Know your Herbs

Terminalia chebula is commonly called as a chebulic or black myrobalan and belongs to the family Combretaceae.  The plant is native to India, Nepal, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Southwest China, Vietnam and Malaysia. Harad is actually a dried fruit obtained from the plant Haritaki or Terminalia chebula. In India, it is commonly found in Bengal, Himalaya region and Assam.

 It is called Haritaki due to its green colour and its multiple uses.

It is a famous rejuvenating herb with tremendous healing power and forms one of the main ingredients of Triphala. It is a good herb for the liver and increases longevity as well. It supports the digestive system and maintains normal health. It has been used to treat polyuria, fever and anaemia.

Haritaki is a medium to large size tree with oval leaves and brown bark. The bark has longitudinal cracks. Fruit is oval in shape and is drooped and blackish when dried. The plant possesses dull white to pale yellow colour flowers, which have an unpleasant and strong odor.

Common names of Haritaki are Indian hog plum, Haritaki, chebulic or black myrobalan.

It is bitter, sour, sweet and astringent in taste. The fruit and bark posses important medicinal properties. Harad is also known as a king of medicines and pacifies all the doshas i.e. pitta, vata and kapha.

It is extraordinary herb and shows a great healing power and a wide range of biological activities due to the presence of natural compounds which include ellagic acid, gallic acid, arjunaglucoside, chebulinic acid, arjungenin, ethyl gallate, terflavin A, 2, 4-chebulyl-D-glucopyranose, and tannic acid.

Benefits of Harad:

• Improves Nervous System:  Harad improves memory and prevents nervous irritability.
   
• Improves Kidney Health: It helps in flushing stones in kidneys and urinary tract and prevents and manages other kidney-related ailments including inflammation.
   
• Improves Digestive Health: Harad restores normal digestive functions, assists in digestion, and relieves constipation, flatulence, ulcers, colic and vomiting. It prevents liver ailments and increases appetite. Unripe fruit is used to treat dysentery and diarrhoea and it acts as a purgative.
   
• Improves Heart Health: Harad lowers down bad cholesterol levels and protects the heart.
   
• Manages Weight:  Harad helps in losing weight and cuts the risk factor of obesity which may otherwise contribute to many serious health issues.
   
• Addresses various Organs: Ripe fruit has been used in managing ailments of eyes, spleen and piles.
   
• Reduces Inflammation: The fruit of the plant is used to reduce inflammation and as a cleanser in wounds.
   
• Controls Spleen Enlargement: It is a very useful remedy in spleen enlargement.  
   
• Helpful in Diabetes: Harad forms an important part of Triphala which protect diabetics and those predisposed to diabetes through inhibition of glycation enzymes.
   
• Relieves Inflammation of Eyes: Its paste is applied on the eyelids to provide relief from the inflammation.
   
• Fights against virus: It is also effective against virus especially herpes simplex HIV virus and it works as cardio protective due to its strong anti-oxidant property.

Harad is therefore present in Diabewell Juice of Preserva Wellness to prevent and manage diabetes and its complications.