Kalmegh, Chuan Xin Lian, or Andrographis paniculata, King of Bitters
A must-have in your herbal arsenal.
My herbalist partner’s favorite herb is kalmegh. It’s a lesser known herb in the West, so we wanted to shine a light on this beneficial plant. I prefer half a teaspoon of kalmegh powder in tulsi tea with raw honey, whereas she prefers taking two capsules twice a day (see below). I thought this combination with tulsi was satisfying compared to other teas, and then later I found out tulsi is in at least two other formulations with kalmegh, as described later. We have kalmegh seeds, so hopefully, we can grow our own next season. I believe that taking some bitter herbs in the right quantities is beneficial. Other bitter herbs I like are barberry root tea, mugwort, dandelion, rue/ruda, and chirayita, which has the same bitter taste and seems to be confused with kalmegh/Andrographis paniculata. I mean, imagine if you were a tiny parasite and was flooded by kalmegh or other strong herbs like tea tree oil, ginger, turpentine, garlic, etc.
Local herbalist and family physician, Kathy Clarke, recommends keeping a supply of Andrographis in the home to use for the treatment of “COVID-19, colds, and flu.” “For adults, taking 800 milligrams twice a day for 5 to 10 days as soon as possible after symptoms begin helps patients recover quickly,” she states. She has found it helps provide relief for symptoms of “irritable bowel syndrome.” She also states, “Almost everyone can benefit from taking Andrographis for two to four weeks occasionally as a detox and to rid the body of parasites”. She has also successfully treated “long COVID” and vaccine injury using a regimen that includes Andrographis. “Another benefit: it has been shown to protect the liver from damage caused by alcohol consumption, and studies have shown it helps reverse fatty liver, a common condition that can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure.” For nasal irritation due to allergies, she recommends mixing Andrographis powder with coconut oil and placing it in both nostrils using a cotton swab twice daily.
The government of Thailand, the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, and others recommended Kalmegh for the treatment and prevention of ‘COVID-19’, however you want to define that.
According to botanicalinstitute.org, kalmegh “is a branched, erect plant that produces small pink or white flowers that have brown or purple spots. Generally, it prefers shady, moist areas.”
The botanicalinstitute.org article also cites papers showing benefits of Andrographis in these areas:
Anticancer/antitumor properties
Immune system support
Detoxifying, supports liver and GI function
Antimicrobial
Antioxidant properties
Helps relieve arthritis/joint pain
Here is some information from TCMWiki about Chuan Xin Lian, the Traditional Chinese Medicine name for Andrographis paniculata:
Property
Bitter, cold; lung, stomach, large intestine, liver and bladder meridians entered.
Actions
Clear heat and dry dampness, purge fire and remove toxicity.
Indications
Diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, stranguria syndrome and eczema; warm diseases in early stage or pathogen entering qi system, cough due to lung heat; abscess and sores, mouth and tongue ulcer, swollen and sore throat, and insect and snake bite.
Here is a study showing how kalmegh is used topically to reverse aging and to help heal wounds and irritations. Mix coconut oil with kalmegh and rub on your skin.
There seems to be much confusion between kalmegh and chirayita. From Banyan Botanicals:
Kalmegh’s place in history is said to have started with the Kiratas people, a small tribe who lived in the forests of the Himalayan mountains. The earliest Ayurvedic sages named the plant accordingly, calling it kirata tikta, which means “the bitter herb of the Kirata people.”1Kalmegh has received additional names since, and they have followed suit: bhunimba is Sanskrit for “neem of the earth,” referring to its bitter neem-like taste and effects,2 and its common name is “king of the bitters.” Do you see a pattern here? One taste of this herb and you’ll understand why! Yes, kalmegh is extremely bitter. But a little bitterness, however unpleasant, can keep us in balance with innumerable health benefits.
But these names are related to a similar herb called chirata/chirayita/etc. : https://www.planetayurveda.com/library/chirayata-swertia-chirata-uses-health-benefits/
The Planet Ayurveda site also states that the Sanskrit name for kalmegh is kariyat, which is similar to kirata/chirata/etc. Note that ‘kal’ is ‘kala’, as in time/death/decadence.
This site says chirayata and kalmegh are the same: https://herbalarcade.com/herbs/chirayata-swertia-chirayita/
However, the Swertia chirayita is classified in the gentian family.
This paper lists some other names for Andrographis paniculata:
In India, A. paniculata is known as “Kalmegh”; in China it is known as “Chuan-Xin-Lian”; in Thailand it is known as “Fah Tha Lai”; in Malaysia it is known as “Hempedu bumi”; in Japan it is known as “Senshinren”; and in Scandinavian countries it is known as “green chiretta”.
And in Nigeria:
It is locally called Jogbo because of its bitterness but popularly called Mejemeje (seven-seven) among Yoruba speaking natives in Nigeria because an average dosage comprises seven leaves eaten raw once or twice daily for about five days in the treatment of febrile illness or chronic debility and some herbalist also recommend it for treatment of hypertension.
Back to the Banyan Botanicals article:
The dry and penetrating qualities of the herb help to cut through thick phlegm caused by increased kapha, and it also reduces pitta and kapha in the head and chest, helping to maintain a normal body temperature.5 Additionally, it supports a healthy respiratory tract, sinuses, and throat, and can even be used externally to help balance excess pitta in the skin.6 Due to kalmegh’s bitter and cooling qualities, it helps balance elevated pitta in the blood and stagnant pitta in the liver (ranjaka pitta), enhancing liver function, and stimulating the production of bile.7 And if all of that isn’t enough, kalmegh can also burn and eliminate ama, helping to kindle agni, improve the appetite, and support comfortable digestion.8
Banyan Botanical’s Immune Strong formulation includes these ingredients:
Turmeric root (Curcuma longa)+, Kalmegh herb (Andrographis paniculata)+, Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)+, Tulsi leaf (Ocimum sanctum)+, Amalaki fruit (Emblica officinalis)+, Echinacea root (Echinacea angustifolia)+, Ashwagandha root (Withania somnifera)+, Ginger root (Zingiber officinale)+, Pippali fruit (Piper longum)+.
And MediHerb’s formulation also includes tulsi/holy basil, along with echinacea (purple coneflower):
And according to Planet Ayurveda, kalmegh is also called ‘Indian echinacea’: https://www.planetayurveda.com/echinacea/ .
I also wanted to point out that scientific papers will usually pinpoint only one compound as the active ingredient in a plant, but as this paper, Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees: An Updated Review of Phytochemistry, Antimicrobial Pharmacology, and Clinical Safety and Efficacy, lists, there are many other compounds in kalmegh, or any other plant, that work in combination with the most well-known compound, andrographolide. Nothing in nature works in isolation- it’s a harmonic perfection that science can only attempt to catalogue and glimpse. Remember, ‘science’ means to cut, like ‘scissors’. It’s good at cutting and cataloging, not seeing the whole or holistic picture. These are some of the compounds that have been studied and catalogued so far, but there could be more:
A. Paniculata contains therapeutically active secondary metabolites that include lactones, diterpenes, flavonoids, quinic acid, xanthones, noriridoids, and other compounds. In our previous study [39], we reported more than 55 ent-labdane diterpenoids, 30 flavonoids, eight quinic acid derivatives, four xanthones, and five rare noriridoids in A. paniculata; however, in this study, our extensive review revealed at least 142 secondary metabolites that already isolated from A. paniculata
A similar list is detailed in https://guardian.ng/features/andrographis-tops-natural-cures-for-covid-19/ :
The phyto-constituents of Andrographis paniculata plants which has been well elucidated include: diterpenes, flavonoids, iterpenoid, lactones, alkanes, ketones, aldehydes, andrographolides (which is the major constituent), paniculides, farnesols, polyphenols, arabinogalactan, and several other sub-units of andrographolides.
Thanks for reading.
Thank you! I'm going to look up some of these herbs, etc.!
Also, "Covid" is the same as a flu or cold when the body is over-toxified and needs to shut down in order to process and release the toxins, right?