Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Gambhārī is the root, bark and fruit of a tree called Gmelina arborea. In English it is often called white teak or beechwood. It is a single herb in Ayurveda, not a blend.
It is best known as one of the ten roots in the Dashamoola group. On its own, healers give it for fever, swelling, weak digestion and urinary problems. The ripe fruit is used as a sweet tonic.
Here is the short answer on evidence. Gambhārī has a long record in Ayurveda. Human trial data on it is close to zero, so a long history of use is not proof that it works.
No one has shown how Gambhārī works in the human body. What follows is best read as an idea, not a fact.
Lab and animal studies point to plant compounds in the root bark that calm swelling and mop up free radicals (unstable particles that damage cells). Some animal work also hints at lower blood sugar and more urine flow. None of this has been tested in people.
In Ayurvedic terms, the root is said to be bitter and warming, and to settle vāta (the movement principle in Ayurveda). That is a traditional model. It does not map onto modern body science.
Dried root bark is the main part used. It is sold whole, cut or as a powder (churna).
Common forms are: a water decoction (kwath) made by boiling the bark; the plain powder; the herb as one part of a Dashamoola decoction or oil; the ripe fruit as juice or jam; and modern capsules or tablets made from bark extract.
Quality varies a lot between sellers. Bark is sometimes swapped for cheaper wood, so buy from a source that tests what it sells.
Gambhārī is named in the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita. Those texts are well over 1,500 years old.
Its steady place in Ayurveda comes from the Dashamoola group of ten roots. Gambhārī is one of the five larger roots in that group. Dashamoola is still made daily in Ayurvedic pharmacies today.
The tree is also grown widely for timber across India and South East Asia, so the bark has always been easy to get.
See a doctor if a fever lasts more than three days, or if it climbs above 39C (102F). Get help the same day for burning urine with back pain, chills or blood in the urine, since that can mean a kidney infection.
Stop the herb and call your doctor if you feel shaky, sweaty or confused, which can be signs of low blood sugar. Also stop if you get a rash, swelling of the face or lips, or trouble breathing, and seek urgent care for those.
Joint pain that keeps getting worse, or swelling in one leg, needs a doctor rather than a home remedy.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for Gambhārī is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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