Guduchi (Ayurveda) Cinthil Thandu (Siddha) Gilo (Unani) Zet al-Roomi, Zet al-Buta (Arabic) Sle tresསླེ་ཏྲེས(Tibetan) Kuan Jin Teng (TCM)
Tinospora cordifolia
Tinospora cordifolia with fruit (Photo by Sanu N) (Wikimedia)
Tinospora cordifolia stems as used in Tibetan Medicine. (Adam, 2016)
Botanical name:
Tinospora cordifolia (syn. Menispermum cordifolium, Cocculus cordifolius) Related species used similarly include T. crispa, T. malabarica (syn. T. sinensis, T. tormentosa) which are generally regarded as weaker.
Parts used:
Stem (Caulis) is most used; Stem and Root; sometimes the whole plant
1. Clears Heat and Damp: -Diarrhea, Dysentery, Gonorrhea -Epigastric pain from Heat -Jaundice
2. Clears Wind and Heat, Resists Toxin (TCM, Ayurveda, Tibetan): -Fever, Intermittent Fever, Epidemic Fevers -Sore Throat, Diphtheria -Boils, Carbuncles -skin diseases including Leprosy -Venomous Bites including the bites of poisonous Insects and Snake bite
3. Clear Wind and Damp, Reduces Pain (Ayurveda, Tibetan Medicine, TCM): -regarded as specific for Gout -Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
4. Clears Hot Phlegm, Stops Cough: -heat-type Cough, Bronchitis -Tuberculosis
5. Benefits Qi and Yin: –Rasayana: regarded as strengthening in Ayurveda; good for general debility, especially after Fever and chronic Illness -premature ageing caused by depletion of 7 Body constituents (Tibetan Medicine) -regarded as promoting Longevity. -Diabetes
Dose:
1. To clear Phlegm and Ama, use with Ginger; for Ama-Vata (rheumatoid arthritis), with Ginger; for Ama Kapha, with Long Pepper, and for Ama Pitta, use with Neem. Decoction (of the stem): 6–18 grams Powder: 2–6 grams Tincture (1:2 in 95% alcohol): 2–5 mls.
1. Sophora flavescens (Ku Shen) is regarded as a substitute in Tibetan Medicine. 2. Stephania delavayi (syn. Stephania epigaea) is also used as a substitute in Tibetan Medicine. (Norbu)
Comment:
1. This is a very special medicine in Ayurveda. It is bitter, astringent and pungent, and is slightly warming. In addition, it has a ‘post-digestion’ taste of being sweet (according to Ayurveda). It is regarded as good to clear Pitta/Bile and Kapha/Phlegm, while regulating Vata/Wind and digesting Ama (toxic residue of undigested food). It is also viewed as an Aphrodisiac and Sperm-promoting medicine, and promotes Longevity. 2. TCM also uses the root of T. sagittata and T. capillipes, called Jin Guo Lan. It is used very similarly to the Stem of T. cordifolia, being listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for swollen sore Throat, boils and carbuncles, diarrhea and dysentery, and for Epigastric pain from Heat. Its dose in decoction is 3–9 grams.
Main Combinations:
1. Gout, Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis: i. Tinospora has been combined in clinical trials in India with Galangal was positive results. ii. Tinospora with Bdellium iii. Tincospora and Costus (Wind-Damp type) iv. clinical trials used a decoction of Tinospora with Ginger for Rheumatoid Arthritis and compared it to Ayurvedic formulas traditionally used for that condition such as Yograj Guggul. All treatments reduced pain and swelling, but the Tinospora and Ginger group was most effective. (Prem et al., J Res Ayurveda Siddha, 1980) v. Tinospora with Ginger, Aloe vi. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Tinospora with Bdellium, Myrrh, Ginger, Turmeric, Withania vii, Tinospora with Triphala and Swertia (as in Tinospora 5, Tibetan Medicine) viii. Tinospora with Shilajit and Chebulic Myrobalan (as in Tinospora 3 of Tibetan Medicine) 2. Hepatitis, Liver diseases: i. Tinospora with Picrorhiza, Swertia ii. Tinospora with Madder, Phyllanthus amarus, Long Pepper (Ayurveda) iii. Tinospora with Picrorhiza, Madder, Emblic Myrobalan, Phyllanthus amarus 3. Cough, Asthma, Fever, Tinospora with Adhatoda and Turmeric 4. Clear Heat and Bile: i. Tinospora with Emblic Myrobalan, Rose 5. Fever: i. Tinospora with Andrographis, Picrorhiza and Ginger (Ayurveda) ii. from Wind and Heat, Tinospora, White Sandalwood, Tabasheer, Safflower, Clove, Pomegranate, Long Pepper (Tibetan Medicine) iii. Chronic Fever, Tinospora with Chebulic Myrobalan and Ginger (as in Nagaradi Kvatha Churna) iv. Compelx Fever from mixed Humors, Tinospora with Coriander seed, Neem, Sandalwood (Ayurveda) 6. For Epidemic diseases and heat and toxin of the Blood including Small Pox, to Tinospora 5 add Adhatoda vasica and Bergenia purpurascens (Tinospora 7 of Tibetan Medicine) 7. Skin diseases: i. Eczema, Inflammatory skin conditions, Tinospora with Neem, Centella, Madder, Psoralea ii. inflammatory skin diseases, Tinospora, with Neem, Turmeric, Gotu Kola, Madder, Rose iii. Chronic skin diseases including Leprosy, Tinospora with Madder, Triphala, Barberry, Neem bark (as in Powder of Musaffi Khas of Unani) iv. obstinate skin diseases, Tinospoa with Picrorhiza, Emblic Myrobalan, Aconitum heterophyllum, Cyperus rotundus, Sandalwood, Barberry, Calamus, Asparagus, Swertia, Licorice, Fumitory, Cassia fistula, as a medicinal Ghee (Ayurveda) v. Tinospora, with Hemidesmus, Neem, Madder, Sandalwood, Licorice 8. Acne: i. Tinospora, Picrorhiza, Asparagus (Shatavari) ii. Tinospora with Bdellium (Guggulu), Neem, Turmeric, Triphala 9. Toxic Swellings, Tinospora with Bergenia (Yan Bai Cai) and Swertia 10. Cold and Weak Digestion, Tinospora with Mustard seed, Ginger, Long Pepper (Ayurveda) 11. Diarrhea with Fever, Tinospora with Ginger, Cyperus rotundus, Aconitum heterophyllum (Atis) 12. Gastric reflux, Hyperacidity from Heat/Bile, with Emblic Myrobalan, Licorice 13. Immunodeficiency: i. Tinospora with Picrorhiza, Swertia ii. Tinospora with Withania 14. Insomnia, Tinospora with Rauwolfia, Indian Spikenard 15. Diabetes: i. Tinospora, Shilajit ii. Tinospora with Picrorhiza, Tribulus, Gymnema (Ayurveda) iii. Tinospora, Gymnema, Turmeric, Emblic Myrobalan, Shilajit 16. Impotence: i. Tinospora with Tribulus, Asparagus, Asparagus adcendens, Mucuna ii. Tinospora with Sida cordifolia, Sesame seed, Asparagus racemosa (Shatavari), Mucuna, Emblic Myrobalan (Ashtanga Hridaya) 17. Seminal debility. Tinospora with Tribulus and Emblic Myrobalan 18. Female Debility, Tinospora with Tribulus, Curculigo, Mucuna 19. Hemorrhoids, Tinospora with Barberry, Aloe, Triphala, Neem (Ayurveda)
1. Not used during Pregnancy or Postpartum 2. Several cases of Liver injury and acute Hepatitis have been reported with use of Tinospora.. (See here)
Main Preparations used:
‘A well-known medicinal plant, long in use in Hindu medicine, and considered to be cold and dry, or, according to Arabic and Persian writers, hot and dry in the first degree. In native practise it is much valued as an antiperiodic in fevers, and as a tonic and alterative ; it is also credited with aphrodisiac properties. The fresh plant is said to be more efficient than the dry, it is taken with milk in rheumatism, acidity of the urine and dyspepsia. The juice with Pakhanbed and honey is given in Gonorrhoea, and is an ingredient in Panshtiks given in Phthisis. The stem, if placed upon a bush in the open air, will retain its vitality through the hot season, and when the rains commence, put forth leaves and long whipcord like roots, which soon reach the ground. Guloe is very common on the Western Coast, and may always be obtained in the green state; the dry stem is to be seen in every is to be seen in
every drug shop; from it is prepared a kind of starch known in Hindustani as Giloe ka sat, and in some parts of India as Palo. It is prepared by powdering the stem and washing out the starch with water; the latter retains a little of the bitterness of the drug. Giloe appears first to have attracted the notice of Europeans in India at the early part of the present century, and to have been favourably spoken of by those who have tried it as a tonic, anti-periodic and diuretic, but it has never come into general use in European practice. It is now official in the Pharmacopoeia of India, and has lately (1884) been re-introduced to the notice of the profession in Europe as a specific tonic, antiperiodic and diuretic.’ (Vegetable Materia Medica of Western India, Dymock, 1885)
Tinospora cordifolia
Tinospora cordifolia with fruit
Tinospora cordifolia stems as used in Tibetan Medicine.