The biocharacteristics clinical theory of medicine includes many more categories than herbal actions alone. See all categories
An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. These herbs are contraindicated in pregnancy.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Used to lower blood pressure. Promotes diuresis by inhibiting angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE).
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Herbs that promote stabilization of physiological processes and homeostasis. Adaptogens increase the body's ability to resist the damaging effects of stress and promote or restore normal physiological functioning.
Group: Immune-System
Strengthens, supports, or increases output of adrenals.
Group: Energy-Vitality
Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Stimulates the central nervous system (CNS). Increases alertness. Counteracts the effects of sedatives or other CNS depressants. These are used in dizziness, drowsiness, stupor, coma, or paralysis especially following a concussion or contusion.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Pain reliever, reduces pain without eliminating sensation. Also known as anodyne.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Herbs that neutralize acidity in the gastrointestinal tract, the stomach in particular.
Group: Digestion
Kills parasitic worms (hookworms, tapeworms, roundworms, etc).
Group: Immune-System
Reduces estrogen, which reduces thickness of the uterus endometrium, pelvic congestive disorders like fibroids, and frequently dysmenorrhea as well.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Reduces inflammation in the body. Different herbs and carriers target different body systems.
Group: Immune-System
Reduces prolactin, a female hormone that suppresses the uterus, fertility, menstruation.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Reduces androgen (testosterone), which can reduce excess growth, drive, and libido. Reduces skin oiliness. Helpful for prostate enlargement.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Herbs that ease arthritic pain and promote joint health.
Group: Bone-Joint
Herbs that kill bacteria or slow their growth.
Group: Immune-System
Herbs that inhibit or prevent the activity of a carcinogen or the development of cancer.
Group: Immune-System
Anticholinergic herbs block the action of acetylecholine. This affecgs many systems of the body, including relaxing smooth muscle spasms and dilating bronchial tubes. Many anticholinergic herbs are nightshades that can be fatal if used incorrectly.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Herbs that lift feelings of depression, benefit the mind and improve mental function.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
An herb that suppresses thirst.
Group: Digestion
An herb that suppresses the formation of urine. They help retain fluids and rehydrate by reducing urination. They oppose diuresis.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
Herbs that reduce nausea or stop vomiting. Generally refreshing, aromatic herbs.
Group: Digestion
Fibrosis of an organ is often a progressive leading to organ failure (i.e lungs, liver, kidney). While vulneraries usually help restore collagen, antifibrotic herbs often clear collagen. Aka fibrinolytic.
Group: Skin-Care
Herbs that destroy fungus.
Group: Immune-System
Group: Immune-System
An herb that dissolves / breaks up stones (gallstones or kidney stones) so that it can be passed.
Group: Cleanse-and-Detox
An agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth. Antimicrobial is an umbrella term that can be broken down into specific categories of target microorganism, such as anti-bacterials, fungals, and virals.
Group: Immune-System
An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals that lead to a chain reaction causing damage or death to cells. Antioxidants terminate these oxidation reactions.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that inhibits clotting, dissolves clots, thins the blood, or destroys platelets, therefore reducing the tendency of blood to form clots. They are useful in cardiovascular disease, clots, and stroke. Aka anticoagulant.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An antidote for a poison. Many anti-poisonous herbs draw out a poison and are good for insect bites. Others help burn it up.
Group: Immune-System
Antipruritics are herbs that inhibit itching, often associated with skin conditions such as sunburns, allergic reactions, eczema, psoriasis, chickenpox, fungal infections, insect bites, or contact dermatitis (as in poison ivy rashes).
Group: Skin-Care
Reduces a fever / febrifuge.
Group: Immune-System
Antirheumatic herbs help to ease and prevent arthritis and rheumatism. Many are also anti-inflammatory, analgesic, detoxicants and blood thinners. Antirheumatic herbs deal with problems involving the painful, stiff, swollen joints, and fatigue.
Group: Immune-System
Capable of preventing infection by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Helpful in infections and for those with weak immune systems.
Group: Immune-System
Herbs that reduce or inhibit muscle spasms or cramping, such as in asthma, menstruation, heart palpitations, migraine, or IBS.
Group: Muscle-Health
Cough suppressant, particularly for dry coughs or a tickle in your throat.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Herbs that inhibit the development of viral infections. Antivirals also can be found in essential oils of some herbs, such as eucalyptus oil.
Group: Immune-System
Herbs that help people suffering from anxiety or panic. They promote a state of calm and often improve sleep. Most anxiolytic herbs are also nervines.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Herbs that increase sexual arousal through various actions including increased circulation, relaxation, stimulation, or tonics that strengthen glandular health.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Suppresses hunger without causing weight gain.
Group: Digestion
Herbs that cleanse the palate & stimulate hunger or desire to eat.
Group: Digestion
Sedates the sympathetic nervous system. Used to calm the heart, manage abnormal heart rhythms, and reduce high blood pressure.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Herbs that thin the blood. Helpful for people with heart disease or clogged circulation.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that produces more blood cells in the body, or otherwise improves blood cell quality or hemoglobin content. Helpful for anemia and other types of deficiency.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that strengthens the bones and joints.
Group: Bone-Joint
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, reduces nerve excitability. It is the body's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Thus, it promotes relaxation, calm, and sleep.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
An herb that strengthens the brain and thereby enhances memory or other cognitive functions and improves mental stamina or stability.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
The Sanskrit word for breaking up congealed matter / clogs in the body. Often used for constipation. Be careful with herbs that have Bhedana action.
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
An herb that encourages the widening or opening of the lung airways. They are helpful in wheezing and asthma.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Herbs that increase the production of semen, often by rebuilding fluids in general.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Promotes strength, endurance and resistance in the body. Rebuilds weak tissues after a time of depletion.
Group: Energy-Vitality
An herb that detoxifies by helping your body metabolize toxins, as opposed to eliminating them.
Group: Cleanse-and-Detox
Reduces blood pressure by relaxing smooth muscle tissue. Blocking calcium (Ca2+) inhibits smooth muscle contraction.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that literally calms the heart. These herbs are helpful in the treatment of anxiety, sadness, depression, or other emotional imbalances in the heart. Related to the Chinese Herbal Category 'calms spirit.'
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Herbs that increase the heart rate. Useful in cardiovascular health, blood stagnation, and subjective feeling of heaviness in the chest area.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Strengthens and tones the heart (heart-tonic). Cardiac tonics are used to treat a wide range of heart issues from arrhythmia, to cardiac insufficiency.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Stimulates the release of gas. Helpful for bloating or cramping abdominal pain. Propels food downward. Carminatives typically expel gas by relaxing the muscles of the intestines.
Group: Digestion
Increases feelings of tension, constriction and tightness in the body.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Used to ablate warts. Caution: Use only under supervision from a western medical doctor.
Group: Skin-Care
Binds to toxins such as heavy metals making them more soluble for elimination by the body.
Group: Bone-Joint
Cholagogues stimulate the production & release of bile from the liver & gallbladder. This refreshes and cleanses these organs, as well as increases bile in the small intestines.
Group: Liver-Gallbladder
Increases acetylcholine production or uptake, improving nerve health, memory, mood, coordination, and protecting neurons.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Cleanses sinuses by draining excess mucus, allowing for clear, easy breathing.
Group: Respiratory-Health
An herb that binds stools / stops diarrhea. When used in excess, these herbs and foods can cause constipation.
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
Herbs that reduce fertility or prevent conception. There are no reliable herbal contraceptives!
Group: Reproductive-Health
An herb that reduces mucus production often by restricting blood flow to mucus membranes.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Herbs that coat or form a soothing film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane.
Group: Skin-Care
An herb that reduces odor.
Group: Skin-Care
herbs that dry surfaces by absorbing moisture.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
An herb that induces sweating, often by dilating blood vessels close to the skin.
Group: Skin-Care
Herbs that encourage healthy digestion.
Group: Digestion
Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
Dopamine lifts mood, but also reduces prolactin, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and lutenizing hormone (LH).
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Makes the mouth feel dry, or pasty.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
An herb that causes vomiting and nausea.
Group: Digestion
Herbs which stimulate menstruation. Emmenagogues are used for scanty menstruation, to relieve menstrual pain, and improve blood flow in the pelvic area and uterus.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Soothes & softens the skin. Often a topical demulcent or oil.
Group: Skin-Care
Increases estrogen, helpful in menopause. Estrogen is anabolic and increases muscle growth, bone density, and moisture.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Expectorants help you eliminate mucus from the lungs. These herbs often work by increasing the quantity of mucus, or thinning the mucus. Expectorants are indicated when phlegm congests the lower respiratory tract.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Herbs in this category stimulate mucus membranes to release fluids, flushing them out.
Group: Immune-System
An herb that relieves sinus congestion by flushing out mucus.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Increases production of breast milk, often by raising prolactin and diaphoresis.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Promotes a bowel movement. General laxative is an umbrella term that refers to several different types of laxatives.
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
An herb or formula that encourages healthy hair growth.
Group: Bone-Joint
An herb that stops bleeding.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that is capable of preventing liver damage. Many hepatoprotectives work via antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Group: Liver-Gallbladder
A class of laxative that adds bulk and water to stools. The large size of the stool stimulates peristalsis so the stool can pass more easily through the colon. It is important to drink plenty of water when using high fiber laxatives, as they can be dehydr
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
Uses water in various forms (liquid, steam, or ice) to promote health and wellness. Includes baths, steam, etc.
Group: Respiratory-Health
An herb that increases blood pressure.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Scrapes fats / cleanses blood vessels by 1) purging bile, 2) strengthening the liver's ability to metabolize fats, 3) by increasing uptake of cholesterol in the liver, and 4) by inhibiting fat cells.
Group: Weight-Loss
An herb that lowers blood pressure.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Herbs that interrupt an allergic reaction or calm the immune system, useful in allergies and autoimmune conditions.
Group: Immune-System
Group: Immune-System
Stimulates and strengthens the immune system. Helpful when fighting off a cold or flu.
Group: Immune-System
Reduces scattered thoughts. Creates a steady mind. Includes herbs that relax (for Vata) and herbs that stimulate (for Kapha).
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Herbs that encourage ovulation.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Group: Digestion
Liquefies, dissolves, decongests or dislodges internal stagnant toxins. Decongests the lymphatic system.
Group: Cleanse-and-Detox
An herb that causes intoxication, makes you 'woozy' or adversely affects mental function. Intoxicants, like valerian or kava, can be addicting. Use sparingly.
Group: Cleanse-and-Detox
Tight, sharp pain just below ribs in the back.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
Creates abrasive feeling in the back of the mouth. May stimulate coughing.
Group: Respiratory-Health
An herb that strengthens the kidneys.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
An herb used to expel stones such as kidney stones or gallstones.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
An herb that strengthens the liver. It is helpful for people with a history of substance abuse, chronic liver issues from hepatitis and hemolytic anemias. Generally, liver tonics are oily, cool, sweet, mildly sour, or contain beta-carotene.
Group: Liver-Gallbladder
An herb that lowers blood sugar.
Group: Weight-Loss
Reduces thyroid function. Useful for people with hyperthyroid.
Group: Weight-Loss
Makes you feel like there is a ball of tension around the Adam's Apple area.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Strengthens the lungs. Lung tonics include antifibrotic, vessel tonic, or nourishing herbs with an affinity for the lungs. They aid recovery in acute or chronic lung conditions.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Induces drowsiness and promotes sound sleep.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Group: Immune-System
An herb that breaks apart mucus, liquefying the mucus.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Herbs that relax muscles. Helpful for chronic pain or tension as well as healing from physical trauma.
Group: Muscle-Health
Herbs that strengthen and tone muscle tissue. Helpful for people recovering from long term illness and debility, or after a sprain.
Group: Muscle-Health
Brings about feelings of unease and discomfort in the stomach, often accompanied with the involuntary urge to vomit.
Group: Digestion
Stimulate neurite / axon growth, promotes regeneration.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Encourages feelings of stability and heaviness. Makes you feel settled, mentally relaxed. Mildly sedates the nervous system to ease stress. Can bring a spacey or anxious person back to earth. Reduces agitation, irritation, stress and racing thoughts.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Provide short lived stimulation of the nervous system.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Balances the nervous system. They can help with stress, memory, early alzheimer's, and even chronic pain. Often they are aromatic in nature.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Repairs / restores damaged nerves. Protects nerve health.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Inhibits sensation in a particular area.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
An herb that is strengthening and nourishing.
Group: Energy-Vitality
Benefits the eyes, vision tonic.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Oxytocin stimulates uterine contractions, and prepares the uterus for labor. It has a vasoconstricting effect. Emotionally, it is tribal.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Prepares the uterus for labor & delivery, making contractions more effective. May also relax the mother, reduce pain, improve breast milk, stimulate contractions (oxytocin), build yang, and nourish blood.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Causes sensitivity to ultaviolet light - useful in psoriasis and cancers.
Group: Skin-Care
Progeserone is the pregnancy hormone. It raises body temperature (Pitta), and suppresses menstruation. It is generally more extroverted.
Group: Reproductive-Health
An herb that promotes fertility. Generally used by women who wish to become pregnant. These herbs may also help with menstrual problems of deficiency, such as amenorrhea (lack of a period).
Group: Reproductive-Health
Encourages virility and potency.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Where general laxatives target the colon, purgatives are strong laxatives that target complete elimination of the small intestine. Use only sporadically as it can be habit forming.
Group: Digestion
An herb or substance that relieves thirst.
Group: Digestion
An herb that increases thyroid function.
Group: Weight-Loss
Substances that increase your electrolyte balance. Electrolytes help you retain water, keep your palate moist, and truly quench your thirst.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Herbs or substances that create moisture in the body and increase fluids.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Stops discharges & secretions (examples include sweat, vaginal discharge, diarrhea, urinary, nasal, etc). Commonly astringent or cooling remedies.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Suppresses sweating, often by cooling the metabolism, reducing blood flow to the skin, or closing pores.
Group: Skin-Care
Relieves swelling / inflammation.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Flushes the lymphatic system to cool, awaken, and revive the skin.
Group: Skin-Care
Stimulates and wakes up the body, leaving it feeling cool, fresh, and energized.
Group: Energy-Vitality
An herb or substance that strongly cools the body. Can be helpful in cases of heat conditions.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Used when labor is stalled due to irregular, colicky or spasmodic contractions (hypertonic). Ensures full dilation of cervix.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Eases tension in eye muscles, so the eyes feel less strained, often by supporting the liver.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Soothes and comforts the muscles of the upper abdomen, reducing any tension or pressure in the solar plexus area.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Herbs that soothe a burn or reduce an internal burning sensation, such as aloe vera.
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
An herb that releases tightness, constriction, and rigidity in a muscle.
Group: Muscle-Health
Reduces inflammation and allergen reactivity by restoring epithelial barrier function. Repairs tight cell junction in leaky gut, interstitial cystitis, eczema, asthma, etc.
Group: Immune-System
Group: Bone-Joint
An herb used topically that causes dilation of the capillaries and an increase in blood circulation. The skin will appear red or flushed.
Group: Skin-Care
Provides a sense of gratification and fullness in the stomach.
Group: Energy-Vitality
Sedative herbs create a sense of calm in the mind and body by specifically calming or quieting the nervous system. Excellent for anxiety, stress and chronic pain.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
The feel-good hormone. Also includes serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
A sialogogue increases saliva. Sour foods are often great sialogogues, and increase output of all exocrine glands. Salty taste is very moistening as well. Bitter, pungent and sweettastes also increase salivary output but to a lesser degree. Astringents.
Group: Digestion
An herb that strengthens and nourishes skin, improving tone, color, moisture and complexion.
Group: Skin-Care
Soothes throat discomfort, including from a sore or ticklish throat.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Calms and alleviates irritation, discomfort or pain in a particular region.
Group: Skin-Care
An herb that strengthens spleen function by improving strength of the blood. Spleen tonics Builds agni, brighten the person's appearances & firms up tissues.
Group: Digestion
Stimulant laxatives induce bowel movements by stimulating peristaltic movement (the contraction of smooth muscle in the intestines). They are effective when used on a short-term basis. On a long-term basis, they can create dependency. Aka irritant laxativ
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
Used to induce labor when labor is stalled due to weak or ineffective contractions. Includes both stimulants and oxytocic parturients.
Group: Reproductive-Health
Creates a feeling of awareness or tension in the area at the base of the skull.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Creates a feeling of awareness or tension in the area at the top of the head.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
This category groups thyroid and adrenal stimulating herbs.
Group: Energy-Vitality
Creates a feeling of awareness or tension in the area in the forehead. Activates the frontal lobe - the area responsible for motor function, emotional expression, thinking, and decision making.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
An herb that promotes involuntary smooth muscle contractions to facilitate the movement of food and waste through the digestive tract.
Group: Digestion
An herb that increases appetite or settles a nauseas or nervous stomach. These generally increase the digestive fire, therefore relieving symptoms of sluggish or difficult digestion.
Group: Digestion
Softens hard and difficult to eliminate stool. Stool softeners are the safest and most gentle type of laxative. Examples include warm milk with ghee.
Group: Bowel-Poop-Elimination
Increases determination and courage by reducing stress and building strength.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
A herb that contracts tissue or blood vessels. Generally styptics are astringent. They are often used topically as a hemostatic to stop bleeding, or to reduce secretions.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Androgenic. Stimulates testosterone.
Group: Reproductive-Health
A tonic herb restores function through strengthening tissue. This can happen through a combination of nourishing the tissue, and invigorating tissue metabolism. The tonic should not be withering, as in caffeine.
Group: Energy-Vitality
An herb that tonifies and strengthens the urinary system. These can be helpful for urinary incontinence or improving function after a urinary tract infection. They can also strengthen the bladder to ward off a urinary tract infection.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
Causes contractions in the uterus often by stimulating production of oxytocin. These herbs are contraindicated during pregnancy.
Group: Reproductive-Health
An herb that tonifies and strengthens the uterus. Helpful for menstrual difficulties and fertility. Often herbs that increase ojas, but also circulation to reproductive system.
Group: Reproductive-Health
A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that improves the tone and integrity of blood vessel walls. This is helpful in easy bruising.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb used for the treatment of wounds (antiulcer, connective tissue tonic).
Group: Skin-Care
Invigorates the body and nervous system, increases energy.
Group: Mind-Stress-Sleep
Warms the muscles and organs of the abdomen, stimulating digestion and metabolism.
Group: Digestion
Warms the chest and lungs, clearing mucus and allowing for clear breathing. Often these herbs are hot, aromatic, and pungent.
Group: Respiratory-Health
Stimulates peripheral circulation to warm extremities, including the ears.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
An herb that increases sensations of heat and warmth in the head.
Group: Heart-Circulation-Blood
Warms the kidneys by increasing blood flow to the organ.
Group: Kidney-Bladder-Urinary
Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’
