Guggul
Meet one of my favorite herbs:
Commiphor mukul, common name Guggul, is a botanical resin native to Saudi Arabia and India. It may not be pretty, but it offers some beautiful health benefits.
It lowers inflammation, improves liver function, lowers cholesterol, supports joint health, and acts as an antioxidant.
It also helps to reduce the stickiness of blood platelets (therefore, reducing stroke and heart attack risk).
It supports the thyroid gland.
It has long been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Guggulsterone (a component of the resin) was shown to exert a wide rage of anticancer effects - suggesting it may suppress tumor initiation, tumor promotion, and tumor metastasis.
The classic Ayruvedic medical text, the Sushruta Samhita, describes Guggul as treating "coating and obstruction of channels". Present day studies, do in fact prove its ability to promote weight loss and reduce cholesterol levels.
Guggu-lipid is a drug approved to lower lipids in India as of 1986 and found to be safer and more effective than most statins.
Dosing:
In clinical studies, the anti-inflammatory activity is comparable to 1/5th of hydrocortisone and equal to ibuprofen.
Of Note: Guggul contains soluble and insoluble components. The insoluble portion is regarded as toxic and is the major reason why extracts of the soluble portion are preferred over the crude form for medical use.
The dosage of guggulipid is based on its gugglusterone content. The typical dosage, 25 mg guggulsterone three times per day, is an effective treatment for elevated cholesterol levels, elevated triglyceride levels, or both. For a 2.5% gugglusterone content extract, this translates to an effective dose of 1000 mg three times per day.
Caution should be taken when combining this botanical resin with CYP3A drug members, such as statins, ketoconazole, itraconaxole, fexofendaine (Allegra), and several others.
Be sure to speak to a qualified practitioner before beginning this herb.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more herb 101!
💕
Dr. Laura Neville