I don't know about you, but I've never met anyone who was both sick and happy.

Your greatest wealth is good health. It is fundamental for a happy and fulfilling life.

All the money and success in the world are meaningless if you don't have your health.

You need to be healthy to fully appreciate the truly important things in life; spending quality time with your family and friends, playing ball with your children on a Sunday afternoon, or going on a vacation to a foreign country.

If you are like most people, chances are you're overwhelmed and exhausted by the stress of the ever increasing pace and demands of everyday life.

Unfortunately, sooner or later the combination of stress, poor diet, lack of exercise and sleep, and chemical toxins in the environment will affect you and your health will decline.

Maybe you're already one of the many millions of people around the world who suffer from heart problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, low immune function, low libido, impotence, chronic fatigue, depression, mental decline and other neurological diseases?

If so, you're probably taking expensive medications whose side effects are sometimes worse than the disease they're supposed to control.

Maybe you're worried that you'll be one of the 30 something percent of people who are expected to get cancer in their lifetime?

Would you be interested in a natural and easy way to restore and maintain your overall health and well-being, to look and feel younger, relieve stress, have more energy, stamina, sexual vigor and mental clarity?

What if you could gain these benefits while at the same time preventing most of the diseases that plague our modern society?

Well, I have good news! A little known herb called Jiaogulan may just be your cup of healthy and delicious tea!

It can completely change life for you and your loved ones.

Keep reading to discover why many people say that if you had to pick just one supplement that would have the greatest overall impact on your health, you should choose Jiaogulan.

Adaptogens support normal metabolism, help restore balance to the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems, and allow the body to maintain optimal homeostasis. They usually also benefit the liver, cardiovascular system, kidneys, and pancreas.

For a plant to be qualified as an adaptogen, it must meet the following 3 criteria as defined by Israel I. Berkhman, PhD, and Dr. I. V. Dardymov in 1968:

When Dr. Berkhman was studying adaptogens, he discovered that the active compounds in most of them were a particular class of chemical compounds called triterpenoid saponins, which had very low toxicity and little addictive potential.

Some of these triterpenoid saponins have been identified as having adaptogenic properties, while others were found to have anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective (protecting the liver), adrenal gland strengthening, and immune system modulating effects.²

Jiaogulan is a premier adaptogen, and has been described as “Like Ginseng, but better than Ginseng” because of the energizing effect both plants have on the body.

However, while Ginseng is often poorly tolerated and can cause insomnia, tachycardia and nervousness, Jiaogulan has the opposite effects because it is a superior adaptogen.

This is because while Panax Ginseng contains up to 28 different saponins⁵ (called panaxosides or ginsenosides), as of 2015 scientists have isolated 174 of them from Gynostemma (called gypenosides), nine of which are identical to those of Panax Ginseng.^6,7

That's over 6 times as many of these health-promoting and balancing chemicals!

In fact, Jiaogulan has the widest spectrum of saponins of any known plant in the world by far! This makes it a potentially more powerful and intelligent adaptogen with broader health effects than any other plant, and many have proclaimed it "The King of Adaptogens".

Over 40 years of scientific research done so far on Gynostemma seems to support this possibility.

For details on Jiaogulan's Antioxidant properties, please see our Jiaogulan - The Best Antioxidant Supplement page.

Here is a short video by one of the discoverers of Nitric Oxide explaining the benefits of this molecule for your health.

We will explore the effects of Nitric Oxide on the various body systems in more detail throughout the rest of this article.

Heart and blood vessel disease is the #1 cause of death in the world, resulting in 17.3 million annual deaths globally. In the United States it killed almost 800,000 people in 2013 alone.

The majority of problems classified under the umbrella of heart disease are related to a process called atherosclerosis, or thickening and hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is a condition that develops when plaque, mostly made up of white blood cells and blood fats like cholesterol and triglycerides, builds up in the walls of the arteries.

This process starts when damage to the lining of the arteries - or endothelium - accumulates over time. It can be caused by high blood pressure (hypertension) and/or free radicals, for example as a result of smoking.

This arterial damage has a two-fold negative effect.

First, it results in a lower production of Nitric Oxide, which in turn leads to constriction of the arteries, higher blood pressure, more plaque formation, further arterial damage, and as a consequence even less Nitric Oxide production. This self-reinforcing cycle can spin out of control and lead to heart disease unless broken in some way.

Second, when the arteries get damaged they become stiffer and stickier over time. This makes them attract more "bad" LDL cholesterol and white blood cells, which then build up in the artery walls forming plaque.

The more cholesterol and fats there are in the blood (hyperlipidemia), the easier it is for arterial plaque to form. Buildup of plaque narrows the arteries and makes it more difficult for blood to flow through.

This can eventually lead to the formation of a blood clot (a process called thrombosis), which can completely block the blood flow and lead to heart attack, stroke, or embolism.

A heart attack or an ischemic stroke (the most common type) occurs when the blood flow to a part of the heart or brain, respectively, is blocked by a blood clot. If this clot cuts off the blood flow completely, the part of the heart muscle or brain supplied by that artery will die. This can lead to death or, in the case of stroke, to loss of ability to carry out normal functions like walking or talking.

In another type of stroke - haemorrhagic stroke - a blood vessel within the brain bursts. The most common cause is uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Other complications due to atherosclerosis include peripheral arterial disease, kidney disease, and erectile dysfunction.

What is truly remarkable about Jiaogulan is that it counteracts each of the individual causes of atherosclerosis mentioned above, and therefore at the very root it prevents and counters all the complications that come with it.

As we already mentioned, damage to the arterial lining (endothelium) is THE key factor that leads to the development of atherosclerosis.

Jiaogulan prevents damage to the arterial lining in two ways.

First, it neutralizes the oxidative damage to the arteries caused by free radicals and cholesterol through its powerful antioxidant effects^{26, 27, 29} (see Antioxidant section).

The second way Gynostemma prevents endothelial damage is through its ability to regulate blood pressure, either lowering it ^{63, 65} or elevating it ⁶³ depending on the need.

The herb's ability to lower blood pressure is at least in part due to its protection and stimulation of endothelial Nitric Oxide production.^{6, 57, 59, 60}

The primary function of endothelial Nitric Oxide is to widen the blood vessels (vasodilation), which increases blood flow circulation throughout your body, providing more of the oxygen and nutrients necessary for proper function of all tissues and organs.

Widening of the arteries has the effect of lowering blood pressure, since blood has more room to flow through and therefore less pressure is put on the arterial walls.

Without Nitric Oxide arteries constrict and require a higher blood pressure to maintain adequate blood flow to the tissue.

In addition, lack of Nitric Oxide increases the number of smooth muscle cells, which can also lead to higher blood pressure.

One double blind clinical study of patients with high blood pressure showed that Jiaogulan is almost as effective as Indapamide (a high blood pressure drug), and almost twice as effective as Panax Ginseng (82%, 93%, and 46% respectively) in reducing high blood pressure.⁶⁵

Since LDL cholesterol and blood fats are the main ingredients of arterial plaque, a reduction of their concentration in the blood will help prevent or slow down the progression of atherosclerosis.

Jiaogulan has demonstrated its ability to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglyceride levels, while raising good cholesterol (HDL) levels in a number of studies.^{18, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84}

It achieves this by improving the body's ability to metabolize fat and by stimulating Nitric Oxide production, which suppresses the damage done to bad (LDL) cholesterol by free radicals.

Lowering of the cholesterol levels also has a positive side effect of prevention of the formation of cholesterol gallstones.

Plaques grow over years and slowly blocks blood flow in the arteries. What's worse, cholesterol plaque can suddenly rupture, especially where the person suffers from high blood pressure.

When a plaque inside a coronary artery ruptures, platelets (blood cells whose function is to stop the bleeding) become sticky, develop tentacles and start to roam around in gangs (platelet aggregation) and quickly make their way to the damaged area and pile on it until they either partially or completely block the artery.

The sudden blood clot that forms over the ruptured area causes the blood flow to stop, which results in a heart attack or stroke. Furthermore, blood clots can detach and travel into the blood stream until they get lodged in other blood vessels, for example in the lungs, causing an embolism.

Jiaogulan helps against the formation of blood clots by preventing the platelet aggregation process described above by increasing Nitric Oxide production - which reduces the stickiness of platelets – and by inhibiting Tissue Factor (TF) - the main protein needed for the blood clotting process to initiate.⁸⁵

The herb has been shown to prevent the platelets from sticking together and to the lining of arteries in the first place, and also to help them detach from each other, or deaggregate, in both human clinical trials⁸⁶ and animal studies^{87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94}.

Jiaogulan reduces the affected area and the severity of injury to the brain and heart suffered as a consequence of a stroke or a heart attack, and accelerates the healing and recovery process.^{95, 96, 97, 98}

The herb prevents heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy) and protects heart muscles and their function from damage as a result of diabetes.^{99, 100}

Jiaogulan also helps protect against coronary spasms, irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), pressor response (the increase in arterial blood pressure in response to various internal or external conditions, e.g. drugs, mental stress, etc.), and ventricular tachycardia (a life-threatening rapid heart beat that starts in the bottom pumping chambers of the heart).¹⁰¹

Jiaogulan is beneficial for people who suffer from congestive heart failure because it improves the efficiency of the pumping action of the heart. This means the heart does not work as hard to produce the same amount of blood flow, helping it deliver more oxygen and nutrients to the body as a whole without causing additional stress. ^{102, 103}

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, killing almost 600,000 people in 2013 alone.

If you are an American, there is a one in three chance that you will get cancer during your lifetime. If you are a man, the odds are closer to one in two. Almost everyone in America either knows someone who currently has cancer or who has already died from cancer.

Arguably worse than the actual disease is the conventional treatment. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are based on the principle that by poisoning and destroying the body as a whole, including its natural defenses against the disease (the immune system), the cancer will also be removed.

This is akin to deciding to carpet-bomb New York City, including its anti-terrorism and police departments, because there were “terrorist cells” discovered.

There are several problems with such a strategy:

1. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are so devastating to our body that the majority of people die as a result of the treatment and not the cancer itself.
2. The root cause of the problem is not being addressed, so even if conventional treatments do succeed in removing the cancer, it will usually reappear in due time.
3. It is extremely expensive financially, costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Because only the symptoms and not the root cause are addressed, multiple treatments will usually be necessary over the years, provided they work to begin with. How many of these “treatments” can your body survive?

To use another metaphor, imagine your body is an iron rod and the cancer is rust on that iron. If you don't address the root cause of the rusting process, which is the presence of oxygen reacting with the iron, and only focus on removing the rust with a heavy-duty industrial grinder, how many times can you repeat this process before snapping the rod in two?

The answer of course depends on how thick the rod is, or how strong your body's constitution is. Regardless, I'd bet the house you don't want to find out.

Wouldn't it be more sensible to apply a coating on the rod so that rust wouldn't develop in the first place?

Wouldn't it be better to instead strengthen the body and its defenses so that it can naturally prevent or fight the disease? After all, cancer cells are always present in our bodies and our immune system is usually perfectly capable of neutralizing them.

We believe this is a more sensible approach, and it seems mainstream science is starting to agree. So much so, in fact, that the journal Science has designated "Immunotherapy of Cancer" as its Breakthrough of the Year in 2013.

Research has shown that Jiaogulan has many cancer fighting and prevention effects on a wide variety of cancers.

It works on several levels to prevent and heal cancer:

• It enhances the body's own defenses by protecting and boosting the immune system. A strong immune system is important for preventing the formation of tumors.
• With its exceptional antioxidant effects, Jiaogulan scavenges free radicals within the body, minimizing DNA mutations that lead to tumors. (See the Antioxidant section for more information)
• Its chemical components like saponins (gypenosides), flavonoids and polysaccharides have direct anticancer action.

Jiaogulan has been shown in studies to reduce tumor size, inhibit tumor growth and metastasis (spreading), cause apoptosis (tumor cell death) by increasing free-radical damage to cancer cells, and inhibit energy production in cancer cells.

These effects have been demonstrated in several types of cancer, including:

• Liver (hepatoma)^{104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113}
• Lung^{114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120}
• Prostate¹²¹
• Colorectal^{122, 123, 124, 125}
• Esophageal ^{122, 126}
• Oral^{127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135}
• Brain¹³⁶
• Stomach ^{137, 138}
• Skin (melanoma)^{139, 140}
• Uterus/cervix^{141, 142, 143}
• Leukaemia ^{144, 145, 146, 147}
• Sarcoma ^{147, 148}

For those who choose to use the traditional methods of cancer treatment – chemotherapy and radiation therapy – Jiaogulan has shown to be an invaluable ally.

This is because it provides a very strong protection against the damaging effects these treatments have on the immune system.^{149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154}

Jiaogulan was also found to diminish the overall damaging effects of drug toxicity from chemotherapy^{137, 148}, while at the same time boosting its effectiveness^{125, 148}.

Longevity isn’t just about reaching a ripe old age – it’s also about feeling and looking good as you get there!

While most people today choose anti-aging creams, surgery, and Botox, we believe in a more holistic approach to health and aging because youth, like beauty, is more than skin deep.

Jiaogulan was first discovered in China because of the unusually long life spans and good health of so many of its users in the mountainous regions where it grows.

When you drink Jiaogulan tea daily you will not only look younger, you will be younger and healthier.

The herb slows down aging from the inside out. It has a rejuvenating and healing effect on all organs and major systems due to its unrivaled ability to neutralize the free-radicals that damage and age your body by boosting production of the two most important endogenous antioxidants - superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione.

These two antioxidants are crucial in preventing aging and promoting longevity. Please see the section on the Antioxidant properties of Jiaogulan for details and more scientific evidence.

In human clinical studies, administration of Jiaogulan three times daily for two months was beneficial for all 106 patients (in the study) in reducing general signs and symptoms of aging, such as fatigue, lack of energy, aversion to cold, diarrhoea, poor memory, decreased balance, insomnia, and excessive dreams.¹⁵⁵

Studies with aging animals have shown that Jiaogulan improves their memory and learning ability ¹⁵⁶, and rejuvenates their skin^{47, 48, 157}. It was also found that the herb increases the thickness of the skin, boosts synthesis of collagen, and protects elasticity¹⁵⁸. For extra skin benefit, you can also apply Jiaogulan tea topically, for example as a face rinse.

In addition, there have now been several studies that support claims the herb increases longevity.

In one study, a group of old mice were divided into two groups. After four months, all mice in the control group died, while only 50% of the mice in the Jiaogulan group died.¹⁵⁹

In another study, the lifespan of fruit flies was increased by as much as 50% when given Jiaogulan.¹⁶⁰ Other animal studies have also demonstrated increase in lifespan.^{161, 162}

Numerous human and animal studies have shown Jiaogulan to protect and strengthen the immune system function.

The immune system is a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body from infection and disease.

It is your body's only natural defense against viruses, bacteria, parasites, and diseases like cancer.

It is hardly surprising that a strong and properly functioning immune system is crucial to lasting good health.

Jiaogulan's beneficial effects on the immune system are mostly due to its antioxidant properties and ability to balance Nitric Oxide production.

Nitric oxide regulates the functional activity, growth and death of many immune and inflammatory cell types. Certain immune cells produce it in high enough concentrations for it to become toxic and use it as a weapon against invading bacteria, viruses, parasites, as well as to defend against tumors.

However, under certain conditions this process can backfire, resulting in the production of too much Nitric Oxide by the immune system. This can cause a variety of problems, including inflammation, sepsis, and autoimmune diseases.

Jiaogulan's ability to reduce Nitric Oxide when the immune system is overactive is therefore vital in the prevention of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including some cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, heart disease, periodontitis, and hay fever.

The herb also fights inflammation by decreasing free radical damage and inhibiting Nuclear Factor-kappaB (NF-kB) - a protein involved in cell survival and signaling – both important factors in the generation of inflammation.^{30, 32, 62, 93, 94, 178, 179, 180, 181}

As an antioxidant, the herb protects the integrity of the immune system from free radicals and environmental toxins ^{26, 30, 32}

Gynostemma also protects the immune system from the effects of stress ⁶, rigorous or exhaustive physical exercise ^{182, 183, 184}, and cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy^{149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154}.

Finally, Jiaogulan increases the potency of the immune response to foreign invaders, toxins,^{6, 30, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196} and cancer ^{118, 119, 138, 139, 186}.

Jiaogulan protects and enhances the function of the central and peripheral nervous systems, mainly through its antioxidant properties and its ability to regulate Nitric Oxide production.

Nitric Oxide plays an important role in learning and memory by helping nerve cells in the brain to communicate with each other.^{197, 198} It is involved in neurotransmitter release, neural development and regeneration, synaptic plasticity and regulation of gene expression.¹⁹⁹

At normal concentrations, Nitric Oxide protects the nerve cells from damage and cell death. However, at high concentrations it becomes toxic to the nerve cells and can cause cell injury and cell death.²⁰⁰

Overproduction of Nitric Oxide in the nervous system has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington’s disease, and depression.²⁰¹

In addition, free radical damage has been shown to play a major role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.^{202, 203}

In light of this, it's not surprising that Jiaogulan has been shown to help prevent both Alzheimer's ^{204, 205, 206, 207} and Parkinson’s ^{37, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212}, which are the 6^th and 14^th leading causes of death in the United States respectively. It may also be effective against optic neuritis, although further studies are needed.²¹³

In both human and animal studies, Gynostemma was shown to improve brain functions like memory, concentration, and learning, especially with the elderly.^{156, 214, 215, 216}

The herb also helps protect against and recover from brain and memory damage induced by alcohol^{217, 218} and free radicals^{31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 49}, as well as damage and cognitive impairment from ischemia-reperfusion and hypoxia due to stroke and other causes.^{34, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227}

A study with elderly cerebral infarction patients (a type of ischemic stroke) showed that administering Jiaogulan for a 12-week period improved their cognitive functions to a level close to that of normal elderly subjects who had not suffered a stroke. In addition, the improvements were better than that of a control group that was given Piracetam, a popular nootropic and brain-enhancing drug.²²⁸

A second clinical study using different evaluation methods showed identical results, and further improvement when treatment was continued for 12 more weeks (24 weeks in total).²²⁹

Jiaogulan can also prevent brain and nervous system damage caused by consumption of the popular flavor enhancing food additive Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).^{230, 231, 232, 233}

Lastly, the herb was found to increase the excitability and stability of the brain during athletic competition. A Guiyang Medical College research group carried out testing on more than 300 professional athletes, including athletes of the China National Skating Team. All of the tested athletes reported that a Jiaogulan/Danshen recipe taken before the competition made them vigorous and alert, with quick reflexes and less nervousness. A control group taking Danshen alone did not feel increased stability and excitability of the nervous system during competition, although they also felt increased energy and endurance.^{234, 235}

Many top athletes and bodybuilders use Jiaogulan because it enhances their performance by energising the body and increasing physical strength, stamina, endurance and muscle tone.

This is also why Jiaogulan is given to race-horses.

If you're involved in sports or workout at the gym, you will find that you can go through your usual training routine with less effort, or that you can endure a harder workout by only expending the same amount of effort as you did before.

Jiaogulan is able to increase athletic performance in several ways:

1. By regulating the production of Nitric Oxide.
2. By improving heart function efficiency.
3. By stimulating the production of the endogenous antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismutase.

Since one of the main functions of Nitric Oxide is to widen the arteries (vasodilation), it has the effect of increasing blood circulation throughout the body. This provides more of the oxygen and glucose the muscles need to be able to work at peak levels longer, improving stamina and energy levels.

Nitric Oxide also stimulates growth hormone production²³⁶, which encourages fat reduction and muscle building.

Jiaogulan also improves the efficiency of the pumping action of the heart, so that it doesn’t work as hard to produce the same amount of blood flow. Again, more oxygen and nutrients reach the muscles and performance is improved.

A clinical study at the Guiyang Medical College with 30 normal healthy persons and 220 athletes showed that within 30 minutes after oral administration of a single dose of Jiaogulan combined with other Chinese medicinal herbs, all subjects responded with increased cardiac output and stroke volume, while heart rate and blood pressure did not change.²³⁷

Animal studies have confirmed this positive effect on heart function and have concluded that Jiaogulan's effect is more potent than that of ginseng ^{103, 238}

A number of studies involving forced swimming tests with animals have proven that Jiaogulan has a significant anti-fatigue effect and increases the endurance capacity in animals, enabling them to swim significantly longer before they get exhausted. In addition, these effects become stronger as the dose is increased.^{239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246}

Jiaogulan significantly increases glucose levels in the blood, liver and muscles, which is the fuel the muscles use and is therefore very important for the prolongation of endurance exercise.

Furthermore, Gynostemma decreases the amount of lactic acid (the build-up of which causes sore muscles the day after rigorous exercise) in the blood significantly and this is an important indicator for judging the degree of fatigue and means that Jiaogulan is able to postpone the appearance of fatigue and accelerate the recovery from fatigue.^{239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244}

In parallel, the levels of uric nitrogen in the blood are decreased ^{241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246}, which means that not as much protein needs to be digested in order to produce energy.

Jiaogulan also helps us reach peak mental and physical function by boosting the levels of the endogenous antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione, and lowering Malondialdehyde (MDA).^{241, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250} This means less muscle damage resulting from exercise, quicker recovery time, increased strength, endurance and a shift in the metabolism from fat production to muscle development.

Finally, Gynostemma is able to regulate immune function during exercise, recovering immune indices to normal values from either originally lower or higher than the normal.^{182, 183, 184}

This is important because it has been demonstrated that the immune system is suppressed after rigorous exercise. Marathon runners and the high frequency of respiratory tract infections immediately after a run are one example.

If you are involved in physical exercise, act like the pros and have some Jiaogulan before a workout for extra energy and stamina, and after workout to help your body repair more quickly from the damage physical exercise inevitably causes.

The fact that people have safely been using Jiaogulan daily for hundreds of years in China without reporting any negative side effects should be convincing enough that the herb has no toxicity.

In addition, however, there is also a great deal of scientific research that demonstrates its safety.

Of the many hundreds of scientific studies on Jiaogulan, a significant number of which have checked for toxicity or adverse side-effects, there has never been a report of any toxic effects whatsoever to any organ in the body.

Furthermore, there have been several studies whose specific purpose was to find any signs of toxicity from Gynostemma, as well as determine the LD50 (the dose necessary to cause death to 50% of test animals).

In one study Wistar rats were given up to 750mg per kilogram of Jiaogulan extract orally every day for 6 months. No toxic effects were observed.³⁰⁷ The results of another 4-month study with 1000mg/kg daily oral dose were identical.³⁰⁸

One study could not determine a LD50³⁰⁹, while another determined it to be at 49 grams of extract per kilogram of body weight, with no organ toxicity at 4 g/kg daily intake for 90 days.³¹⁰

Considering that the daily recommended dose is usually somewhere between 50-300 milligrams of gypenosides per day, it would be literally impossible for a human to consume enough Jiaogulan to get anywhere near these concentrations even if they tried extremely hard.

Contrast this to prescription drugs people use every day, which cause 106,000 deaths per year in the United States alone! And that does not take into consideration the serious side effects of these drugs even if they don't kill you.³¹¹