Jiaogulan

1. What Is Jiaogulan?

Jiaogulan is a climbing plant from the gourd family. It grows in East and Southeast Asia. In China it is also called "herb of immortality". The most important ingredients are gypenosides. These are saponins (soap-like plant substances). Chemically they resemble those of ginseng.

2. Where Is It Found, and What Is It Made From?

Jiaogulan is found in tea made from dried leaves. There are also extracts with gypenosides. Sometimes it is contained in combination preparations with other herbs. The plant grows wild in forests and at forest edges in China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. There it is also cultivated. The leaves are used.

3. What Does Jiaogulan Do? What Research Shows

Blood Sugar, Weight and Blood Lipids

In type 2 diabetes, tea and extract lowered fasting blood glucose more than a dummy preparation (placebo) 7812. Long-term blood glucose 78 and insulin resistance 812 also improved more than under placebo. In overweight, body weight and body fat fell more under extracts than under placebo 511. A summary of eight studies supports the blood glucose effect 2. Blood lipids did not differ from a placebo tea in two tea studies 812.

Liver and Fatty Liver

In fatty liver, liver values fell under diet in both groups, two of them statistically confirmed only with extract 6. In overweight adults, one liver value differed under the extract from placebo; the study does not state the direction 11. Under a mixed tea of jiaogulan and five other herbs, in type 2 diabetes protein and kidney values in the blood fell more than in the control group 4. The evidence is moderate: three controlled studies (with a comparison group), mostly small 4611.

Heart and Circulation

For blood pressure, two tea studies in untreated type 2 diabetics found no difference from placebo tea 812. In healthy adults, a vascular enzyme in the blood was higher under an extract than under placebo. This is a laboratory value, not a measured circulatory effect 10. The evidence is low: three small controlled studies with different preparations 81012.

Other Outcomes

In healthy, untrained young men, a dried leaf extract improved time trial performance and muscle oxygen flow 9. In healthy adults, maximum oxygen uptake and perceived exertion were more favorable under an extract than under placebo 10. An extract improved elasticity, density and diameter of the hair in adults, but not hair shine 3. In lung cancer under radiochemotherapy, cellular immunity was maintained with jiaogulan tablets, while it continued to decline without them 13. The reliability is moderate: several randomized (participants assigned by lot) controlled studies, but mostly small groups 3910.

4. How Was Jiaogulan Taken in the Studies?

Tea from dried leaves and extracts were studied; one extract was given in addition to a diabetes medication 7. A mixed tea contained, besides jiaogulan, mulberry leaf, astragalus, corn silk, lycium bark and ophiopogon 4. Individual extracts are named with their gypenoside content, such as an extract with gypenoside L 10.

5. Is Jiaogulan Safe? Side Effects in the Studies

Two placebo-controlled studies reported no serious adverse events and no notable safety values 35. In two tea studies in type 2 diabetes, no hypoglycemia and no unfavorable kidney or liver values occurred 812. A case report describes, after several months of intake, a severe platelet deficiency that disappeared after discontinuation 14. The authors advise having platelets checked during longer intake 14.

All details with tables and sources: full expert page on Jiaogulan