The World Most Popular Herbs: Triphala Health Benefits and Side Effects

Triphala is an Ayurvedic fomula consisting of equal parts of Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica), and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula) of myrobalans. The herb has been used in traditional medicine to treat constipation, tonify colon, gastrointestinal tract, balance digestive system, cholesterol, enhance circulation, uterine health, etc.

Health Benefits
1. Antibacterial efficacy
In the assessment ofthe antibacterial efficacy of triphala against salivary mutans streptococci in comparison with the 'gold standard' chlorhexidine, found that The antimicrobial action of triphala against mutans streptococci closely parallels that of chlorhexidine. It does not have the side effects commonly associated with chlorhexidine and is cost effective, according to "Assessment of antibacterial efficacy of triphala against mutans streptococci - a randomised control trial" by Srinagesh J, Pushpanjali K.(1)

2. Prostate cancer
In the identification of gallic acid (GA), a major bioactive cytotoxic constituent of a polyherbal Ayurvedic formulation - triphala (TPL) and its effect on (AR)(+) LNCaP prostate cancer and normal epithelial cells, found that TPL contains 40% unidentified polyphenolic acids, of which 2.4% comprised GA. GA induced severe morphological alterations and was about 3-fold more cytotoxic towards cancer cells than TPL. This activity increased further in the presence of dihydrotestosterone. GA toxicity on normal cells was low at 72 h. Combination of GA with flutamide caused higher toxicity to cancer cells than either of the compounds alone, according to "Differential cytotoxicity of triphala and its phenolic constituent gallic acid on human prostate cancer LNCap and normal cells" by Russell LH Jr, Mazzio E, Badisa RB, Zhu ZP, Agharahimi M, Millington DJ, Goodman CB.(2)

3. Dental health
In the study of the effects of a mouthwash prepared with Triphala on dental plaque, gingival inflammation, and microbial growth and compare it with commercially available Chlorhexidine mouthwash, found that in the inhibitory effect on microbial counts except Lactobacillus where Triphala had shown better results than Chlorhexidine. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between the Triphala and the Chlorhexidine mouthwash, according to "The effect of Triphala and Chlorhexidine mouthwash on dental plaque, gingival inflammation, and microbial growth" by Bajaj N, Tandon S.(3)

4. Anticataract effects
In the evaluation of evaluation of riphala (TP) is composed of Emblica officinalis, Terminalia chebula, and Terminalia belerica anticataract potential in vitro and in vivo in a selenite-induced experimental model of cataract, found that in vivo TF 25mg/kg developed only 20% nuclear cataract as compared to 100% in control. TP prevents or retards experimental selenite-induced cataract. This effect may be due to antioxidant activity. Further studies are warranted to explore its role in human cataract, according to "Evaluation of anticataract potential of Triphala in selenite-induced cataract: In vitro and in vivo studies" by Gupta SK, Kalaiselvan V, Srivastava S, Agrawal SS, Saxena R.(4)

5. Antibacterial, wound healing, and antioxidant activities in would healing
In the indentification of the Triphala extract (10% w/w) in vivo on wound healing on infected rat model by rate of healing, bacterial count, biochemical analysis, and expression of matrix metalloproteinases, found that results showed the antibacterial, wound healing, and antioxidant activities of Triphala ointment, necessary for the management of infected wounds. Active principles of the Triphala may be further evaluated and used as an excellent therapeutic formulation for infected wounds, according to "Triphala promotes healing of infected full-thickness dermal wound" by Kumar MS, Kirubanandan S, Sripriya R, Sehgal PK.(5)

6. Cancers prevention and treatment
In the review of Triphala, an antioxidant-rich herbal formulation and its effects as colon cleanser, digestive, diuretic, and laxative, indicated that Experimental studies in the past decade have shown that Triphala is useful in the prevention of cancer and that it also possesses antineoplastic, radioprotective and chemoprotective effects, according to "Triphala, Ayurvedic formulation for treating and preventing cancer: a review" by Baliga MS.(6)

7. Antioxidants
In the assessment of The aqueous extract of the fruits of Emblica officinalis (T1), Terminalia chebula (T2) and Terminalia belerica (T3) and their equiproportional mixture triphala for their in vitro antioxidant activity, indicated that the extracts were found to possess the ability to scavenge free radicals such as DPPH and superoxide. As the phenolic compounds present in these extracts are mostly responsible for their radical scavenging activity, the total phenolic contents present in these extracts were determined and expressed in terms of gallic acid equivalents and were found to vary from 33% to 44%, according to "In vitro antioxidant studies and free radical reactions of triphala, an ayurvedic formulation and its constituents" by Naik GH, Priyadarsini KI, Bhagirathi RG, Mishra B, Mishra KP, Banavalikar MM, Mohan H.(7)

8. Anti-ulcer activity
In the study of the efficacy of the polyherbal formulation NR-ANX-C (composed of the extracts from Withania somnifera, Camellia sinensis, Ocimum sanctum, shilajith and triphala) and its antioxidant potential in terms of protection from lipid peroxidation and the antiulcer activity, found that R-ANX-C (25 and 50 mg/kg) was more efficacious than ranitidine in reducing ulcer index in both the models. At the highest dose tested (50 mg/kg), NR-ANX-C was comparable to omeprazole in preventing ulcer formation in the pyloric ligature model. NR-ANX-C showed a dose- dependent decrease in gastric juice volume and total acidity in both the models. A dose-dependent increase in gastric pH and total adherent gastric mucus was also seen in NR-ANX-C treated groups. The extent of lipid peroxidation was also reduced in the test drug treated groups, according to "Evaluation of the anti-ulcer activity of NR-ANX-C (a polyherbal formulation) in aspirin & pyloric ligature induced gastric ulcers in albino rats" by Nair V, Arjuman A, Gopalakrishna HN, Dorababu P, Mirshad PV, Bhargavan D, Chatterji D.(8)

9. Hypolipidemic activity
In the investigation of Hypolipidemic activity of haritaki (terminalia chebula) in atherogenic diet induced hyperlipidemic rat, found that Haritaki was found to possess significant hypolipidemic activity. The results also suggest that Haritaki at 1.05 and 2.10 mg/kg b.wt. concentrations are an excellent lipid-lowering agent, according to "Hypolipidemic activity of haritaki (terminalia chebula) in atherogenic diet induced hyperlipidemic rats" by Maruthappan V, Shree KS.(9)

10. Anti-Salmonella activity
In the research of Fruits of T. belerica extract with petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone, alcohol and water and its effect gainst Salmonella typhi and Salmonella typhimurium , found that that aqueous extract of T. belerica was bactericidal at high concentrations where as low concentrations showed bacteriostatic property. In vitro cellular toxicity studies showed no cyto-toxicity associated with T. belerica extracts. Pretreatment of mice with aqueous extract of T. belerica conferred protection against experimental Salmonellosis and 100% survival of animals has been reported when challenged with lethal doses of S. typhimurium, according to "Anti-Salmonella activity of Terminalia belerica: in vitro and in vivo studies" by

Madani A, Jain SK.(10)

11. Anti bacteria infection
In the study of the effect of phytochemical (phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid) and antibacterial activities of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Triphala and its individual components (Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica and Emblica officinalis) against certain bacterial isolates (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella sonnei, S. flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella paratyphi-B, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi) obtained from HIV infected patients, found that most of the bacterial isolates were inhibited by the ethanol and aqueous extracts of T. chebula followed by T. belerica and E. officinalis by both disk diffusion and MIC methods, according to "Evaluation of the growth inhibitory activities of Triphala against common bacterial isolates from HIV infected patients" by Srikumar R, Parthasarathy NJ, Shankar EM, Manikandan S, Vijayakumar R, Thangaraj R, Vijayananth K, Sheeladevi R, Rao UA.(11)

12. Pancreatic tumor
In the elucidation of the molecular mechanism of Triphala against human pancreatic cancer in the cellular and in vivo model, found that Triphala is effective in inhibiting the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells in both cellular and in vivo model. Our data also suggests that the growth inhibitory effects of Triphala is mediated by the activation of ERK and p53 and shows potential for the treatment and/or prevention of human pancreatic cancer, according to "Triphala inhibits both in vitro and in vivo xenograft growth of pancreatic tumor cells by inducing apoptosis" by Shi Y, Sahu RP, Srivastava SK.(12)

13. Gouty arthritis
In the investigation of the anti-arthritic effect of Triphala in the paw volume, lysosomal enzyme activities, lipid peroxidation, anti-oxidant status and inflammatory mediator TNF-alpha in control and monosodium urate crystal-induced mice, found that Triphala treatment (1 gm/kg/b.w. orally) significantly inhibited the paw volume and the levels of lysosomal enzymes, lipid peroxidation and inflammatory mediator tumour necrosis factor-alpha; however the anti-oxidant status was found to be increased in plasma, liver and spleen of monosodium urate crystal-induced mice when compared to control mice. In addition, beta-glucuronidase and lactate dehydrogenase level were reduced in Triphala (100 microg/ml) treated monosodium urate crystal-incubated polymorphonuclear leucocytes. In conclusion, the results obtained clearly indicated that Triphala exerted a strong anti-inflammatory effect against gouty arthritis, according to "An in vivo and in vitro potential of Indian ayurvedic herbal formulation Triphala on experimental gouty arthritis in mice" by Sabina EP, Rasool M.(13)

14. Etc.

The World Most Popular Herbs

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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Triphala Health Benefits and Side Effects

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