Health Benefits Of Thai Herb Kaempferia Parviflora (Thai: Krachai Dam Or กระชายดำ).

THAI HERBS

Krachai in Thai language refers to  Kaempferia Galanga, so the real translation for this Thai root (Krachaidam) in English is Black Galanga and not Black Gingerwhich unfortunately most people like to refer to it as.It is recognised as one of the 5 economically important Thai Herbs in the country. 

 
Krachai Dam Is an herbaceous plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family (Ginger family). Krachai Dum is famous as a natural viagra as it contains substantial amounts of PDE5 inhibitors, which act like the Viagra, but without the negative side effects. 
 
It is a famous Thai Herbs used from ancient times as a natural testosterone booster for erectile dysfunction treatment in males and it increases the libido in women as well. Krachaidam or Black Ginger is available in the market in various products forms. Black Ginger is known as a male libido enhancer and a prolific natural dietary health supplement for cardiovascular health and improved cognitive function that makes a tasty thirst quenching mild sedative tea.
 
Phytochemicals of Krachaidum contain 2 major constituents: 5,7-dimethoxyflavone and 5,7,4′-trimethoxyflavone. In an in vitro study, methoxyflavone was examined for its inhibitory activities against nitric oxide production. Compound 5 (5-hydroxy-3,7,30,40-tetramethoxyflavone) exhibited the highest activity, followed by compounds 4 (5-hydroxy-7,40-dimethoxyflavone) and 3 (5-hydroxy-3,7,40-trimethoxyflavone), whereas other compounds possessed moderate or weak a ctivity. In addition, more than 20 chemically identifiable constituents have been reported to have potent pharmacological effects. For example, flavonoids contained in Krachaidum rhizome extract was reported to possess antioxidant activity, neuroprotective effects, and cognition-enhancing effects. Methoxyflavone substances in Krachaidum showed an inhibitory effect of phosphodiesterase types 5 and 6, which enhanced sexual performance. For antimicrobial activity, 5,7,4′-trimethoxyflavone and 5,7,3′,4′-tetramethoxyflavone exhibited antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum, and 3,5,7,4′-tetramethoxyflavone showed antifungal activity against Candida albicans.For cholinesterase inhibitory effect, Krachaidum showed the potential inhibitors toward acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, which may be of great interest to be considered as a treatment agent for Alzheimer’s disease.Considering adverse events of Krachaidum used, an animal histopathological study of visceral organs revealed no remarkable lesions related to the toxicity of Krachaidum extract.
 
According to the anecdotal evidence of safety and efficacy, Krachaidum has been selected in Thailand as 1 of the 5 champion herbal products that have been widely used and have generated income to the country. However, even though widely used for a long time and having shown benefits, clinical studies in human are still limited.

Erectile Issues and Libido Booster

Kaempferia parviflora (KP), a health-promoting Thai Herbs, has been traditionally used for treating a variety of diseases, stimulates sexual performance in both males and females, increases metabolism and promotes weight loss. Pharmacological studies have claimed the various benefits from KP and its main effective methoxyflavones, including cellular metabolism-regulating activity, anticancer activity, vascular relaxation and cardioprotective activity, sexual enhancing activity, neuroprotective activity, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative activity, antiosteoarthritis activity, antimicroorganism activity, and transdermal permeable activity. These might be associated with increased mitochondrial functions and activated cGMP-NO signaling pathway. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of KP and its methoxyflavones are still under investigation. The clinical applications of KP and its methoxyflavones may be limited due to their low bioavailability. The mechanism of pro-erectility is fairly unique and interesting, but the one study to investigate whether or not it could inhibit PDE5 (one of the mechanisms of Viagra) failed to establish whether it was selective. Selective PDE5 inhibitors are good pro-erectiles without many side-effects, but the non-selectivity (currently not established) may lead to gastrointestinal side effects.

Improves Cardiovascular Health

At least one study has noted that it can increase functionality and cardiovascular performance in otherwise healthy persons over 60, but an acute study in youth failed to find any performance enhancing effects at 1.35g (recommended dose, or at least near it).

Energy Booster and Endurance Booster

"According to traditional usage of Kaempferia Parviflora, 0.5-1 teaspoon of ground power is made into a tea and drank about 1-2 hours before physical performance. This is similar to the recommended daily dose from the Thai traditional medicine institute of 1.2g daily, and the one human study on the matter (failing to note benefit acutely) used 1.35g. General health protective effects have been noted at lower doses, although not enough evidence exists to suggest an optimal dose. Black ginger extract increases physical fitness performance and muscular endurance by improving inflammation and energy metabolism We previously reported that polymethoxyflavones (PMFs) in black ginger (Kaempferia parviflora) extract (KPE) increased energy production by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in C2C12 myoblasts. We herein evaluated the effects of KPE on physical fitness performance and muscular endurance in mice. Male mice were orally administered KPE for 4 weeks, and then forced swimming test, open-field test, inclined plane test, and wire hanging test were performed. KPE significantly increased the swimming time, motility after swimming, and grip strength. IL-6 and TNF-a mRNA expression levels were decreased in the soleus muscle, whereas peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator (PGC)-1a and glycogen synthase mRNA expression levels, mitochondrial number, and glycogen content were increased. These results were in agreement with those obtained for KPE and PMFs in C2C12. Therefore, the activation of AMPK by PMFs may be one of the mechanisms by which KPE (black ginger) improves physical fitness performance and muscular endurance".

Memory & Cognitive Function

It is well known that intense and prolonged stress can produce hippocampal neuronal damage and cognitive impairments, few studies have investigated possible ways to prevent its deleterious effects. Here, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of a Thai traditional herb, Kaempferia Parviflora (KP) extract, commonly known as Kra-Chai-Dum, on learning and memory loss and the induction of neurodegeneration in the hippocampus by chronic stress. Rats were orally administered KP extract (100, 200 and 300 mg kg-1) or vehicle over a period of 21 days while being exposed to chronic restraint stress (6 h day-1). Investigated learning and memory using Morris water maze test after 7, 14 and 21 days of treatment and then the rats were sacrificed for determining the densities of survival and cholinergic neurons in the all regions of hippocampus. Treatment with KP extract at a dose of 200 mg kg-1 blocked the ability of chronic stress to impair spatial learning and memory retention and enhanced both neuron densities as mention earlier, in all areas of the hippocampus.

In Summary

ThisThai Herbs has antiplasmodial, Anti-inflammatory and adaptogenic activity.
Anti-allergic and antioxidant activity.
Antifungal and antimycobacterial activity.
Studies have shown that it improves erectile function.
Increasing sperm density.
According to research  it increases physical fitness performance and muscular endurance.
It stops psoriasis flares.
Thai traditional doctors are using black ginger for the prevention of strokes.
It helps to lower blood glucose levels and to improve blood flow.
Reducing triglycerides.
It helps with gastric ulcers.
It is used as a natural antidepressant. 

References:

Stein RA et al., “Kaempferia parviflora ethanol extract improves self-assessed sexual health in men: a pilot study," Journal of Integrative Medicine. Published online May 26, 2018. 2. Wannanon P et al., “Efficacy assessment of Kaempferia parviflora for the management of erectile dysfunction,” Online Journal of Biological Sciences, vol. 12, no. 4 (2012): 149-155
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5801584/
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4946221/
 
Chronic Toxicity Study of Kaempferia parviflora Wall ex. Extract" Songpol Chivapat, Pranee Chavalittumrong, Aimmanas Attawish, Anudep Rungsipipat Thai J. Vet. Med. 2010. 40(4): 377-383.