Power-packed Purslane
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ALA is most commonly found in plants and grass-fed meat and
eggs.r. Artemis Simopoulos, co-author of The Omega Diet,
says purslane is one of the richest known plant sources of
ALA: It contains 15 times the amount found in most iceberg
lettuce.
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In addition to ALA, other omega-3s include eicosapentaenoic
(EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids mostly found in
aquatic plants and animals, especially oily fish.
Nutritionists now think all forms of omega-3s need to be
plentiful in our diets p lants such as purslane may be part
of the missing link to better nutrition. Ethnobiologists
— scientists who study the relation between primitive
human societies and the plants in their environment —
believe that the plants humans ate long ago provided a
greater proportion of nutrients than the plants we consume
today. They estimate, for instance, that humans 40,000 to
10,000 years ago consumed an average of 390 milligrams per
day of vitamin C from wild plants and fruits. In contrast,
the average American today consumes just 88 milligrams of
vitamin C per day. One cup of cooked purslane has 25
milligrams (20 percent of the recommended daily intake) of
vitamin C
Wild and cultivated
Purslane is an annual that thrives in rich soil and prefers
recently turned soils. Its leaves are smooth, thick and
paddle-shaped.epending on the variety, the leaves may grow
from one-half to 2 inches long. Wild purslane grows
horizontally and forms flat, circular mats up to 16 inches
across. Its round, thick stems radiate from the
plant’s center and are often reddish at the base.
About mid-July, purslane develops tiny, yellow flowers
about a quarter of an inch across that usually open only in
full sunlight.
