| Gotu kola also known as Centella, Centella Asiatica, Indian Pennywort and Mandookaparni has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb. Gotu Kola is an herb often confused with another plant, the dried cotyledon (seed leaf) of Cola nitida, commonly known as kola nuts, a well-known ingredient of Coca-Cola containing 3.5% caffeine.[1] Gotu Kola is not a stimulant, but rather a very nutritious herb indigenous to hot, humid climates. Gotu Kola is a perennial herbaceous creeper that grows to a height of twenty inches, with fan-shaped leaves. Gotu Kola is native to India and the southern U.S. Gotu Kola also grows in tropical and sub-tropical parts of Australia, southern Africa, and South America.
Gotu kola prefers marshy areas and riverbanks. Gotu Kola is the most widely used herb in Ayurveda medicine. In
India, where this plant is native, herbalists use it as the Chinese use Ginseng. Gotu Kola is best known as a brain herb, or an herb associated with improving memory and or enhancing brain function. Gotu kola has been used orally for muscle and joint stiffness and pain and skin afflictions. Gotu kola has been used topically for wound healing, leprosy sores, and post-operative scarring. Gotu kola is a slender, creeping plant that grows commonly in swampy areas of India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, South Africa and the tropics. Its fan shaped leaves are about the size of an old British penny - hence its common names Indian pennywort, marsh penny and water pennywort. Gotu kola has been used orally for muscle and joint stiffness and pain and skin afflictions. Gotu kola has been used topically for wound healing, leprosy sores, and post-operative scarring.
Treatment for burns, keloids and wounds.
Gotu kola may be even more effective for burns when it's combined with echinacea, vitamins (A, C, E), and zinc. Gotu kola is believed to prevent or minimize scarring, accelerating the healing of burns, keloids (overgrown scar tissue), and wounds (including skin ulcerations and surgical incisions). Gotu Kola Increases the Anti-Oxidant Enzymes Oral treatment with crude methanol extract of gotu kola for 14 days significantly increased the anti-oxidant enzymes, like super oxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxides (GSHPx), and anti-oxidants like glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid decreased in lymphoma-bearing mice.
Venous Insufficiency, Hypertension Pointel JP et al, recruited 94 patients suffering from venous
insufficiency of the lower limbs participated in a multicenter, double-blind versus placebo study. They found improvements in symptoms of heaviness in the lower limbs and edema in the group treated with titrated extract of gotu kola. Anti-Inflammatory Effect & Gastric Ulcer Guo JS et al, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, investigated the effects of gotu kola water extract (CE) and its active constituent, asiaticoside (AC), on the expression and activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) during gastric ulcer healing in rats. They found that the reduction of the ulcer size was dose-dependent manner with a concomitant attenuation of iNOS activity and protein expression at the ulcer tissues. Consequently, they suggested that gotu kola water extract and gotu kola have anti-inflammatory property via inhibition of NO synthesis and thus
guto kola may have benefits on ulcer
healing.
Minimize varicose veins. Gotu-kola appears to enhance blood flow, increase the tone of the connective tissue sheath that surrounds the veins, and maintain the suppleness of the veins. Memory Booster & counteract Alzheimer's disease Gotu kola has been used for centuries to heighten mental function. Today, researchers are trying to determine if the herb has a role to play in improving memory, enhancing learning capabilities, and perhaps restoring some of the memory loss of Alzheimer's sufferers. The enduring popularity of
gotu kola has been attributed to active ingredients known as triterpenes. These substances are believed to enhance the production of the tough, fibrous protein known as collagen, which is found in
cartilage, bones, and connective tissues. Triterpenes also help to keep blood vessels strong and assist in producing essential neurotransmitters, the brain's chemical messengers. |
