Healthy Food Challenge-week1: Beautiful and Healthy Flowers

Once while having lunch with friends at a café in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, we were served a cold blue drink. The taste is distinctively floral and slightly sour because it is mixed with lime.

_{Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) | My own photos}

Intrigued, I asked a friend about the drink. He said the drink was made from butterfly pea flowers and had many health benefits. Curiosity, made me check various information in the media about this flower.

It turns out that many butterfly pea flowers grow wild around where I live. This type of plant is a creeper with blue, some purple flowers.

Friday afternoon February 16 2024, after accompanying children to play basketball at the housing complex, I thought I would make a drink from butterfly pea flowers to quench my thirst after exercise. I picked butterfly pea flowers in the empty land around the house.

_{Butterfly pea plant | My own photos}

After sports, my children and I mixed drinks from butterfly pea flowers. First, the water is heated, then put in the washed butterfly pea flowers, adds a sugar and stir.

Second, the mixture is filtered and then cooled for a moment while mixing in lime juice to strengthen the taste. Third, mix ice into it. Ready-to-drink drinks, we drink them to quench thirst.

_{Butterfly pea flower drink | My own photos}

Butterfly pea are beneficial for health because they contain anthocyanin compounds, vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and other active compounds that are antioxidants, such as flavonoids, kaemphferol, p-Coumaric acid, and delphinidin. source

Therefore, butterfly pea flowers are suitable to drink at any time; morning, afternoon and evening. Can be an alternative for those of you who like tea and various vegetable and fruit juices.

Some of the benefits of butterfly pea flowers are; able to overcome fever, relieve allergy symptoms, prevent hair loss, cure diarrhea, reduce weight, prevent senility and wrinkles, prevent diabetes, and prevent the growth of cancer cells.

Butterfly pea flowers are also used to make supplements, ingredients for cosmetics, skincare, soap and shampoo.

If you find butterfly pea flowers around where you live, try making them into cheap and easy health drinks from time to time.[]

I invite colleagues: @munaa, @bukutaqin and @suryanitj to take part in this challenge in Healthy Steem

Best regards
@abuarkan