Jiaogulan: Health Benefits

Immortality Herb

The Chinese refer to jiaogulan as an "immortality" herb due to its revitalizing properties and its capability to aid the body combat stress besides boosting cardiovascular health. Herbal medicine practitioners categorize it as an “adaptogen” since it is considered to aid the body without inducing damage or imbalance.

Also referred to as southern ginseng, sweet tea vine and fairy herb, jiaogulan is a climbing plant indigenous to the mountainous parts of southern China and other regions of Asia. It belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family that constitutes cucumbers, melons and gourds.

The plant’s leaves were initially utilized as a food and could either be eaten independently or included in a salad. They also function as sweetener, and tea produced from its leaves contains no caffeine and has a somewhat bittersweet flavor.

There are numerous health benefits credited to consuming jiaogulan with no recorded harmfulness or drug interactions.

Anticancer Effects

Jiaogulan prohibits the body cells from becoming cancerous and also prohibits the development of cancerous growths already established by invigorating the immune system cells. Studies have shown that cancer patients issued Jiaogulan exhibit notable improvement in B and T lymphocyte levels and leukocyte count antibody levels.

Jiaogulan is among the leading broad-spectrum adaptogenic plants known, constituting polysaccharides, saponins, amino acids, flavones, minerals, vitamins and many vital trace elements. This makes it highly efficient in minimizing the after-effects of chemotherapy and radiation by revitalizing the immune system.  Research has shown that Jiaogulan acts against esophagal, breast, prostate, lung, kidney, brain, thymus, uterus and skin cancer.

Adaptogenic Benefits

The plant has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine since time immemorial. It got its nickname, “herb of immortality”, because people who drunk jiaogulan tea on a daily basis lived for a very long time. Though Southern China people have consumed the tea as a restorative from way back in the 15^th century, the West discovered it just recently. 

Modern herbalists categorize jiaogulan as an adaptogen, a terminology applied to denote an herb that aids the body combat the impacts of stress. Adaptogen plants also encourage homeostasis, meaning it assists the body to attain a condition of balance by controlling various internal activities. Particularly, adaptogen herbs such as jiaogulan tackle both unwarranted output and inadequacy in some body systems, especially the endocrine and the immune system.

Antioxidant Properties

Antioxidants are crucial ingredients in treating liver disease, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, arthritis inflammation, cancer and even the process of aging. Jiaogulan has been authenticated in numerous researches to possess a commanding antioxidant impact, by safeguarding the body from damage by free radical.

Jiaogulan constitutes saponins, chemical compounds jointly called gypenosides. These gypenosides boost the activity of phagocytes, a special type of white blood cells entrusted with the responsibility of assimilating cellular waste products and capturing pathogens. These elements exhibit same protective influence in the endothelium, the cell layer that outlines blood vessels.

Scientists at China’s Tangdu Hospital believe that jiaogulan gypenosides might present some defense from oxidative stress within the brain that result in Parkinson's disease. Published in the May-June 2010 publication of the Journal of International Medical Research, the researchers detailed that the injection of gypenosides into mouse brains chemically instigated to mock the traits of the disease led to rise in glutathione output and activity of superoxide dismutase in the substantia nigra, the region of the brain highly affected by Parkinson's disease.

Cholesterol Management

Scientific research investigations in China have found that Jiaogulan reduces cholesterol by enhancing the liver's capability to transfer carbohydrates and sugar to the muscles for transformation to energy rather than conversion into triglycerides which are stored within the body in form of fat.

It reduces LDLs -bad cholesterol whilst increasing HDLs - good cholesterol. The herb enhances metabolism of fat, decreases levels of blood fat and inhibits fat sediment and lipid peroxide within the blood vessels.

Whilst it is effective for correcting obesity and high cholesterol problems, jiaogulan can also boost and bolster the digestion, enabling an underweight individual to improve intake of nutrients and garner weight in the context of lean muscle buildup. This regulatory impact on bodily activities is the trademark of an adaptogen.

Prevent Stroke, Blood Pressure and Heart Attacks

Jiaogulan dramatically reduces the probability of a stroke by restricting blood platelets from coagulating, which hinders the establishment of stroke-prompting blood clots. This similar activity restrains artery from blocking, thereby minimizing chance of a heart attack. Additionally, studies manifest within a duration as low as two weeks, a little dose of jiaogulan consumed daily, reduces high blood pressure to a standard range. By enhancing making of nitric oxide - a chemical charged with relaxing walls of blood vessels - the herb effectually minimizes the blood pressure. Also, jiaogulan decreases cholesterol by approximately 25%.

Boosting Cardiovascular Function

The outcomes of human experiments ascertain that jiaogulan can boost the contractility of muscles of the heart and pumping function of the heart. Consequent studies have manifested that the saponins contained in the herb intensify strength and stamina in the body. Taking into account these realizations altogether, jiaogulan turns out as the best the herb for any person who wishes to boost his competitive supremacy in any area of athletic performance.

Boost Immune System

Jiaogulan has also exhibited a capability to fortify the immune system when attacked by destructive agents. The herb has also manifested its effectuality, in medical research investigations, as a powerful immunomodulator. It intensifies the manufacture of Lymphocytes, Serum IGG and Phagocytes.

In China, physicians administer daily dosages of the herb to patients recuperating from brain and heart surgery, since the herb reinforces the immune system, assisting in a faster and more effectual recuperation. Patients undertaking cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are given Jiaogulan too. Studies have verified that Jiaogulan can intensify the leukocyte count, which bolsters resistance, hence enhancing the patient’s capability to recuperate.

Nevertheless, there exist a few likely side effects related to this herb, comprising nausea. In addition, since it has triggered birth complications in animals, pregnant women are highly advised to avoid jiaogulan. Breast-feeding women and small children are also cautioned to desist from consuming it, because not much is understood about its likely long-term effects.