What is Ethnomedicine?

Ethnomedicine or ethnomedicinal practices surround the use of traditional forms of medicine, and how different cultures use it in healthcare practices. Ethnomedicine also spans a wide variety of fields, with links to biology, anthropology, and medicine. 

Ethnomedicine is also practiced across a wide variety of cultures, and often, this field goes hand in hand with ethnobotany, which studies the interaction between plants and people, and the different applications and viewpoints that exist in different cultures.

Ethnomedicinal practices are often used as a means of healing and treatment for various health-related issues, and uses natural products such as plants to do so, which can contain some key healing properties.

Are Popped Water Lily Seeds Ethnomedicinal?

There are quite a few interesting links between popped water lily seeds, ethnomedicine and ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic medicine, a form of ethnomedicine that has been used for hundreds of years, has a strong correlation with popped lily water seeds. 

Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a way of living that has been practiced for centuries in India to maintain good health. It is a combination of health and lifestyle with practices of yoga, meditation, dietary adjustments, and lifestyle practices. The focus of Ayurveda is holistic, the mind and body are one and the approaches used are to treat and maintain both the mind and body through whole and natural practices. 

In Ayurvedic medicinal practices, lily seeds are said to contribute positively to healthy levels of blood sugar and blood pressure. The seed is also used as a natural approach to healing and in the treatment of renal disorder, chronic diarrhoea, liver dysfunctioning (hepatic liver), and reproductive system issues (leucorrhea). In Ayurveda the daily consumption of lily seeds is the holistic approach to building immunity and healing the body. 

Popped lily water seeds themselves offer a host of benefits, such as supplying a great amount of amino acids, fibre, and protein, along with being low in cholesterol and sodium. These seeds are a 100% plant-based ingredient that have been used for centuries by cultures focused on a more holistic and natural approach to healing. 

Popped water lily seeds, which are harvested from water lily plants called Euryale ferox, are not only important in ethnomedicinal practices such as Ayurvedic medicine, but are also a healthy snack option especially for those with dietary restrictions.

Now that you know the history of popped lily water seeds and how they connect to ethnomedicine, learn more about our ingredients and our product and what makes this delicious snack so unique!

Sources:

https://ariseonthego.ca/pages/our-ingredients 

https://ariseonthego.ca/blogs/blog/what-are-popped-water-lily-seeds 

https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-4269-1-1 

Pieroni, A., Price, L.L. & Vandebroek, I. Welcome to Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine 1, 1 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-1-1

https://www.imedpub.com/ethnomedicine/ 

Mittal, R., Sharma, S., & Mittal, A. (2020). A Critical Review on Ethnobotanical and Pharmacological Aspects of Euryale Ferox Salisb. Pharmacognosy Journal, 12(6).

Blog by: Jessica Counti and Gurveer Bahia