More Omega-3 Than Salmon Per Leaf. Why Is the World's Most Nutritious Plant Classified as a Weed?

Описание: 5x More Omega-3 Than Spinach, Impossible to Kill: They Spend $40 Billion Destroying This Ancient Superfood

There's a plant with red stems in your driveway right now that contains more omega-3 fatty acids than salmon, not per pound, per leaf. It's been feeding humans for 4,000 years, and in 2022, scientists at Yale discovered it does something no other plant on Earth can do. The herbicide industry spends $40 billion making sure you never learn its name.
This is the story of purslane (Portulaca oleracea), the super plant that solved a biological problem scientists didn't know existed, and why we were taught to destroy it.

🔬 THE SCIENCE:

Archaeological evidence shows purslane cultivation dating to 1050 BC in Greece, with seeds found in the Samian Heraion (7th century BC) and cultivation instructions from Theophrastus (4th century BC). Pre-Columbian presence in North America confirmed by seeds dated to 800 BC in Kentucky and 1350 AD in Ontario.

The Seven Countries Study (1960) tracked 12,763 men across seven countries for 50 years. The farmers of Crete had the lowest cardiovascular mortality despite consuming 35%+ calories from fat. In the 1980s, researchers discovered Cretans had 3X the omega-3 levels of similar populations, from eating purslane daily.

Dr. Artemis Simopoulos' 1992 analysis revealed purslane contains 300-400mg of alpha-linolenic acid per 100g fresh leaves, 5-7X more than spinach, 15X more than iceberg lettuce. Uniquely among land plants, purslane also produces trace amounts of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), a marine omega-3.

Additional nutrients: 7X more vitamin E than spinach, 6X more beta-carotene than carrots, plus melatonin, glutathione, potassium (494mg/100g), magnesium (68mg/100g), and calcium (65mg/100g).

The Lyon Diet Heart Study tested 605 heart attack patients. The group eating a Mediterranean diet rich in purslane had 70% fewer deaths from all causes after 5 years. The study was stopped early because continuing became unethical.

In 2022, Dr. Erika Edwards' team at Yale published findings in Science Advances showing purslane integrates both C4 and CAM photosynthesis in the same cells simultaneously—something previously thought biologically impossible. This allows purslane to thrive in extreme drought while growing faster than almost any other plant.

Purslane survives on 1/5 the water corn needs, produces 200,000 seeds per plant (viable 40 years), and grows in soil so salty most crops die in days.

💰 THE SUPPRESSION:

The global herbicide market reached $40 billion in 2024. Companies like Bayer, Syngenta, and Corteva sell products specifically to kill purslane. Homeowners associations prohibit it. Agricultural extension offices publish eradication guides.

Why? Purslane cannot be patented, cannot be genetically modified to be sterile, and has been reproducing freely for 4,000 years. Every other omega-3 source, wild fish, farmed salmon, flaxseed oil, fish oil supplements, is a controlled market. Purslane grows for free everywhere humans live.

📚 SOURCES:

Simopoulos, A.P. et al. (1992). Common purslane: a source of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
Edwards, E. et al. (2022). Portulaca oleracea integrates C4 and CAM photosynthesis. Science Advances.
Keys, A. (1986). The Seven Countries Study. American Journal of Epidemiology.
de Lorgeril, M. et al. (1999). Lyon Diet Heart Study final report. Circulation.
Chapman, J. et al. (1974). Archaeological evidence for precolumbian introduction of Portulaca oleracea. Economic Botany.
Uddin, M.K. et al. (2014). Purslane Weed: A Prospective Plant Source of Nutrition, Omega-3 Fatty Acid, and Antioxidant Attributes. The Scientific World Journal.
Byrne, R. & McAndrews, J.H. (1975). Pre-Columbian purslane in the New World. Nature.

#SustainableLiving #forgottenhistory #Omega3 #Foraging #WildEdibles #Homesteading #UrbanForaging #FoodSovereignty #MediterraneanDiet #SuperPlant