Is Ashitaba Safe?

Ashitaba is a natural Green Whole Food , not medicine. So you can drink as many cups of Ashitaba tea as you would any other tea. You can include Ashitaba as an ingredient in your diet as you would any other herb or vegetable. The body will then take the nutrients it needs to restore or maintain a healthy balance.

Ashitaba Ice cream

The Japanese eat the leaves raw or cooked, make Ashitaba tea by pressing the leaves, sprinkle finely ground Ashitaba powder over a variety of foods like yogurt, and include the powder as a healthy, functional ingredient in products like baked goods and noodles.

Ashitaba Vegetable Sesame Bowl

 

Originally, the Japanese treated Ashitaba leaves like other greens, such as kale, eating them raw or cooking them in various dishes. “Then they started looking at its nutritional profile,” says Hackel, President and CEO of Japan Bio Science Laboratory—USA, and found that it was quite high in a number of important nutrients. That’s when they started making Ashitaba powders. Ashitaba contains, per 100 grams of raw leaf: 65.0 mg calcium, 5.3 grams fiber, 1.0 mg iron, 3,700 µg beta-carotene, 2,100 µg vitamin A, 0.1 mg vitamin B1, 0.24 mg vitamin B2 and 55 mg vitamin C. Research has demonstrated a range of heath benefits associated with ashitaba intake, including visceral fat reduction, improved fat metabolism, improved glucose tolerance, lower blood pressure, improved circulation, higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, lower triglyceride levels and decreased inflammation, among others.

Ashitaba steamed

 The whole-leaf Ashitaba powder has a pleasant, green, vegetative, mild flavor with a touch of sweetness—and it’s 100% powdered Ashitaba leaf, nothing is added. "You could just pick up a leaf off the ground and pop it into your mouth, and it tastes good,” says Hackel. However, the chalcone powder (30% ashitaba sap and 70% branched cyclodextrin) is quite bitter and requires judicious use of flavors and masking agents.

Ashitaba Tempura

 Ashitaba use has been shown to be SAFE, as there are no side effects.

However it should be noted that few individuals, may have a Herxheimer reaction when first starting the use of Ashitaba. This is actually good. This is the process of detoxification in action.

For most individuals, any Herxheimer reaction could be readily described as causing "flu-like" symptoms or it may cause a rash. It may last as long as two weeks.

Increased water intake with fresh lemon juice added to the water will usually help alleviate the symptoms faster. Another alternative is to reduce the amount of ashitaba intake and build the body's tolerance, then slowly increase to the desired level of intake.