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| settled in the Caribbean, Hawaii and other warm climates. Now recognized as an important herb for the circulatory system, gotu kola is cultivated around the world for its medicinal benefits. |
| If you do not already grow gotu kola as a garden or house plant, consider doing so. Much of the gotu kola sold commercially is of poor quality, so your own plant is insurance of excellence. Fresh gotu kola has a pleasant, spicy or tangy taste in teas and salads. Gotu kola is easy to grow indoors in winter, outdoors in summer and outdoors all year in warm climates. |
| The name gotu kola may derive from the plant's Sinhalese name, hingotu kola, but this is uncertain. Its common names include centella and Indian pennywort; its Sanskrit name is brahmi. It is not related to the kola nut, which contains caffeine; gotu kola does not. |
| Research has shown that a water extract of fresh gotu kola leaves increased the learning response of laboratory rats, and two studies of developmentally disabled children showed a significant increase in mental abilities. Gotu kola is used in memory tonics designed for students of all ages, for the elderly and for people in high stress jobs who have to think and respond quickly. |
| In addition to its uses as a mental stimulator, gotu kola has important benefits in skin healing. Modern research on the plant began in 1949 when scientists in Madagascar injected an extract of gotu kola directly into leprosy nodules, perforated ulcers and lesions on the eyes and fingers of leprosy patients and observed rapid healing. This led to additional studies using gotu kola extracts, teas, poultices and injections to heal skin lesions, burns and different types of wounds, all with significant results. |
| During the last 20 years, scientists have studied the effects of gotu kola on not only mental function and skin disorders but heart disease, inflammatory illnesses, circulatory problems such as phlebitis, fluid retention and surgical |
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