Pusley
Quick Facts
- What it is: A fleshy edible weed, Portulaca oleracea, eaten as a green and used in Caribbean folk medicine.
- Main uses: Everyday nutrition and omega-3 intake, Mild upset stomach, Blood sugar support in type 2 diabetes, Minor skin irritation
- Active ingredients: Alpha-linolenic acid, Betalains, Flavonoids, Vitamin C, Beta-carotene, Potassium and magnesium, Mucilage, Oxalates
- Forms: Fresh greens, Dried herb tea, Fresh juice, Poultice, Seeds and seed powder, Capsules and extracts
- Time to effect: Nutrition from the first meal; studied effects took weeks, and may not come at all.
- Side effects: Usually mild gut upset; the real concerns are kidney stones and low blood sugar.
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What is Pusley?
Pusley is a low, fleshy weed that people eat as a green. Its botanical name is Portulaca oleracea. In the Caribbean it is also called verdolaga and koupye.
The leaves are thick, tart and a little salty. Cooks put them in soups, stews and salads. Home healers also brewed them as a tea, or mashed them onto the skin.
Here is the short verdict. As a food, pusley is a good source of omega-3 fat, vitamins and minerals. As a medicine, human proof is thin.
Long use in tradition is not proof. It does not show the plant works, and it does not show it is safe.
How does Pusley work?
Most of what is claimed for pusley comes from lab and animal work, not from people.
In test tubes, purslane extracts mop up free radicals, the unstable molecules that damage cells. In animals, extracts have lowered blood sugar and blood fats. Whether that happens in people at normal amounts is not settled.
The plant holds mucilage, a slimy soluble fibre. Fibre of this kind coats and soothes tissue, which may explain the old use for sore gut and sore skin. That is a plausible idea, not a proven one.
Pusley is rich in alpha-linolenic acid, a plant omega-3 fat. Diets high in this fat track with better heart measures. Those findings come from diet studies, not from trials of the plant itself.
In animal tests it also acts as a mild diuretic, meaning it makes you pass more urine. People report the same effect, but it has not been measured well in trials.
What forms does Pusley come in?
Most people meet pusley as a plain green vegetable, not as a product.
Fresh leaves and stems: eaten raw in salad, or cooked into soup and stew.
Dried herb: brewed as a tea.
Fresh juice: pressed from the crushed plant.
Poultice: the mashed plant laid on skin.
Seeds: eaten whole or ground to powder. Most of the blood sugar research used seed powder.
Capsules, powders and liquid extracts: sold as supplements. Strength varies a lot between brands.
Food use and supplement use are not the same thing. A bowl of cooked greens is far weaker than a concentrated capsule.
Where it comes from:
Pusley has a long record in the Caribbean as both food and folk remedy.
In Cuba and the Dominican Republic it was known as verdolaga. In Haiti it was called koupye. Cooks boiled the greens, and household healers brewed the leaves as a tea.
Island folk use leaned on it for upset stomach, worms in children, burns and insect bites. Mashed leaves were laid on sores and swellings. Spanish and African cooking habits carried it through the region.
The plant also spread far beyond the Caribbean. It turns up in old Chinese, Indian, Greek and Arab writing, often for fever, thirst and bowel trouble.
Who should avoid Pusley?
- Never pick wild pusley unless you are certain of the plant; spurge, a toxic look-alike with milky sap, grows in the same ground.
- Never gather it from roadsides, car parks or sprayed land, because it takes up metals and nitrates.
- Do not eat it often, and avoid supplements, if you have had calcium oxalate kidney stones, the most common stone type.
- Do not use seed powder, extracts or capsules if you are pregnant; it was used in tradition to bring on periods, and animal work suggests it may make the womb contract.
- Do not use supplement forms while breastfeeding, as safety has not been studied.
- Do not add pusley supplements to insulin or diabetes tablets without telling your doctor, because your blood sugar may fall too low.
- Avoid supplement amounts if you have kidney disease or are on dialysis, because of the high potassium and oxalate.
- Do not take it alongside lithium unless your doctor checks your blood levels.
- Do not eat large amounts in the days before surgery, as it may affect blood sugar and blood pressure.
When should you see a doctor?
Stop and see a doctor if you get pain in your side or back, blood in your urine, or pain when passing urine. These can be signs of a kidney stone.
Get urgent help for a swollen face, lips or tongue, or trouble breathing. That can be a severe allergic reaction.
Also call your doctor if you have repeated shaking, sweating or confusion while on diabetes medicine. See someone if a stomach or skin problem does not settle within two weeks.
Is Pusley legal where you live?
In the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, pusley is an ordinary food plant and is also sold as a dietary supplement. It is not approved as a drug for any illness, and supplement makers do not need to prove it works before they sell it.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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