Seenthil Kodi | Giloy | Guduchi is an ancient herb that is used extensively in ayurvedic medicine, it is an amazing herb with wonderful medicinal uses and health benefits.
Botanical & Common Names Of Giloy:
It's botanical name is Tinospora Cordifolia and it is commonly called Heart-Leaved Moonseed | Indian Tinospora | Heart- Leaved Tinospora in English.
This wonderful herb is called as
Seenthil Kodi | Amruthavalli in Tamil.
Giloya | Guduchi | Giloy | Giloi | Giloe in Hindi,.
Tippa Teega in Telugu.
Amruthaballi in Kannada.
Gulvel in Marathi.
Gurch in Urdu.
Gulancha | Gulancha Tinospora in Bengali.
Amrita in Sanskrit.
Gilogularich in Punjabi.
Chittamruthu in Malayalam.
Galo in Gujarati.
The stem of Seenthil Kodi / giloy is the most used part but Seenthil Kodi / giloy leaves and roots are also used as a medicine. Many biologicallyactive compounds including alkaloids and steroids have been isolated from different parts of Seenthil Kodi / giloy plant and is used for treating many diseases. The medicinal properties of Seenthil Kodi / giloy is amazing, it has anti diabetic, anti cancer, anti HIV, anti stress, anti spasmodic, anti arthritic, anti inflammatory, antioxidant, anti microbial, anti toxic, anti allergic, anti pyretic, anti malarial, anti tumor and liver protective properties! Everyday evening, our dog Bruno and I go in search of herbs in our farm. It is a time that I look forward to everyday, as I feel really calm and serene when I am looking at plants and herbs. I haven't noticed Seenthil Kodi / giloy lately in our farm, but ever since the water started flowing in the stream, it has started growing in abundance. Nowadays nothing makes me more happy than finding a herb that I am searching for and I was so very happy when I saw Seenthil Kodi / giloy . This plant can be found growing wild on trees and shrubs and it can be easily identified with the heart shaped leaves. The leaves have a perfect heart shape and Seenthil Kodi / giloy can be easily grown in pots at home. When trying to identify this plant make sure to look at the plant closely as many creepers are also heart shaped. Look keenly at the color of the stem, the fruits and the size of the leaf etc. Guduchi bears fruits that are the size of a pea and it turns beautiful red on maturity. The stem is green and here there is an other creeper that has heart shaped leaves too but the stem is red, so make sure to look at the plant closely while identifying it.
Preparations Using Seenthil Kodi / giloy :
1. Seenthil Kodi / giloy Juice | Ras: Giloy juice | Giloy Ras is one of the best ways to consume giloy. Many companies sell giloy juice now but you can also make giloy juice easily at home. To make giloy juice, take the fresh giloy root, wash it well and grind it along with little water and extract the juice. Drink this homemade giloy juice immediately for best results. There are also 2 varieties of giloy juice that is sold in the markets, one is made along with amla and is called amla giloy juice and the other is neem giloy which is made with neem leaves and giloy. You can make them at home by adding either amla or neem whilegrinding the giloy stem.
2. Giloy Satva | Seenthikodi Sakkarai: Giloy satva is a very famous medicine. Though it is called sugar, in reality it is not sugar at all. It is made by grinding the giloy stem in water and the residue that settles down is taken and cleaned again and again. The final product is dried to a fine white powder. It is very difficult to make it at home and is best got from ayurvedic shops.
3. Giloy Powder | Churna: You can either buy giloy powder as it is or you can make it on your own by collecting fresh stems, sun drying them till crisp and grinding them to a fine powder. Make sure to sieve before storing to get very fine powder.