Bael
OTHER NAME(S): Arbre de Bael, Bael Tree, Bel, Bel Indien, Bengal Quince, Bilva, Bilwa, Cognassier du Bengale, Coing du Bengale, Indian Bael, Manzana de Piedra, Membrillo de Bengala, Pomme du Bengale, Shivaduma, Shivaphala, Sripal, Stone Apple, Vilvam, Aegle marmelos
Overview
Bael is a plant. The unripe fruit, root, leaf, and branch are used to make medicine.
Bael is used for constipation, diarrhea, diabetes, and other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.
Bael contains chemicals called tannins, flavonoids, and coumarins. These chemicals help to reduce swelling (inflammation). This might help treat asthma, diarrhea, and other conditions. Also, some of these chemicals help to reduce blood sugar.
Bael contains chemicals called tannins, flavonoids, and coumarins. These chemicals help to reduce swelling (inflammation). This might help treat asthma, diarrhea, and other conditions. Also, some of these chemicals help to reduce blood sugar.
Uses
Insufficient Evidence for
- Asthma. Research shows that taking a product that contains bael fruit and boswellia gum helps people with asthma to breathe better. It's unclear if the effects are due to bael, to boswellia, or to the combination.
- Illness from a Shigella bacteria infection (shigellosis). Early research shows that taking dried bael fruit powder for 3 days does not reduce the number of stools in people with diarrhea caused by an infection called shigellosis.
- Constipation.
- Depression.
- Diabetes.
- Diarrhea.
- Memory.
- Snakebite, when applied to the skin.
- Stomach ache.
- Other conditions.
More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of bael for these uses.
Side Effects
When taken by mouth: There isn't enough reliable information to know if bael is safe to use as medicine. Large amounts may cause stomach upset and constipation.
When applied to the skin: There isn't enough reliable information to know if bael is safe or what the side effects might be.
Precautions
When taken by mouth: There isn't enough reliable information to know if bael is safe to use as medicine. Large amounts may cause stomach upset and constipation.
When applied to the skin: There isn't enough reliable information to know if bael is safe or what the side effects might be.
Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if bael is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.
Diabetes: Bael might lower blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes and take medications to lower your blood sugar, adding bael might make your blood sugar drop too low. Monitor your blood sugar carefully.
Surgery: There is a concern that bael might interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery. Stop using bael at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.
Interactions
Moderate Interaction
Be cautious with this combination
- Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs) interacts with BaelBael might decrease blood sugar levels. Diabetes medications are also used to lower blood sugar. Taking bael along with diabetes medications might cause your blood sugar to drop too low. Monitor your blood sugar closely. The dose of your diabetes medication might need to be changed. Some medications used for diabetes include glimepiride (Amaryl), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab, Micronase), insulin, pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia), chlorpropamide (Diabinese), glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide (Orinase), and others.
- Various medications used for glaucoma, Alzheimer disease, and other conditions (Cholinergic drugs) interacts with BaelBael might increase certain chemicals in the brain, heart, and elsewhere in the body. Some medications used for glaucoma, Alzheimer disease, and other conditions also affect these chemicals. Taking bael with these medications might increase the chance of side effects. Some of these medications used for glaucoma, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions include pilocarpine (Pilocar and others), donepezil (Aricept), tacrine (Cognex), and others.
Minor Interaction
Be watchful with this combination
- Medications changed by the liver (Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) substrates) interacts with BaelSome medications are changed and broken down by the liver. Bael might decrease how quickly the liver breaks down some medications. Taking bael along with some medications that are broken down by the liver can increase the effects and side effects of these medications. Before taking bael, talk to your healthcare provider if you take any medications that are changed by the liver. Some medications that are changed by the liver include amitriptyline (Elavil), haloperidol (Haldol), ondansetron (Zofran), propranolol (Inderal), theophylline (Theo-Dur, others), verapamil (Calan, Isoptin, others), and others.
- Medications changed by the liver (Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) substrates) interacts with BaelSome medications are changed and broken down by the liver. Bael might decrease how quickly the liver breaks down some medications. Taking bael along with some medications that are broken down by the liver can increase the effects and side effects of some medications. Before taking bael, talk to your healthcare provider if you are taking any medications that are changed by the liver. Some medications changed by the liver include lovastatin (Mevacor), ketoconazole (Nizoral), itraconazole (Sporanox), fexofenadine (Allegra), triazolam (Halcion), and many others.
Dosing
The appropriate dose of bael depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for bael. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.
References
- Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
- Williamson EM, Evans FJ, eds. Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations. Essex, England: CW Daniel Company Ltd., 1998.
- Rana BK, Singh UP, Taneja V. Antifungal activity and kinetics of inhibition by essential oil isolated from leaves of Aegle marmelos. J Ethnopharmacol 1997;57:29-34.
- Shoba, F. G. and Thomas, M. Study of antidiarrhoeal activity of four medicinal plants in castor-oil induced diarrhoea. J Ethnopharmacol 2001;76(1):73-76.
- Kamalakkannan, N. and Prince, P. S. Hypoglycaemic effect of water extracts of Aegle marmelos fruits in streptozotocin diabetic rats. J Ethnopharmacol 2003;87(2-3):207-210.
- Sabu, M. C. and Kuttan, R. Antidiabetic activity of Aegle marmelos and its relationship with its antioxidant properties. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 2004;48(1):81-88.
- Arul, V., Miyazaki, S., and Dhananjayan, R. Studies on the anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic properties of the leaves of Aegle marmelos Corr. J Ethnopharmacol 1-4-2005;96(1-2):159-163.
- Arul, V., Miyazaki, S., and Dhananjayan, R. Mechanisms of the contractile effect of the alcoholic extract of Aegle marmelos Corr. on isolated guinea pig ileum and tracheal chain. Phytomedicine 2004;11(7-8):679-683.
- Anandharajan, R., Jaiganesh, S., Shankernarayanan, N. P., Viswakarma, R. A., and Balakrishnan, A. In vitro glucose uptake activity of Aegles marmelos and Syzygium cumini by activation of Glut-4, PI3 kinase and PPARgamma in L6 myotubes. Phytomedicine 2006;13(6):434-441.
- Kesari, A. N., Gupta, R. K., Singh, S. K., Diwakar, S., and Watal, G. Hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activity of Aegle marmelos seed extract in normal and diabetic rats. J Ethnopharmacol 10-11-2006;107(3):374-379.
- Veerappan, A., Miyazaki, S., Kadarkaraisamy, M., and Ranganathan, D. Acute and subacute toxicity studies of Aegle marmelos Corr., an Indian medicinal plant. Phytomedicine 2-19-2007;14(2-3):209-215.
- Narender, T., Shweta, S., Tiwari, P., Papi, Reddy K., Khaliq, T., Prathipati, P., Puri, A., Srivastava, A. K., Chander, R., Agarwal, S. C., and Raj, K. Antihyperglycemic and antidyslipidemic agent from Aegle marmelos. Bioorg.Med Chem Lett. 2007;17(6):1808-11.
- Haider, R., Khan, A. K., Aziz, K. M., Chowdhury, A., and Kabir, I. Evaluation of indigenous plants in the treatment of acute shigellosis. Trop.Geogr.Med 1991;43(3):266-270.
- Goel, R. K., Maiti, R. N., Manickam, M., and Ray, A. B. Antiulcer activity of naturally occurring pyrano-coumarin and isocoumarins and their effect on prostanoid synthesis using human colonic mucosa. Indian J Exp Biol 1997;35(10):1080-1083.
- Asaduzzaman M, Uddin MJ, Kader MA, et al. In vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and the antioxidant properties of Aegle marmelos leaf extract: implications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Psychogeriatrics. 2014;14(1):1-10.
- Brijesh S, Daswani P, Tetali P, Antia N, Birdi T. Studies on the antidiarrhoeal activity of Aegle marmelos unripe fruit: validating its traditional usage. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2009;9:47.
- Pynam H, Dharmesh SM. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of marmelosin from Bael (Aegle marmelos L.); Inhibition of TNF-a mediated inflammatory/tumor markers. Biomed Pharmacother. 2018;106:98-108.
- Yugandhar P, Rao KM, Sengupta K. A novel herbal composition containing extracts of Boswellia serrata gum resin and Aegle marmelos fruit alleviates symptoms of asthma in a placebo controlled double-blind clinical study. Phytother Res. 2018;32(1):140-150.
- Manda VK, Avula B, Chittiboyina AG, Khan IA, Walker LA, Khan SI. Inhibition of CYP3A4 and CYP1A2 by Aegle marmelos and its constituents. Xenobiotica. 2016;46(2):117-25.
- Verma RS, Padalia RC, Chauhan A. Essential oil composition of Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa: chemotypic and seasonal variations. J Sci Food Agric. 2014;94(9):1904-13.