HIGHLANDERS have used it through the ages to help them perform great feats of strength while staving off hunger and thirst. Roman soldiers also took it to give them the endurance to fight prolonged battles against the barbarian hordes.
Now heath pea, a long-forgotten wild Scottish plant, is to be reinvented for the 21st-century as a potential aid for dieters.
King Henry II was rumored to have given it to his plump royal mistresses. Monks were sure to do it to help them fast for days on end. Yes, all of them were eating the heath pea.
Also known as Lathyrus linifolins or bitter vetch, the heath pea was used during the Middle Ages to curb appetite. A native to the picturesque morrows of the Scottish Highlands, the heath pea is a fern-like plant with purple flowers.
Much to the interest of nutritional entrepreneurs, historians recently stumbled upon this Scottish native in archaeological digs and in freshly found manuscripts. The manuscripts articulate that when the Scots ate the bitter vetch, they experienced no hunger pangs and claimed to maintain a constant energy level throughout the day. Mostly used during times of famine, the heath pea greatly increased the Scots’ liveliness.
Before you run out to your closest morrow–which is great exercise–and grab a bitter vetch root, wait until the results come out in the coming years.
http://healthdailyonline.com/2011/11/heath-pea-offers-medievalists-a-solution-to-weight-loss/
Stannous Flouride's Book of Truthiness 