Decoct the fresh leaves and add sugar to taste. Drink the soup several times a day.

Dry the leaves and cut into pieces. Use the leaves for tea and drink several times a day.

The drink may clear the heat, relax the chest and quench thirst. Long-term use of the drink helps in weight loss.

Lotus leaf and hawthorn fruit

Prepare 10 grams of fresh lotus leaves, 10 grams of hawthorn fruit and 6 grams of coix seed (yiren, available in drug stores).

Cook the mixture into tea and drink twice a day.

The tea expels wind, improves the appetite and lowers blood lipids.

(Shanghai Star 08/20/2001)