Caution is advised when using medications that may also lower blood sugar. Patients taking drugs for diabetes by mouth or insulin should be monitored closely by a qualified healthcare professional, including a pharmacist. Medication adjustments may be necessary.

Do not use it if you have low blood pressure. Although few adverse effects in humans seem to have been reported for lotus, it will lower blood pressure.

Do not use Lotus if you are using blood thinners, and caution is advised in patients taking agents that may increase the risk of bleeding. Dosing adjustments may be necessary.

Do not take with Ginkgo biloba. Multiple cases of bleeding have been reported with the use of Ginkgo biloba. This may be because they both have anti-platelet action.

Do not use it if you are on tablet or other drugs for lowering blood pressure – for the same reasons as above, the plant itself lowers blood pressure.

You should not use Lotus when you are pregnant or breast feeding principally because there is a lack of available scientific evidence on all its effects.

Although cannabis and alcohol seem to work with lotus without causing problems, all other combinations are best avoided.

Advantages

Lotus appears to be a plant with a huge potential as a food and medicine, but used in its plant form, not as an extract or essence.

Disadvantages

Research seems to have lagged behind anecdotal and historical use making any recommendation about its use difficult

There have sadly been cases where so called lotus extract is not lotus extract, the market is not regulated

The flowers may be addictive if not treated strictly as a medicine, to be used only when needed, and with the extracts it is very easy to overdose

Finally, I want to comment on [its] addictive potential. It does efficiently decrease anxiety and does have slight pain reducing properties.
I have a large amount of it around, [and] there isn't a day that goes by that I don't use it and there never seems to be a mood that does not accept its use. It reminds me somewhat of Cocaine in that I don't typically like to stop using it once I start, …..As for the addictive qualities, I have actually used it enough to develop a mild withdrawal syndrome. The withdrawal noted was characterized by anxiety and restlessness. …. The symptoms were only decreased by more use of the Lotus flower. Although I do not believe it to be very addictive, it does have some addictive qualities.

Hmmmmmm.

References and further reading

Selective cholinesterase inhibitory activities of a new monoterpene diglycoside and other constituents from Nelumbo nucifera stamens - Jung HA, Jung YJ, Hyun SK, Min BS, Kim DW, Jung JH, Choi JS; Division of Food Science and Biotechnology, Pukyong National University, Busan 37, Republic of Korea. "………... N. nucifera stamens-derived compounds potentially exert their primary … effects as AChE inhibitors rather than BACE1 inhibitors".

Related observations

Meeting Morrison and God on the Moon by Rhythm King 014812

Meeting Morrison and God on the Moon by Rhythm King 014812

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Lotus

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Introduction and description