Jiaogulan History

Because it grows mainly in the rugged and inaccessible mountains of southern China, jiaogulan was virtually unknown to the ancient founders of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who dwelled in the north central part of the country. They did not learn of jiaogulan until early in the Ming Dynasty (1368 1644 AD), even though it had been in wide use in the South for countless generations. Jiaogulan did not receive widespread attention until the recent discovery of longevity pockets in two small southern provinces where jiaogulan is used regularly as a tonic. In certain remote villages, an extraordinary number of people were found to be living very long lives in robust good health, with many living to age 100 and beyond. The incidence of cancer and other diseases in these "longevity villages" was found to be extremely low.

Since that discovery, jiaogulan research has exploded, and more than 300 scientific journal articles over more than 30 years have identified a group of more than 100 unique compounds in jiaogulan that are not found in any other plant. These compounds gypenoside saponins are now widely acknowledged to be the primary source of jiaogulan's wide-ranging effects, although the plant contains a wealth of other important compounds as well. The extensive worldwide jiaogulan research effort is now benefiting health-conscious consumers, ever since the recent development of new, highly effective jiaogulan tonics that provide not only a high potency of gypenoside saponins, but which also contain important nutrients from the entire plant, including juices from the leaf, stem and root. That is the optimal way to take full advantage of the entire spectrum of health-giving components from this miraculous plant. The best of the new tonics combine full-spectrum jiaogulan with other synergistic herbs and high-antioxidant superfood nutrients, thus making them a perfect marriage of traditional herbal wisdom and modern nutraceutical technology.