An earthworm a day keeps...

There’s noni juice and mangosteen juice. Now there’s earthworm juice, recommended as a cure for high blood pressure and other health problems.

Dr. Rafael Guerero III, executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD), said there are enzymes in the tissue of the earthworms that can dissolve blood clot.

A study conducted by a professor at the University of the Philippines-Visayas also found that native earthworms have been used for folkloric healing by "quack doctors" specifically in Bukidnon to heal stomach problems, labor pain, measles, and fever.

The earthworms are prepared as a drink to patients, it said.

A foreign study also revealed that alcoholic extract from tissues of earthworm – eisenia fetida or red worm - has been found in clinical trial to be effective for the treatment of shotty breast wherein one teaspoonful of the preparation is mixed with 50 millimeters of boiled water for three weeks.

Guerero also said earthworms are edible as long as they are found in clean places.

Earthworms contain 65 percent protein which is good for the body, he said.

The PCAMRD is an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology.