History of Jiaogulan Tea

In a small southern province of China, there is a town called Guizo where it is common for the residents to live past one hundred years of age. After a group of Chinese scientists conducted a study comparing the health and longevity of people living in Guizo versus the neighboring areas, the primary conclusion was the daily consumption of Jiaogulan tea, by the Guizo people because it grew natively and was more convenient and affordable than other teas.   

Jiaogulan (Gynostemma Pentaphyllum) is a vine like plant related to the cucumber family and the locals refer to it as “Xiancao”, which crudely translates into English as “the herb of immortality”.

The Guizo people enjoy drinking Jiaogulan tea because they believe it to increase strength and energy, fight weakness and stress, treat viruses and colds, as well as infectious diseases; thus using it as a preventative elixir.

Modern research and testing of the jiaogulan herb supports most of these claims as well as recognizing it as an adaptogen that provides the body with a sense of balance, and a powerful antioxidant.

While research continues to solidify the benefits of jiaogulan tea, long believed by the people of Guizo, it has also been discovered to reduce the likelihood of stroke and heart attack, reduce cholesterol, stabilize blood pressure, treat chronic bronchitis, support healthy cardiac health and perform as an immuno-stimulant. As an adaptogen, this mighty herb provides balance to the nervous system and helps protect the body from effects of stress

Most commonly Jiaogulan is prepared as a tea, but is also a delicious herb to incorporate into recipes. While it’s benefits are still being explored, jiaogulan tea has proven the test of time to many, beginning in the small southern Chinese province known as Guizo.

Delicious Jiaogulan Recipes - Not Just for Drinking

Jiaogulan tea offers many benefits, especially when consumed 2-3 times daily.  Enjoy a cup with each meal or whatever suits your schedule.

Jiaogulan Tea

To make jiaogulan tea, add 1 teaspoon of the jiaogulan herb to a cup of hot water and steep for 2-3 minutes.  Distilled water is always recommended, but use what you have.  Unlike many other teas, it is recommended to only steep jiaogulan once to get the most flavor and health benefits from your tea bag. 

The native Chinese enjoy this tea on a regular basis and feel that it enhances longevity and vitality.  Why not enjoy this throughout the day!

Jiaogulan and Mushrooms

Jiaogulan can add a slight sweetness with a hint of a smoky flavor to mushrooms. 

Flavoring Mixture:

1 teaspoon whole cloves

4 cinnamon sticks

1 bay leaf

4 slices fresh ginger root

2 tablespoons cracked whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

½ cup Jiaogulan powder

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup dry rice

Mushrooms:

½ pound shitake mushrooms, chopped

4 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Fresh black pepper

Chopped chives for garnish

Olive oil

Directions:

Line your wok with aluminum foil and place the prepared Flavoring Mixture in the center.

Mix together all ingredients in the mushroom mixture, coating the mushrooms in the ingredients.

Place the wire rack into the wok and cover, turning the heat flame to high until you see smoke when removing the lid.

Reduce the flame to medium and place the mushrooms onto the rack, smoking for approximately 5 minutes.  Remove mushrooms and season as desired with salt and pepper…Enjoy!

Jiaogulan Poached Pears with Creamy Pistachio Sauce

4 Asian Pears

2 cups brewed Jiaogulan tea

2-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced

1 sprig fresh mint

1 cup sugar

Grated Lemon Peel from one lemon

Creamed Pistachio Sauce:

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup shelled, chopped pistachio nuts

Chill 4 dessert dishes.  Peel and core pears, set aside.  In a medium saucepan place jiaogulan, sugar, lemon, mint and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.  Reduce heat to simmering and add peeled pears.  Cook for fifteen minutes and remove from heat.  Set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl whisk the yogurt, maple syrup and buttermilk together.  Fold in the pistachio nuts and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Drain the liquid from the poached pears and place pears in dessert dishes.  Add sauce on top, garnish with fresh mint.  Chill until ready to serve.

Jiaogulan Infused Peach Sorbet

Place 4 sundae goblets into freezer to chill.

1 cup water

4 tablespoons jiaogulan tea

juice from one lemon

2 cups fresh peached, peeled and pureed

2 cups sugar

Garnish:

Mint leaves

Chopped peaches

Brew 1 tablespoon jiaogulan in 1 cup water and steep for 2 minutes.

Heat remaining water and sugar to a boil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for five minutes, then add the remaining 3 tablespoons jiaogulan tea, peach puree, lemon juice.  Place in ice cream freezer and mix until firm.  Serve in chilled goblets.

Jiaogulan - the Medicinal Herb

Jiaogulan offers a multitude of health benefits from enhancing immunity to lowering cholesterol and regulating blood sugar; this herbal tea is tasty and offers medicinal-like features.

Properties of Jiaogulan help in ways including preventing cells from turning cancerous and inhibiting the growth of tumors that may have already formed by stimulating the body's immune system cells. In scientific studies, cancer patients given Jiaogulan show marked improvement in white blood cell count along with raised T and B lymphocyte levels.

Jiaogulan contains 84 beneficial saponins - three times more than ginseng, yet it has no side-effects. It also contains amino acids, vitamins, minerals, saponins and various essential trace elements, is one of the best broad-spectrum adaptogenic herbs known.  This tea is considered to be very safe for long-term use, offering highly effective immune boosting properties in the body.  It dramatically reduces cholesterol levels, normalizes blood pressure, protects the heart, and increases fat metabolism.

Athletes use Jiaogulan to improve their implementation because it enables the heart to pump more efficiently thereby improving contractions of the heart muscle. This mostly benefits higher levels of endurance during strong physical activity, and a faster recovery afterwards.

Over 300 controlled research conclusions back up the claim that Jiaogulan is a marvelous antioxidant, immune boosting herb. Some of the advantages of Jiaogulan include:

The reduction of stroke and heart attack because jiaogulan constrains blood platelets from "sticking together," which thwarts the formation of a stroke-inducing blood clot. This same action prevents artery clogging that is thought to increase the risk of a heart attack.

Build Your Immune System – Chinese doctors prescribe daily doses of Jiaogulan to patients recovering from major surgeries such as heart and brain.  Being that the herb supports the immune system, it helps in aiding a quicker and more efficient recovery. Jiaogulans ability to increase the white blood cell count, helps to strengthen the body and improve recovery time. 

A Life Enhancing Herb

One small vine, growing natively in Asia for hundreds of years has earned the reputation of a life enhancing herb, the name “Herb of Immortality” and is also commonly known as jiaogulan tea. 

Used in ancient Chinese medicine to help many ailments, this Herb of Immortality, was documented as early as the 1400s for being used to successfully address health issues such as tumors.      

Since the early days, jiaogulan has been enjoyed on a daily basis by Asian natives and believed to increase vitality and longevity.  Studies support these beliefs and are due to the scientific findings, which show the presence of large quantities of saponins and adaptogens in the tea.

Saponins are very beneficial to the health because they possess properties such as anti-carconogenic activity, antioxidant abilities and support health cholesterol.  While saponins are found in beans, legumes, garlic and oats, they are also present in ginseng and jiaogulan tea; with jiaogulan having an abundance of them.

Furthermore, the adaptogens present in jiaogulan offer balance to the body supporting an overall equilibrium.  Why is this important?  Say you have a stressful day, if you regularly consume jiaogulan tea, the adaptogens protect your body from adverse effects often caused by stress.  Also, the jiaogulan enhances heart function and helps metabolize sugars and carbs.

Jiaogulan tea offers an abundance of beneficial properties to the body.  A life enhancing herb that can be enjoyed simply in a cup of tea, the herb of immortality awaits.

Disclaimer:  Information contained in this article or any post on this blog is for educational use or entertainment only and is never to be used in lieu of advice from a health professional, diagnosis or treatment.

Chinese Herb - Jiaogulan – A Tea with a Boost!

Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum) is widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine herb; and is gaining popularity in other regions worldwide.

Research has shown that the Chinese herb Jiaogulan (Gynostemma Pentaphyllum) is one of the most potent adaptogens available. With so many benefits, the plant has been dubbed a variety of names including Southern ginseng, sweet vine tea, amachazuru, and “herb of immortality”, or Xiancao.  The latter is due to its many attributes including anti-ageing and health-giving properties.

From a small remote mountainous region of southern China, Jiaogulan was has been used for medicinal purposes in native country since the 16^th century. The residents of this small remote region attributed their longevity and vitality to the daily use of jiaogulan or “Herb of Immortality”. This herb has been shown in both laboratory and clinical trials to have potential to boost immunity in humans.   

Research also indicates that this herb suppresses inflammatory nitric oxide pathways, while simultaneously stimulating nitric oxide production in the blood vessels. And although not well studied in humans, gypenosides extracted from this Chinese herb may also have anticancer properties.

With so many alias names, Jiaogulan has also been called "the herbal heart defender" due to the positive effects this herb has on cardio-vascular health, by helping the heart to pump better and assist in increased blood flow.

While the most popular form of Jiaogulan is that of tea, it has also been made into gels and creams to treat skin conditions.  Essentially the entire plant offers benefits.  The “petals” are edible and sometimes chewed on for the enjoyment of their sweetness.  This plant has even been used as a sugar replacement. 

Research conducted by Dr. Liu's team involved extensive exploration into the benefits of Jiaogulan which revealed over 300 human and animal medical studies that documented thoroughly the amazing benefits of Jiaogulan. With new therapeutic properties being researched, it has been found that Jiaogulan may also assist with improving the health of diabetics, and the list is continually growing.

Jiaogulan, a sweet, mild flavored tea is quite an enjoyable way to reap the health benefits it offers.