What Is Arjunarishta? All You Need to Know

Arjunarishta is an herbal concoction traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine as a natural remedy for improving heart health and treating heart-related issues like high blood pressure (1).

It’s made with various natural ingredients, including:

• Terminalia arjuna (T. arjuna) bark
• Woodfordia fruticosa (W. fruticosa) flowers
• Madhuca Indica (M. Indica) flowers
• Vitis vinifera (V. vinifera), also known as dried grapes
• jaggery, an unrefined sugar product made in Asia and Africa
• water, for decoction purposes

Before being bottled, the herbal ingredients are cleaned and made into a powder. They’re later combined with jaggery and water before undergoing natural fermentation and bottling.

Arjunarishta is commonly available in India but may be found in some herbal stores in the United States or purchased online.

Summary

Arjunarishta is an herbal concoction used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to treat various heart ailments. It’s comprised of T. arjuna bark, various flowers, dried grapes, jaggery, and water.

There’s limited research on arjunarishta, and most of it was conducted in animals. Therefore, no definitive conclusions can be made about its effectiveness in humans.

That said, below are some potential health benefits of arjunarishta and its ingredients.

May promote heart health

Traditionally, arjunarishta was used as an herbal tonic to support heart health.

Animal research suggests that the concoction and its ingredients may lower cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood pressure levels — three key risk factors for heart disease (2).

In one mouse study, both arjunarishta and T. arjuna extract significantly lowered systolic blood pressure (the upper value), total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, compared with mice that did not receive either treatment (1).

A human study in 100 people with heart disease found that taking 3 grams of T. arjuna bark powder — an ingredient in arjunarishta — daily for 1 month reduced blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels (3).

While these findings are promising, more human studies are needed, especially on the complete arjunarishta blend and not its individual ingredients.

High in antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances that neutralize highly unstable molecules called free radicals. Free radical damage is linked to chronic conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer (4).

Many ingredients in arjunarishta, such as T. arjuna, V. vinifera, and W. fruticosa, contain compounds that function as antioxidants, including flavonoids, triterpenoids, glycosides, and phenolic acids (5, 6, 7).

In test-tube and animal studies, T. arjuna, V. vinifera, and W. fruticosa antioxidants have been shown to suppress the growth and spread of cancers in the stomach, liver, and more (8, 9, 10).

However, it’s unclear whether taking arjunarishta would produce similar results, as these studies were conducted using concentrated extracts. It’s also unclear whether these benefits would apply to humans.

May aid blood sugar control

Animal research suggests that arjunarishta and its ingredients may lower blood sugar levels.

In a mouse study, researchers discovered that both arjunarishta and T. arjuna extract lowered fasting blood sugar levels significantly more than a control (1).

Similarly, a study in rats with diabetes found that treatment with a T. arjuna extract for 15 days significantly reduced and normalized fasting blood sugar levels (11).

Additional studies in mice with diabetes have also found the concoction’s ingredients to significantly reduce fasting blood sugar levels (12, 13).

However, arjunarishta contains jaggery — an unrefined sugar product. As such, while most of the ingredients may aid blood sugar control in animal studies, arjunarishta as a whole may be unsuitable for people with diabetes.

Human studies on arjunarishta’s effects on blood sugar management are needed before recommending it for this purpose.

Other potential benefits

Arjunarishta and its ingredients have been associated with other potential benefits, including:

• May reduce cancer risk. Animal and test-tube studies suggest that certain ingredients in arjunarishta may have anticancer properties. Still, human studies are needed in this area (14, 15).
• May have anti-asthmatic properties. Animal research suggests that some of the blend’s ingredients may have anti-asthmatic properties and help reduce lung inflammation. Again, human studies are needed (6).
• May aid aerobic exercise performance. A study in 30 healthy young adults found that T. arjuna, a key ingredient in arjunarishta, improved aerobic exercise endurance (16).

Summary

Animal research on arjunarishta suggests that it may serve as a good source of antioxidants and improve heart health and blood sugar control. Yet, human studies are needed.

There’s little research on the safety and side effects of arjunarishta.

Studies on its individual ingredients suggest that the concoction may cause mild side effects in some people, such as nausea, headaches, body aches, and constipation (5).

It’s also not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women and should not be given to children, as its safety has not been assessed in these populations. It also contains a percentage of alcohol as a result of the natural fermentation it undergoes.

Plus, only limited information is available on its potential to interact with supplements or medications.

For these reasons, it’s important to speak with your healthcare provider before taking this or any other herbal supplement, especially if you’re taking any medications.

Arjunarishta is an herbal concoction, so it’s only available as a syrup.

It’s not widely available in the United States but may be purchased at select health food stores and online. Due to limited research on the product, there are no official dosage recommendations.

Most arjunarishta supplements advise taking 15–30 mL once or twice daily without food, although this dosage is not supported by high quality scientific evidence.

Summary

Due to limited research on its safety, children and pregnant or breastfeeding women should avoid arjunarishta. There are no official dosage recommendations, but most supplements advise taking 15–30 mL once or twice daily without food.

Arjunarishta is an Ayurvedic concoction that was traditionally used to treat heart ailments.

While there’s limited research on its health effects in humans, animal studies on its individual ingredients suggest that it’s high in antioxidants and may support heart health, improve blood sugar control, and offer other potential benefits.

Due to limited research on its safety, children and pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid taking it. It also contains a small percentage of alcohol from the natural fermentation it undergoes.

As with any dietary supplement, you should always consult your healthcare provider before incorporating arjunarishta into your diet.