Gynostemma / Jiaogulan Leaves Powder

Gynostemma pentaphyllum, also called jiaogulan (literally "twisting blue plant"), is a dioecious, herbaceous climbing vine of the family Cucurbitaceae (cucumber or gourd family) widely distributed in South and East Asia as well as New Guinea. Jiaogulan has recently been incorporated into traditional medicine.The plant is used in folk medicine, typically as an herbal tea, but may be used as an alcohol extract or in dietary supplements. It has not seen widespread use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), being adopted only in the past 20 years,[1] because it grows far from central China where TCM evolved; consequently, it was not included in the standard pharmacopoeia of the TCM system. Before then, it was a locally-known herb used primarily in mountainous regions of southern China and in northern Vietnam. It is described by the local inhabitants as the "immortality herb," because a large number of elderly people within Guizhou Province reported consuming the plant regularly.