Plantain Seeds Can Lower LDL Cholesterol

Or so I read in “Wildman” Steve Brill’s book, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places.  

The plantain to which I refer is of the genus Plantago, not to be confused with the banana-like fruit (Alisma species) that is good fried with brown sugar and cream. Plantagos include many different species and are common to lawns, fields, and disturbed areas. They were originally introduced to North America by early European settlers because of their medicinal qualities. Native people called them “the white man’s footprint” (Brill, 1994) because they are roughly footprint-shaped and seemed to spring up wherever the white man stepped.     

Noticing plantain in one my plant guides, my friend Olena from Ukraine exclaimed, “Where is that plant? I miss that plant!” before explaining how back home she would crush a leaf and apply it to a cut to stop the bleeding. 

“Externally, as a vulnerary, it sterilizes, reduces pain, promotes clotting and speeds healing” on account of the antihemorrhagic vitamin K, explain Kathryn G. and Andrew L. March in Common Edible and Medicinal Plants of Colorado. Simply bruise the leaves and apply to the injured area. Internally, they explain that an infusion of the leaves has been used by various cultures throughout history to treat coughs; urinary, gastric, and intestinal ills; and high blood pressure. 

“Wildman” Steve Brill (1994) goes into further detail about the plant’s medicinal uses, so I recommend his book for people interested in reading more about this topic. According to Brill, all species of plantain contain mucilage, a carbohydrate fiber that reduces LDL (low-density lipro-protein) cholesterol and triglycerides, thereby helping to prevent heart disease. He states that “plantain seeds’ mucilaginous fiber…acts as a gentle laxative…and reduces intestinal absorption of fat and bile.”    

Gregg’s ears perked up when I mentioned that the plant could help to reduce LDL cholesterol, since he recently discovered that his is too high.  

Plantain is common throughout the United States, although less so at our altitude in mountainous Colorado. Undeterred, I jumped at the chance to plant some last summer after Gregg’s step-dad Jim weeded it out of his Denver garden. I transplanted two plantains in our back yard at 11,000 feet and two at Olena’s house at 9,600 feet. I’m happy to say that one of my two plants came up again this summer and even went to seed, although it is much smaller than its Denver parents. I’m not sure how Olena’s fared—possibly better, since the altitude is lower, but possibly worse, if the home-owner’s association weeded around the condos as anticipated.  

The plantain bounty has been much larger this summer, on account of an entire shopping bag full of plantain that Jim weeded out of his garden and brought up to the mountains. In my recent clover entry, I alluded to leaving the plantain to rot in the fridge, but then, feeling guilty, I pulled it out the next day and found that it had fared the week well in the refrigerator. So, I trimmed off the small leaves (to eat), crushed a few large leaves to apply to my bruised foot (that’s a whole other story), and then planted the rest in a makeshift garden off the end of the back yard next to my fledgling purslane garden. They are healthy specimens with seed stalks, so even if they don’t take I’m hoping the seeds will mature so I can help treat Gregg’s cholesterol problem, starting with Brill’s recipe for Plantain Seed-Quinoa Pilaf.  

I also found some interesting recipes in A Naturalist’s Guide to Cooking with Wild Plants for young plantain leaves so I chopped those up and blanched them to preserve until our return from a short jaunt to Fort Collins, CO.  

Plantain—I’ve seen it all my life. Sitting in a circle on the field during gym class in elementary school, I remember idly pulling the leaves off plantain plants while trying to keep the long white fibers intact. “Stop pulling the earth’s hair!” my teacher yelled at me. Had I known they were edible at the time, I’m sure she would have ended up yelling something else entirely!

Tagged with: Colorado • Denver • east coast • introduced • New York • non-native • plantain • urban foraging

Filed under: edible • medicinal

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