Indian kudzu

A thin, dry, depleted patient who needs building up but whose warm constitution does not tolerate heating tonics such as ashwagandha

A nursing mother with low milk supply, dryness, and fatigue after a difficult birth

Hot flushes with vaginal dryness and irritability in a lean woman entering menopause

Overview. Indian kudzu is a large, woody, climbing legume of the Indian subcontinent, growing through forests and hedgerows from the Himalayan foothills to the Deccan and into Nepal. It produces heavy underground tubers, often the size of a football, which are the part used. In Ayurveda the tuber, vidari kanda, is one of the classical sweet, cooling, building tonics, grouped with shatavari and bala among the herbs that nourish tissue, increase milk and semen, and restore strength after illness.

Overview. Pueraria tuberosa is a woody climber of the pea family that scrambles over trees and hedges through much of India, from the Himalayan foothills to the Deccan, and forms very large starchy tubers just below the soil. Ayurveda knows the tuber as Vidari, one of the sweet, cooling, nourishing rasayanas, grouped with Shatavari and Ashwagandha among the herbs that build tissue, semen and milk. It is a standard ingredient of Chyawanprash and of the medicated ghees and oils used for weakness and wasting.

Clinical Notes. Think of vidari as a cooling counterpart to ashwagandha. Where ashwagandha suits the cold, tired, vata patient, vidari suits the tired patient who is also dry, hot, thin and irritable: the burnt-out pitta type, the nursing mother running on empty, the older man or woman losing muscle and moisture.

Clinical Notes. Vidari is the cooling counterpart to Ashwagandha. Where Ashwagandha warms and stimulates a cold, depleted vata patient, Vidari nourishes the thin, hot, dry patient of pitta and vata who cannot tolerate heating tonics: weight loss after fever or illness, burning urine, dry cough, low sperm and scant milk.