Lemongrass Significance
Lemongrass is increasingly becoming popular these days due to its medicinal significance as natural remedy. Primitively, southern parts of India and Sri Lanka were famous as native growing regions, but now it is grown in various countries around the globe. Other common names for this plant include Malabar grass, Cochin grass, Barbed-Wire grass, Citronella grass and silky or oily heads. This plant is widely known as lemongrass because of striking resemblance of its scent to that of lemons. The stalks of lemongrass are utilized as conventional cooking ingredient in Asian culinary whereas, lemongrass brewing is also in practice to prepare its tea formulations for intended consumers.
The leaves of lemongrass exhibit strike resemblance with seagrasses. 55 species of Lemongrass have been reported, however, only two varietal types of East and West Indian origin have appropriateness for culinary application [1].
In India, it is employed as medicinal herb as well as in perfumery. It is utilized in various form:
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- As raw stalks in cooking
- Lemongrass tea
- Extracted essential oils from lemongrass
- Addition as herb in stir-fries and soups
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Lemongrass- An essential culinary ingredient in Indian cuisine and natural herb of medicinal properties Source: Pixabay (Pixabay License: Free for commercial use, No attribution required)
Lemongrass for Digestive Health
In various countries, such as India, China and Thailand, lemongrass is utilized to impart flavoring in wide range of culinary preparations, desserts and beverages. Historically, it is employed in formulations of curries, soups and teas and is still used in Caribbean and Cuba as digestion aid. The most popular form of using lemongrass is essential oil, and lemongrass essential oils are among the most widely-known and appreciated essential oils utilized today owing to their health benefits, effectiveness and wide range of applications. Mainly, the steam distillation process is used to extract high-quality essential oil from lemongrass leaves and exhibits citrus-like, grassy and refreshing aroma with color ranges from amber to yellow [2,4].
Essential oils extracted from lemongrass comprise of various chemical constituents, however, main ones are these:
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- Citral
- Geranyl Acetate
- Limonene
- Geraniol
- Nerol
- Citronellal
- Myrcene
Lemongrass has limonene which is very beneficial to relive stomachache or heartburn. Source: Pixabay (Pixabay License: Free for commercial use, No attribution required)
Regarding digestion improvement, among all constituents, Limonene plays its role in improving digestion, suppressing appetite, acting as antioxidant and detoxicant. As medicinal herb, lemongrass’s nutraceutical potential has already been found in published literature and it is known as anti-nociceptive by relieving abdominal pain and hence is very much beneficial to mitigate stomach aches. Regarding gastrointestinal (GI) tract, lemongrass may help to reduce the discomfort arising from spasms of GI tract. Use of medicinal and aromatic plants is widely practiced as part of alternative medicine in developing countries and its usage is more frequent among people who usually cannot get proper access to medical facilities or those who prefer to be modest users of conventionally-prescribed medicines. In Algeria, lemongrass is commonly employed to treat or alleviate stomachache. D-limonene in lemongrass oil is thought to contribute to digestive wellness and improvement, and hence lemongrass oil and tea are widely utilized as digestive aids [3,4].
Limonene from Lemongrass as Digestive Aid
Lemongrass comprises of limonene content of 1.9-2.5% in its composition. D-Limonene, also known as terpene, has been reported to exhibit wonderful property to relieve digestive health issues, such as soothing the condition of occasional acid reflux, improving digestive ability of stomach and helping to improve sluggish bowel movement. Other health promoting properties of D-limonene including detoxification of liver and cholesterol-sludge clearance also play complementary role in improving digestion [13]. As a appetize suppressant, D-limonene from lemongrass oil helps in reduction of appetite, metabolism improvement and weight management.
Maintaining Digestive Balance and Bowel Mobility
In order to digest foods properly, our bowels need to move forward at proper time and this is termed as peristaltic movement. Normally, bowel movement takes place right after getting up early in the morning or after having the proper meal at breakfast, lunch or dinner time. For maintenance of proper bowel mobility, almost an intake of 1,000 mg of D-limonene/day is reported to provide enough assistance regarding digestive health. Lemongrass oil or tea consumption on regular basis may provide a natural source of D-limonene to have improved digestive health with improved bowel mobility.
Remedy for Occasional Reflux Indigestion
The reason why we see so many commercial on television about heartburn medication, such as Tums®, Tagamet® and Prilosec®, is startling because 40% of people suffer from reflux indigestion, as condition which is also known as gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD1). According to an estimate, about $8 billion are spent to treat the heartburn and GERD1 conditions using over-the-counter prescriptions. It is so prevalent that people feel heartburn soon after eating and experience intense pain and presume an emergency need to rush to hospital because of potential fear of heart attack in their minds. Normally, a misconception exists among masses that such type of heartburn is caused by the excessive amounts of stomach acids containing digestive enzymes like pepsin. Studies have indicated that experience of heartburn feeling is prevalent in almost 25 million Americans on daily basis and 60 million once a month. Now it has been realized by many doctors around the world that the real causal factor responsible for this heartburn or GERD1 issue is the irregularity in opening of sphincter existing between stomach and esophagus and this failure of sphincter muscle caused this heartburn condition. The medication used to relive this condition usually involve proton-pump inhibitor drugs and apart from relieving the pain, these drugs also cause complete shutdown of the normal production process of stomach acid—depriving the body of this acid—to maintain optimal food digestions. An alternative natural solution to this condition is D-limonene and lemongrass essential oil or tea may provide relief for this occasional reflex indigestion in case of moderate consumption on regular basis.
This occasional reflex condition of indigestion results when bowels motility do not take place at optimal pace at right time. This may be because of the irritation caused by the assimilated foods components present in stomach and often due to the irregularities in flow of bile to stomach during digestion process. D-Limonene is reported to alleviate all these issues related to digestive health. It is evident from recent studies on humans that proper intake of D-limonene (1,000 mg/day) has exerted beneficial effect on reflux after 10 doses. Hence, lemongrass tea or oil can be helpful in his regard to mitigate this issue of occasional reflux indigestion. Apart from daily consumption. usage of D-limonene thrice a week (on every other day) also provides this beneficial effect for gut health. Although, the precise mechanism underpinning the efficacy of D-limonene is not elucidated clearly until now, however, scientists have given probable explanation of this relief of heartburn feeling after D-limonene consumption. They say that D-limonene causes this effect owing to flowing on the surface of stomach gastric juices because of insolubility in water and being lighter a compared to water [3,5].
Caution about Essential Oils Consumption
It is well-established that usage of lemongrass is safe in form of plant stalks and is widely used in beverage and food manufacturing. Care should be taken and essential oils from lemongrass should not be ingested However, extracted essential oils in purified form may pose side effects after ingestion. In case of topical utilization, it may lead to allergic reaction or skin irritation. Therefore, lemongrass oils should not be ingested by intended consumers. It is highly advisable that a medical practitioner must be consulted prior to consumption of lemongrass essential oils for medical purpose. Medical advice must be taken before using essential oils in case of:
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- Nursing and pregnant women
- Patients suffering from liver or kidney disease
- Patients with low blood sugar or suffering from diabetes
- Asthmatic hypertensive Patients
Bottomline
Lemongrass is an excellent source of natural compounds including D-limonene and is highly reputed because of its medicinal properties to treat stomachache and improve digestive health as well as other antioxidant, antifungal and immunity boosting abilities. It can be used as a culinary ingredient or in form of lemongrass tea or extracted lemongrass essential oils. Until assurance of safety of essential oils with doctor’s advice, essential oils can be exploited as natural remedy to maintain digestive balance, to improve bowel mobility or treat digestive and stomach issues, such as heartburn and occasional reflux indigestion. Lemongrass tea can be prepared by boiling lemongrass stalks or dried leaves in water and allowing to steep. Use lemongrass tea on regular intervals and being moderate in consumption.
References
[1] Lemongrass Essential Oils: Benefits and Uses. https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/blog/products/all-about-lemongrass-oil.html [2] Boukhatem MN, Ferhat MA, Kameli A, Saidi F, Kebir HT. Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil as a potent anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs. Libyan J Med 2014 9(1):25431. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2014.12.039. [3] Gastro Problems & D-Limonene. A Natural Solution. https://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic-research-page/Gastro-Problems-Dlimonene_vq4499.htm [4] Skaria, B. P., Joy, P. P., Mathew, S., & Mathew, G. (2006). Lemongrass. In Handbook of herbs and spices (pp. 400-419). Woodhead Publishing. [5] Manvitha K, Bidya B. Review on pharmacological activity of Cymbopogon citratus. Int J Herb Med 2014 (1)6:5-7.
