The effects of Gotu kola on your health cannot be ignored

Gotu kola is used in cooling the body, detoxifying the liver, treating poisoning, and sore throat due to cough.


However, pennywort has several potentially harmful effects you may not expect. Let's find out the effects of Gotu kola right here.


Gotu kola has the scientific name of Pennywort Asiatica, of the Umbelliferae family. This plant is native to Asia, Australia, and the islands around the Pacific region.

Pennywort is a plant that grows on the ground, the herb has a diameter of several millimeters. The leaves are dark green, with long stalks, veins shaped like a propeller, the length of the leaves is usually from 7 to 20cm depending on the type.

Pennywort's flowers are usually white, sometimes alternating in light red. Fruit usually grows and ripens after 3 months from flowering.



Gotu kola is usually harvested with leaves and roots so that it can take full advantage of the pennywort. This tree grows year-round so the price is very cheap and very easy to find.

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Nutrition facts in 100g of Gotu kola

- Energy: 20 kcal
- Protein: 3.2g
- Carbohydrates: 1.8g
- Fiber: 4,5g
- Calcium: 229mg
- Iron: 3.1mg
- Phosphorus: 2.4mg
- Vitamin C: 37 mg
- Vitamin B1: 0.14mg
- Vitamin B2: 0.15mg
- Vitamin PP: 1.2mg
- Beta-carotene: 1300 mcg

In addition, Gotu kola also contains lots of healthy active ingredients such as Saponin, sterol, flavonoid, alkaloid, saccharide, triterpenoid ...

14 effects of Gotu kola on health

1. Gotu kola enhances and improves memory

Pennywort extract contains a large amount of folic acid, which can enhance and improve memory significantly compared to the use of folic acid in current oral medications. You can grind into dried Gotu kola powder, then mix 5g of it with water or milk, drink before meals or before going to bed will be very effective.

2. Pennywort supports the treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the elderly

In addition to boosting memory, the effects of Gotu kola can help protect brain cells from degeneration and bacterial attack. Since then the chance of Alzheimer's disease-causing memory impairment in the elderly will be difficult to appear, ensuring the health of patients.

3. Pennywort reduces stress 

Pennywort juice contains large amounts of the active ingredient Saponin, which can relax blood vessels, helping to reduce anxiety and stress caused by work stress. From there you will feel more relaxed and more comfortable working.

4. Gotu kola has an anti-depressant effect

Besides relieving stress and anxiety, the impacts of Gotu kola are thought to help fight depression as well. Many studies have shown that people who suffer from depression use drinking Gotu kola regularly for 60 consecutive days, they are in a much more relaxed and carefree mood than normal patients.

5. Pennywort helps improve insomnia

The active ingredient triterpenoid and saponin in Gotu kola also can significantly improve insomnia in patients. Using the water intake of Gotu kola daily, people with insomnia will regain sleepiness, the relaxed nervous system will help sleep deeper.

6. Pennywort promotes wound healing, beautifies the skin

This is the use of Gotu kola in beauty is trusted by many women. The triterpenoid active ingredient in Gotu kola can support the female body increases the production of collagen to help heal wounds and heal scars. Since then helps the skin become more beautiful, bright, and smooth.

7. Gotu kola can help reduce arthritis pain

Gotu kola has lots of great antioxidants, typically flavonoids and alkaloids that fight off the inflammation that causes joint pain, protecting joints from corrosive degeneration. Since then help patients recover quickly.

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8. The effects of Gotu kola help detoxify

Active ingredient Flavonoid also can detoxify the body very effectively. Pennywort juice is a beverage that is considered beneficial for your liver, helping the liver fight free radicals that damage cells. Therefore, your liver will be healthier, preventing many serious diseases from happening.

9. Pennywort helps prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease

High fiber content along with a series of powerful antioxidants in Gotu kola will help protect the blood vessels, help the heartbeat stable. Fiber also neutralizes excess cholesterol in the blood vessels, preventing the risk of atherosclerosis that may occur.

10. Pennywort helps treat skin diseases

This is another use of Gotu kola in other beauty that you should care about. Flavonoids and alkaloids can significantly reduce women's urticaria, eczema. Make a combination of drinking pennywort juice and pounding 50 to 100g of pennywort to apply on the affected skin daily, eczema, rashes will be relieved significantly.

11. Gotu kola helps reduce itching and pimples

Drinking pennywort juice to treat pimples and rashes is very effective thanks to the powerful antioxidants like flavonoids, alkaloids. These substances will support protect skin cells, kill bacteria, repel sebum in the skin. This helps to significantly reduce itchy skin rashes and pimples on the skin, helping to make women more beautiful. 

Drink regular or crushed vegetable juice to apply on the skin will see how the effects of Gotu Kola.

12. Pennywort supports constipation treatment

Gotu kola contains high amounts of fiber and vitamin C, which will help prevent constipation that may occur, especially for women throughout pregnancy. You can refer to two ways of processing 

pennywort to treat constipation as follows:

- Method 1: 150g washed pennywort, then drain and crushed with 10g of salt. Finally, use a bowl of warm water to filter the pennywort juice. Combine this drink with rice or porridge, abstain from fat to lighten the stomach.

- Method 2: Pennywort, mugwort, foxglove, and apricot roots, each of which is taken to the yellow star and then lowered. Then take sharp water to drink 2 times a day to reduce constipation.

13. Pennywort helps reduce fever, relieve colds quickly

Gotu kola has a cooling effect, cooling the body, so it is used to treat fever very effectively. You should cook pennywort soup or pound for drinking water, drink with dilute porridge will help the fever reduction process quickly and safely.

14. Gotu kola prevents nosebleeds

Nosebleeds are usually caused by a deficiency of vitamin C and the body is hot in the body. Use 100g of fresh pennywort to crush juice. Then, drinking vegetable juice about 2 times a day for 1 week will help reduce nosebleeds in people because Gotu kola is rich in vitamin C.

The harm of pennywort if used improperly

- Cause headaches: Utilizing too much pennywort juice can cause headaches for a long time. Even the risk of fainting may occur.

- Increase blood sugar: In some cases, Gotu kola juice can cause you to increase cholesterol and blood sugar instead of keeping them at a stable level. So people with diabetes should not use Gotu kola.

- Increased risk of miscarriage: Although Gotu kola juice has beauty for women, it stimulates the body to produce more collagen and increases uterine contractility if used too much. This makes women more likely to have a miscarriage.

- Reducing the effects of medicines: The effects of Gotu kola can cause conflicts and reduce the effects of some of the medicines that you are using to treat the disease. For example, antidepressants, drugs containing insulin for diabetes, drugs for sedation, etc.

- Causes acute diarrhea: Gotu kola has cold and cool properties, although it can help you cure constipation, if used too much, it will cause acute diarrhea.

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• What to note when using Gotu kola

- The effect of Gotu kola is very good for the body, but should not eat or drink more than 40g of pennywort every day.

- Should use pennywort spaced rather than too frequently. This helps the body to get used to it and not cause side effects of Gotu Kola.

- Should wash cheek vegetables before conducting pounding to get the juice. Because this vegetable grows crawling on the ground, it is easy to be infected with bacteria and metals that are harmful to the body.

- People with a history of diabetes, pregnant women, or people who are using medicines to treat diseases should not use Gotu kola.