Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Tinospora cordifolia
Also known as Giloy
Pronounced Guduchi = goo-DOO-chee; Giloy = gih-LOY; Amrita = UM-rih-tuh. Tinospora cordifolia = tin-OSS-por-uh kor-dih-FOH-lee-uh.
Cool, clearing, and yet rebuilding: Amrita, the nectar bitter, an antipyretic immunomodulating alterative that clears heat, damp-heat, and toxic inflammation while restoring vitality after illness.
On temperature, Bhavaprakasha (16th c.) and Rajanighantu (c. 15th c.) read it as warm. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.
Insufficient reliable data; avoid. Modern consumer and clinical references state there is not enough reliable information to know whether Tinospora cordifolia is safe during pregnancy and advise staying on the safe side and not using it. Although classical Ayurveda used Guduchi in some conditions, modern safety data are lacking and the herb is immunoactive, so avoid in pregnancy. Sources: WebMD (Tinospora cordifolia); RxList (Tinospora cordifolia); Drugs.com (Tinospora).
Insufficient reliable data; avoid. There are no adequate modern lactation safety data, and standard consumer references advise avoiding use while breastfeeding. Prefer a better-documented remedy. Sources: WebMD (Tinospora cordifolia, insufficient information); RxList; Drugs.com (Tinospora).
Not established by modern data. Ayurveda has traditionally given small doses of Guduchi and of guduchi satva to children for recurrent fevers and immunity, but formal modern pediatric safety and dosing data are absent, and idiosyncratic liver injury has been reported in adults, so reserve internal use for qualified practitioner guidance and monitor. Sources: precautionary practice; WebMD / RxList (no pediatric data); Kulkarni et al., Hepatology Communications 2022 (herb-induced liver injury).
The most important modern caution is the liver. Despite Guduchi's classical reputation as a liver protectant, a cluster of herb-induced liver injury cases with autoimmune-like features was documented in India during the 2020 to 2022 COVID immune-booster surge (idiosyncratic hepatitis, sometimes unmasking latent autoimmune liver disease); monitor liver function, use only correctly identified material, and stop at once for jaundice, dark urine, marked fatigue, or right-upper-abdominal pain. Because Guduchi stimulates and modulates immunity, it may worsen activity in autoimmune disease and may antagonize immunosuppressant therapy, so avoid it in transplant recipients and in immunosuppressed autoimmune patients unless supervised. It lowers blood sugar, so use cautiously with diabetes and hypoglycemia. Species substitution is a real hazard: the more hepatotoxic Tinospora crispa and the related Tinospora sinensis are sometimes sold as guduchi, so source verified Tinospora cordifolia. Pregnancy and lactation data are insufficient.
Active autoimmune hepatitis or unexplained acute hepatitis (avoid; the herb has been implicated). Autoimmune disease with active flares (caution; may aggravate). Concurrent immunosuppressant therapy, including organ transplantation (avoid or use only under supervision; possible antagonism). Pregnancy and lactation (insufficient data; avoid). Caution in diabetes and with blood-sugar-lowering medication. Relative constitutional caution in very cold, thin, depleted (Vata / yang-deficient) states. Discontinue and seek testing at any sign of liver injury.
Not on the United Plant Savers At-Risk or To-Watch lists, which track North American natives. Tinospora cordifolia is a fast-growing, hardy, easily propagated climbing vine (it strikes readily from stem cuttings, the basis of its name Chinnaruha), widely cultivated and not threatened. The real stewardship concerns are adulteration and misidentification: the more hepatotoxic Tinospora crispa and the related Tinospora sinensis are sometimes substituted, and demand from the immune-supplement market is heavy. Prefer verified, correctly identified, cultivated or ethically sourced Tinospora cordifolia.
Not named in the canonical biblical texts. Guduchi is native to the tropical Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, and its medicine is anchored in Ayurveda, where it is celebrated as Amrita, the nectar of the gods, and described in the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita, and the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu. It also enters Unani medicine (Gilo). It is a plant of the classical Indian materia medica rather than the ancient Mediterranean or biblical world.
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