Camote Tops May Cure Dengue?

Violet and  green variant of Camote leaves 

This may be true, I tried and tested on my brother who had fever on and off, upon checking on his CBC, low wbc and platelet count ( signs of viral infection), monitoring the platelet count it went lower to 100, so I'm scared for him and also the expenses of a hospital confinement.

I followed a recipe shared by my Alternative Doctor friend  and made him drink boiled camote tops juice/tea and made my brother eat the tops too.  Somehow, It seem works and his platelets went up and fever gone in few days (with rests, hydration and multivitamins). 

Though I will not encourage you to do this "self-diagnosis and self-medications", It is just so happened that my brother has no work at that time and refuse to be brought to a hospital, and I as a Medical Technologist, I tried my best to perform blood works on him like the Dengue blot IgM/IgG and CBC with Platelet count since I suspected him to have a Dengue fever. 

But in case it doesn't work and his plateletes goes down to a  critical level and show signs of bleeding I will definitely rush him to the hospital and if transfusions are needed I have no other choice, but good thing it worked on him or maybe somehow helped him since we are trying to avoid costly hospital confinement.   

I found out that Camote tops juice/tea is a very good health drink since it was very nutritious and great tasting as well (to my surprise). It could be the hydrating power of the juice/tea and the nutrition on it that supports the immune system, though my experiences stated here are pure testimonials and not backed by a real clinical and scientific proof and studies. 

Unless it went through the  process of careful studies, research, both clinical and scientific proofs and documentations, it will be remained as a hearsay or a placebo effect. Our Philippine Government and Health Department has no concrete plan if  they will pursue more studies and research to back our claims (as of this press time). In the past they do a lot of massive campaign for Filipinos to eat fresh vegetables, grow vegetables such as Camote, Kangkong and Malunggay etc. as a way to good health. So there is no harm in trying, camote tops is a staple food for Filipinos anyway.

Research 

“In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato (NCSPC).” 

“…Sweet potato tops are excellent sources of antioxidative compounds, mainly polyphenolics, which may protect the human body from oxidative stress that is associated with many diseases including cancer ad cardiovascular diseases. Sweet potato greens have the highest content of total polyphenolics among other commercial vegetables studied. 

“Sweet potatoes contain protein, dietary fiber, lipid, and essential minerals and nutrients such as calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfur, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, aluminum and boron. Sweet potatoes are also important sources of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and ascorbic acid.” 

Preparation:

Five sheaves (bugkos/ bigkis) of camote cuttings. Each sheaf consists of about 12 cuttings. Each cutting measures about one foot. A sheaf costs about P5. 

Camote tops are boiled in water to extract the juice. The boiling lasts for about five minutes. A little salt is used to give flavor to it. The patient is made to drink slowly and gradually. The body’s immunity system is thus revived, making dengue helpless against the body’s natural defenses. Camote enables the body to heal itself. 

Lemon or Calamansi juice can be added too and honey to sweeten the juice. 

Let 's enjoy Camote!

Here is a delicious, nutritious and refreshing way to make and enjoy camote top juice, boiled fresh camote tops together with fresh lemongrass, set it cool and add fresh lemongrass and mint herb as garnish, natural muscovado sugar maybe added to taste. Picture was taken by yours truly .

 Camote tops juice drink with lemongrass and mint herb

Please read related article on Camote:

Camote as anti-Cancer?
Camote in Manila Bulletin News