Tejpatra: Benefits, Uses & Dosage

If you cook Indian food, you may already own this herb. The long, glossy leaf tucked into a pot of rice or daal is Tejpatra, and in Ayurveda it is far more than a flavouring. It is a warming kitchen medicine for sluggish digestion, cough and congestion.

Tejpatra is the leaf of Cinnamomum tamala Nees, known in English as Indian Bay Leaf, Tejpat or Indian Cassia, and in Sanskrit as Tamalapatra (Tamalapatra, also Patraka). It belongs to the cinnamon genus and grows in the sub-Himalayan region and northeastern India. Both the bark and the leaves are used medicinally.

Crush a leaf and you notice the warm, spicy aroma right away. That comes from an essential oil containing cinnamaldehyde. The leaves are glossy, with three to five veins running along their length, and the Sahasra Yoga notes Tejpatra as a warming digestive used in many classical powders (churna).

Rasa (Taste): Sweet, Pungent

Virya (Energy): Heating

Vipak (Post-digestive effect): Pungent

Dosha effects: Increases pitta, decreases vata and kapha.

Bay Leaf promotes sweating, is a digestant and stimulant, kindles gastric fire and can be a diuretic.

• Indigestion: Steep ½ teaspoon ground bay leaf in 1 cup of hot water for 10 minutes. Add a pinch of cardamom and drink after food.
• Abdominal pain: ¼ teaspoon ground bay leaf, ¼ teaspoon ajwan and 1 teaspoon of honey, 2 times a day before lunch and dinner.
• Intestinal worms: ½ teaspoon bay leaf, ½ teaspoon vidanga and 1 teaspoon of honey before lunch and dinner for 15 days.
• Threat of miscarriage: ½ teaspoon ground bay leaf and ½ cup milk boiled together, cooled and drunk twice a day to help protect the fetus.
• Diabetes (blood sugar regulation): ½ teaspoon ground bay leaf, ½ teaspoon turmeric and 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel. Take 2 times a day before lunch and dinner until blood sugar returns to normal.
• Cough and asthma: ½ teaspoon bay leaf powder, ¼ teaspoon pippali and 1 teaspoon of honey, 2 or 3 times a day.

Tejpatra tastes pungent (Katu), bitter (Tikta) and sweet (Madhura). It is light and sharp in quality, and heating in potency (Ushna Virya, the warming effect a herb has once taken). The Bhavaprakash Nighantu, Varga 2 says it calms Vata and Kapha, the doshas of air and of heaviness and congestion.

Digestion and Appetite

Tejpatra's main job is digestive. The Bhavaprakash Nighantu lists it as an appetizer (Deepana, kindling digestive fire) and a digestive (Pachana, helping break down undigested food). Its heat and pungency suit slow, heavy digestion. Ayurvedic practice uses it for indigestion and for cramping abdominal pain, often with ajwain and honey.

Cough and Breathing

The Bhavaprakash Nighantu calls Tejpatra Kasahara, meaning it relieves cough, and notes its use in formulations for cough, cold and respiratory complaints. A traditional home remedy for cough and asthma combines bay leaf powder with pippali (long pepper) and honey.

Heart Support

Tejpatra is classed as Hridya, a herb that is good for the heart. Our sources state the classical action but give no specific protocol, so treat this as background rather than a reason to use it for heart disease.

Blood Sugar

Traditional home-remedy practice pairs ground bay leaf with turmeric and aloe vera gel for blood sugar regulation. It is a gentle daily support, not a substitute for treatment. See Tejpatra for diabetes.

Mouth Freshening and Worms

The leaf is listed as a mouth freshener (Mukhavaishadyakara). Home-remedy practice also uses it with vidanga and honey for intestinal worms, taken before meals for 15 days.

The Bhavaprakash Nighantu gives the dose as 1 to 3 g. In practice, that is about half a teaspoon of ground leaf, and the herb is usually taken warm.

What to take it with

In Ayurveda, the anupana is the vehicle a herb is taken with. Honey is the most common one in the traditional Tejpatra remedies; warm water also works. Avoid cold preparations, which work against the herb's warming nature.

Tejpatra is a food-grade spice, and at culinary amounts it is very safe for most people. The cautions come from its heat.

• Pitta and heat: Tejpatra increases Pitta, the dosha of heat. Reduce or avoid it if you have hyperacidity, reflux, burning stomach pain or a hot constitution.
• Diabetes medication: at therapeutic doses it may add to the glucose-lowering effect of metformin, insulin or sulphonylureas. Monitor your blood sugar when you start.
• Pregnancy: ordinary kitchen use is generally fine, but any therapeutic use in pregnancy should be supervised. See the populations section below.
• Severe abdominal pain: sudden severe pain with fever, rigidity or vomiting needs emergency care, not a home remedy.

Our sources do not describe overdose signs. Stay within the classical 1 to 3 g range.

Our sources support a few useful comparisons for Tejpatra.

More on each in Tejpatra for abdominal colic and Tejpatra for diabetes.

Pregnancy & Nursing

A leaf or two in everyday cooking is generally fine during pregnancy. Traditional home-remedy practice also gives a milk preparation, half a teaspoon of ground leaf boiled in half a cup of milk, for threatened miscarriage. Because Tejpatra is heating and increases Pitta, use it this way only under qualified supervision and alongside obstetric care, and never with bright red bleeding or signs of heat. Any bleeding in pregnancy needs medical assessment first. Our sources do not cover nursing.

Children

Our sources give no specific dose for children. Normal amounts in family food are a different matter from a measured remedy; check with a practitioner before giving it therapeutically.

Elderly

Our sources do not address older adults directly. Its warming, appetite-kindling action may suit people with weak digestion and a cold, Vata tendency, but older adults on diabetes medication should monitor blood sugar.

Athletes

Our sources do not describe any specific use for athletes.

People with Diabetes

Tejpatra is a gentle daily support, not a lead treatment. If you take metformin, insulin or sulphonylureas, monitor your blood sugar closely in the first weeks. See diabetes.