Chitrakadi Vati
Quick Facts
- What it is: A small Ayurvedic herbal tablet, led by chitraka root, taken for poor appetite and bloating.
- Main uses: Poor appetite, Bloating and gas, Heavy feeling after meals
- Best for: Short-term use for a slow, gassy belly, under guidance
- Active ingredients: Plumbagin from chitraka root, Piperine from long pepper and black pepper, Gingerols from dry ginger, Rock salt and other mineral salts
- Forms: Tablet (vati), 250 mg or 500 mg, Loose powder, less common
- Time to effect: A few days for some people; judge it by two weeks.
- Side effects: Burning, heartburn and loose stools are the common ones; worse on an empty stomach.
Track this remedy in the app
Track Chitrakadi Vati with reminders and record whether it helped, in the app.
What is Chitrakadi Vati?
Chitrakadi Vati is a small herbal tablet from Ayurveda. People take it for poor appetite, bloating, gas and a heavy feeling after meals. The lead herb is chitraka (Plumbago zeylanica) root.
It is sold and prescribed as one named medicine, so Ayurveda treats it as a single drug. Even so, each tablet holds several hot herbs plus salts. The exact recipe changes from brand to brand.
Human trial evidence is very thin. Long use in one tradition is not proof that a remedy works, and that gap matters here.
How does Chitrakadi Vati work?
Ayurveda says this tablet raises agni (the body's digestive fire). In plain words, it is meant to warm the gut and get food moving again.
Lab work hints at a few actions. The pepper and ginger herbs may stir up stomach juices and gut movement. Plumbagin, from chitraka root, is a strong irritant to the gut lining.
None of this has been tested well in people. Treat these ideas as theories, not proven facts.
What forms does Chitrakadi Vati come in?
It comes as a small brown tablet, often 250 mg or 500 mg each. A few makers sell the same mix as a loose powder.
Buy only from a brand that lists every herb and its amount. Salt content is often left off the label, which matters if you have to watch salt.
Where it comes from:
Chitrakadi Vati is an old Ayurvedic recipe. It is written up in the Sharangadhara Samhita, a text from about the 13th or 14th century.
It also appears in Bhaishajya Ratnavali and in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India. Vaidyas (Ayurvedic doctors) have long used it for agnimandya (weak digestion).
Who should avoid Chitrakadi Vati?
- Do not use if you are pregnant, might be pregnant, or are trying to conceive — chitraka root has been used to end pregnancies and can cause miscarriage. This ban is absolute.
- Do not use if you are breastfeeding, as safety for the baby is unknown.
- Do not use if you have a peptic ulcer (a sore in the stomach lining), gastritis (an inflamed stomach lining) or bad heartburn.
- Do not use if you have ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease or any other inflamed bowel.
- Do not use if you have liver disease, as the hot herbs put extra load on the liver.
- Do not use if you have kidney disease or high blood pressure and have been told to keep salt low — the tablet contains salts.
- Do not use if you take phenytoin, carbamazepine, theophylline, lithium or warfarin, unless your doctor has checked it first.
- Do not use if you are buying it for a child under 12; never give it to a child unless an Ayurvedic doctor has prescribed it.
- Do not use if you have surgery booked in the next two weeks, because of the small bleeding risk.
- Do not use if you have had a rash or other reaction to chitraka, pepper or ginger.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor if belly pain gets worse, if burning lasts more than a day or two, or if your symptoms have not settled after two weeks.
Get care the same day for blood in your stool or vomit, black tarry stools, yellow skin or eyes, a spreading rash, or fever with diarrhoea.
If you took this tablet while pregnant, or after you found out you were pregnant, speak to your doctor or midwife straight away.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
4.8
