College of Ayurvedic Diet & Digestion

 

AYURVEDIC HERB SUPPLEMENTS

Skullcap (SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA)

Nerve tonic that relaxes. Ideal for tension arising from deficiency, and fatigue and weakness due to long term stress.

How Does This Ayurvedic Herb Supplement Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

Nerve tonic that relaxes. Ideal for tension arising from deficiency, and fatigue and weakness due to long term stress.

SUGGESTED USE

1 dropper full 2x/day or as directed by your practitioner.
How should I take my tincture?
Follow these guidelines

Metabolic Nature of Skullcap

See a complete list of all biocharacteristics.
INCREASES
Guna Help

Increases These Biocharacteristics (Gunas)

Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics (gunas). Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance. By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick. Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold). You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic.

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COLD

ABOUT COLD BIOCHARACTERISTIC

Cold refers to anything that reduces body temperature, metabolism, and blood flow.

LEARN MORE ABOUT COLD

HEAVY

ABOUT HEAVY BIOCHARACTERISTIC

Heavy is identified by sedation, sluggishness, or increased weight.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HEAVY

TASTES
Taste Help

The 6 Tastes

Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food. Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body. Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food. Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods. Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion. Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste. One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?

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BITTER

ABOUT BITTER BIOCHARACTERISTIC

Bitter taste has cholagogue action - it is cold, clear, light, and stimulating. It increases digestive enzymes, laxative, and drying.

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PUNGENT

ABOUT PUNGENT BIOCHARACTERISTIC

Pungency is characterized by irritation, or sharp, spicy foods that irritate the mouth such as black pepper.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PUNGENT

DOSHAS
Dosha Help

The Three Doshas / Body Types

According to the biocharacteristic theory of medicine, people tend to get sick, over and over again, due to habitual causes and imbalances that are unique to the person. Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness. Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency. Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses. The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history.

The 3 functional body types (doshas), are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha). Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy. They are easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry. Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy. They tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed. Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass. If they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion. Anabolic people tend to be stable and grounded.

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PACIFIES
Pitta pacifying Vata pacifying
AGGRAVATES
Kapha aggravating
HAS THE FOLLOWING
Moves Energy:
Downward

DOWNWARD

Downward-moving (Adho Gati Marga) substances move food downward in the GI tract, settle the nervous system, and relax muscles.

SEE ALL 'DOWNWARD' FOODS / HERBS


Tissue (dhatu):
Nerves

NERVES

Marrow tissue (Majja Dhatu) includes bone marrow and nervous tissue.

SEE ALL 'NERVES' FOODS / HERBS


Affinity: Mind Stress Sleep
Family: Lamiaceae
HERBAL ACTIONS
(see all)

Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Skullcap
Help
Experiences are Personal
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary. The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.

Nerve Relaxant Grounding

NERVE-RELAXANT-GROUNDING

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.

SEE ALL 'NERVE-RELAXANT-GROUNDING' FOODS / HERBS

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Neuroprotective

STRONG NEUROPROTECTIVE

Repairs / restores damaged nerves. Protects nerve health.

SEE ALL 'NEUROPROTECTIVE' FOODS / HERBS

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Analgesic

ANALGESIC

Pain reliever, reduces pain without eliminating sensation. Also known as anodyne.

SEE ALL 'ANALGESIC' FOODS / HERBS

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Antidepressant

ANTIDEPRESSANT

Herbs that lift feelings of depression, benefit the mind and improve mental function.

SEE ALL 'ANTIDEPRESSANT' FOODS / HERBS

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Anxiolytic

ANXIOLYTIC

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.

SEE ALL 'ANXIOLYTIC' FOODS / HERBS

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Boosts Gaba

BOOSTS-GABA

GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, reduces nerve excitability. It is the body's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Thus, it promotes relaxation, calm, and sleep.

SEE ALL 'BOOSTS-GABA' FOODS / HERBS

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Brain Tonic

BRAIN-TONIC

An herb that strengthens the brain and thereby enhances memory or other cognitive functions and improves mental stamina or stability.

SEE ALL 'BRAIN-TONIC' FOODS / HERBS

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Nerve Growth Tonic

NERVE-GROWTH-TONIC

Stimulate neurite / axon growth, promotes regeneration.

SEE ALL 'NERVE-GROWTH-TONIC' FOODS / HERBS

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Nervine

NERVINE

Balances the nervous system. They can help with stress, memory, early alzheimer's, and even chronic pain. Often they are aromatic in nature.

SEE ALL 'NERVINE' FOODS / HERBS

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Sedative

SEDATIVE

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.

SEE ALL 'SEDATIVE' FOODS / HERBS

Tonic

TONIC

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.

SEE ALL 'TONIC' FOODS / HERBS

Calms Heart

CALMS-HEART

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.'

SEE ALL 'CALMS-HEART' FOODS / HERBS

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Hypotensive

HYPOTENSIVE

An herb that lowers blood pressure.

SEE ALL 'HYPOTENSIVE' FOODS / HERBS

Muscle Relaxant

MUSCLE-RELAXANT

Herbs that relax muscles. Helpful for chronic pain or tension as well as healing from physical trauma.

SEE ALL 'MUSCLE-RELAXANT' FOODS / HERBS

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Antispasmodic

ANTISPASMODIC

Herbs that reduce or inhibit muscle spasms or cramping, such as in asthma, menstruation, hear palpitations, migraine, or IBS.

SEE ALL 'ANTISPASMODIC' FOODS / HERBS

Constituents:
Tannins,
Aromatase Inhibitor

AROMATASE-INHIBITOR

Blocks estrogen synthesis by inhibiting conversion of progesterone and testosterone into estrogen.

SEE ALL 'AROMATASE-INHIBITOR' FOODS / HERBS

Foods with a Similar Nature to Skullcap

Lavender

Lavender has these Actions in Common

Anxiolytic, Nervine, Analgesic, Boosts-gaba, Sedative, Antispasmodic, Muscle-relaxant

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Poppy Seed

Poppy Seed has these Actions in Common

Anxiolytic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Analgesic, Calms-heart, Sedative, Antispasmodic, Muscle-relaxant

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Chamomile

Chamomile has these Actions in Common

Antispasmodic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Anxiolytic, Nervine, Analgesic, Boosts-gaba, Sedative

LEARN MORE

Rosemary

Rosemary has these Actions in Common

Antispasmodic, Nervine, Analgesic, Brain-tonic, Neuroprotective, Antidepressant, Muscle-relaxant

LEARN MORE

Hemp Seed

Hemp Seed has these Actions in Common

Anxiolytic, Sedative, Muscle-relaxant, Tonic, Analgesic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding

LEARN MORE

Sorghum Flour

Sorghum Flour has these Actions in Common

Brain-tonic, Sedative, Antidepressant, Hypotensive, Anxiolytic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding

LEARN MORE

Ginger (Fresh)

Ginger (Fresh) has these Actions in Common

Antispasmodic, Nervine, Brain-tonic, Neuroprotective, Analgesic, Hypotensive

LEARN MORE

Nutmeg

Nutmeg has these Actions in Common

Antispasmodic, Sedative, Anxiolytic, Analgesic, Nervine

LEARN MORE

Almonds

Almonds has these Actions in Common

Muscle-relaxant, Tonic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Brain-tonic, Nervine

LEARN MORE

Mint

Mint has these Actions in Common

Antispasmodic, Analgesic, Anxiolytic, Antidepressant, Nervine

LEARN MORE

Saffron

Saffron has these Actions in Common

Nervine, Antidepressant, Neuroprotective, Anxiolytic, Sedative

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Herb Supplements with a Similar Nature to Skullcap

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha has these Actions in Common

Antidepressant, Nervine, Antispasmodic, Neuroprotective, Anxiolytic, Sedative, Boosts-gaba, Tonic, Brain-tonic, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-growth-tonic, Analgesic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding

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St. John's Wort

St. John's Wort has these Actions in Common

Anxiolytic, Tonic, Boosts-gaba, Brain-tonic, Calms-heart, Nerve-growth-tonic, Analgesic, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Antidepressant, Nervine, Antispasmodic, Neuroprotective

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Oats, Fresh Milky Seed

Oats, Fresh Milky Seed has these Actions in Common

Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Nervine, Antidepressant, Neuroprotective, Antispasmodic, Sedative, Anxiolytic, Tonic, Brain-tonic, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-growth-tonic

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Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm has these Actions in Common

Antispasmodic, Sedative, Anxiolytic, Boosts-gaba, Brain-tonic, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-growth-tonic, Analgesic, Nervine, Antidepressant, Neuroprotective

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Passionflower

Passionflower has these Actions in Common

Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Analgesic, Nervine, Antidepressant, Sedative, Anxiolytic, Boosts-gaba, Calms-heart, Hypotensive

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California Poppy

California Poppy has these Actions in Common

Boosts-gaba, Calms-heart, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Analgesic, Nervine, Antidepressant, Sedative, Antispasmodic, Anxiolytic

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Black Cohosh

Black Cohosh has these Actions in Common

Analgesic, Sedative, Antidepressant, Tonic, Antispasmodic, Anxiolytic, Hypotensive, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Nervine

LEARN MORE

Valerian

Valerian has these Actions in Common

Nervine, Analgesic, Sedative, Antispasmodic, Anxiolytic, Boosts-gaba, Hypotensive, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-relaxant-grounding

LEARN MORE

Tagar (Indian Valerian)

Tagar (Indian Valerian) has these Actions in Common

Hypotensive, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Nervine, Analgesic, Sedative, Antispasmodic, Anxiolytic, Boosts-gaba

LEARN MORE

Eleuthero Ginseng

Eleuthero Ginseng has these Actions in Common

Antidepressant, Antispasmodic, Anxiolytic, Hypotensive, Muscle-relaxant, Nerve-relaxant-grounding, Nervine, Analgesic, Tonic

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Joyful Belly is a recognized school of biocharacteristics medicine.

TRADITIONALLY INDICATED FOR THESE SYMPTOMS

Skullcap may be beneficial for these symptoms. The suitability of any herb supplement for a condition is highly dependent on the individual. Please see your doctor before using this herb supplement to treat a medical condition.

HERB DRUG INTERACTION RISK

Here are some potential herb drug interactions. Please see your health care provider for more information.
  • Analgesic: If the mechanism of pain relief is narcotic, do not combine with antihistamines.
  • Antidepressant: Do not combine with antihistamines.
  • Antihistamine: Avoid combining with sedatives, narcotic pain meds, muscle relaxants, antidepressants, seizure medications
  • Hypotensive: Herbs that lower blood pressure can magnify the effect of blood pressure reducing pharmaceuticals.
  • Muscle-relaxant: Do not combine muscle relaxants with antihistamines.
  • Sedative: Do not combine nerve suppressing sedatives with nerve stimulants, pharmaceutical sedatives, most anxiolyitcs, or antihistamines.

Look for similar items by category

Herbs-and-Formulas, Tinctures, Vata-Reducing, Mind-Stress-Sleep

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