viridian nutrition, coughs and colds

Viridian Andrographis Complex 60 Capsules

  • £24.70


What is Andrographis Complex?

Keep coughs and sore throats at bay naturally Andrographis Complex, a combination of standardised Andrographis leaf extract, with vitamin C and zinc to provide support for the immune system function.

The natural Andrographis extract is grown in India, in its native environment where the ideal climate helps to produce a high potency extract.

Made from whole leaf extract at a 25:1 ratio and standardised to 10% andrographolides which is the key active compound. Andrographis is a medicinal plant renowned for its long-standing use in Ayurveda traditional medicine.

What does Andrographis do?

Andrographis paniculata is an annual herbaceous medicinal plant native to India and Sri Lanka with traditional use in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. The active compound ‘Andrographolide’, found in the aerial parts of this plant possess anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties working against a large number of different bacteria types.The antibacterial pharmacological action of andrographis mainly lies in the inhibition of bacterial pathogenic factors and the regulation of the immune system to reduce the inflammatory response.Other studies have shown that andrographis may be a potential quorum sensing (QS) inhibitor also Quorum sensing, to put simply is the ability of pathogenic bacteria to sense the environment, consequently, giving the ability to react to preserve the colonies, for example; in the production of biofilms, substances that microbes ‘hide’ within from antibiotics, thus, the leading cause for antibiotic resistance. The actives in andrographis have shown to potentially disrupt this action.

Can Andrographis help with RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS and Respiratory disease?

Respiratory tract infections (RTI) are one of the most common reasons for primary care consultations in the UK. A systematic review and meta-analysis reviewed 33 RCTs involving 7175 patients in UK and Chinese studies which investigated Andrographis supplementation on RTIs. Those suffering with the common cold, URTIs, acute pharyngitis, influenza, bronchitis and tonsillitis were reviewed in this study. The most common treatment length was between 5-7 days requiring administration 2 -3 times daily. There was a variation of dosages used within the RCTs, ranging from supplements standardised to provide 15.75mg of andrographolide to 1200 mg daily. Most preparations were standardised to provide 35% andrographolides. The results showed that Andrographis paniculata was beneficial and safe in relieving ARTI symptoms and reducing time to recovery.A further systematic review of RCTs conducted in Thailand assessed the efficacy of Andrographis paniculata in the symptomatic treatment of URTIs. A total of 433 patients in three trials were included in this review. The results demonstrated that Andrographis supplementation was more effective than placebo in relieving symptoms such as sore throat and fever with a dose of 6g of Andrographis proving to be more effective than 3g daily. Zinc supplementation has also been studied for RTIs. In an RCT conducted on hospitalised children aged between 2 – 60 months, children were randomly allocated to received 30mg of zinc daily or placebo. The trial found that RTI cessation was faster in the children supplementing with zinc leading to reduced hospital stay.

Can Andrographis help with a COMMON COLD?

A double-blind RCT was designed to measure the effectiveness of Andrographis paniculate extract on the prevalence and intensity of symptoms associated with the common cold. In this study, 158 participants were split into two groups to either receive Andrographis paniculate extract equivalent to 1200 mg or placebo daily for 5 days.On day 2 of the study, a significant decrease was noted in symptoms including tiredness, nasal congestion and sore throat in the group taking Andrographis compared to placebo. It was concluded that Andrographis had a high degree of effectiveness in reducing the prevalence and intensity of symptoms of the common cold.This result has been replicated in other clinical trials, including one by Hanke et al which found significant improvements in symptoms of the common cold after day 4 of supplementing with 1200mg Andrographis extract standardised to 10% daily compared to placebo.Research has also seen preventative effects of Andrographis against the common cold, in a double-blind RCT conducted in healthy school volunteers, 100mg twice daily of Andrographis standardised to 10% Andrographolide compared to placebo demonstrated a significant decrease (30% Vs 62%) in the incidence of the common cold after 3 months of supplementation over the winter months.In a large review of 15 clinical studies totalling over 1300 people, zinc was shown to significantly reduce both symptoms and severity of the common cold. Taking zinc within 24 hours of the start of symptoms was found to cut the risk of still having symptoms at day 7 of a cold by about half.An analysis of 31 clinical studies of vitamin C for prevention and treatment of the common cold found that supplementation with vitamin C has a modest but consistent effect in reducing the duration of common cold symptoms. The analysis also examined 5 clinical studies in which people who were exposed to extreme physical stress (including marathon runners and skiers) were given vitamin C and in these individuals vitamin decreased the risk of the common cold by about 50%. The combined use of Vitamin C and Zinc has also been investigated. Two clinical studies in people with the common cold found that a combination of 1000 mg vitamin C plus 10 mg zinc reduced rhinorrhoea (runny nose) duration by 9-27% and was significantly more efficient than placebo at reducing rhinorrhoea over 5 days of treatment.

Can Andrographis Extract help fight SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION?

Recent in vitro studies have investigated the actions of specific effects of andrographolide found in Andrographis against structural proteins and spikes present on the virus responsible for replication and transcription. The evidence suggests that these actives within Andrographis could be used as a cost-effective drug-analog for treating infections relating to SARS-CoV-2 Another study of activity experimental study investigated the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 in human epithelial lung cells and found that treatment with Andrographis significantly inhibited the production of infections virions suggesting its beneficial action against the virus.

Can Andrographis Extract help with Ulcerative Colitis ?

The medicinal Plant Andrographis Extract has been studied in those diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. In an eight week RCT 1200mg and 1800mg of Andrographis extract was compared to placebo for reducing the symptoms associated with mild to moderate Ulcerative Colitis. Results of this study showed that patients with Ulcerative Colitis  were more likely to achieve a clinical response when taking Andrographis compared to placebo.

Another study compared 1200mg of Andrographis extract and Mesalazine medication in an eight week RCT looking at the impact on disease activity. The outcome concluded that the Andrographis supplementation was as effective as the prescribed medication for reducing disease severity in 120 patients.Dosage: One capsule twice daily with food, or as recommended by a healthcare practitioner.

Contraindications: No known contraindications or interactions at the time of writing.Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding, due to a lack of sufficient data.

Potential applications of Andrographis Extract

Common cold, Flu, Respiratory Tract Infections, Ulcerative Colitis, Uncomplicated Upper-Respiratory issues and 

Useful links: Immune complex, Elderberry Elixir, High Potency NAC, Horseradish and Garlic.

Formulated with 100% active ingredients by expert nutritionists, there are no artificial fillers and no nasties.

Sourced accordingly to Viridian’s strict ethical criteria including no animal testing, GMO or palm oil. * Andrographis softens coughs and sore throats in a natural way.

Vitamin C and zinc support normal immunity.

Never GMO •

Palm oil free •

Against animal testing •

Ethically made •

Sourced from the native region for Andrographis •

Standardised to 10% andrographolides • No fillers, binders or artificial additives • Vegan

Key Features:

Herbal Extract Andrographis paniculata leaf extract standardised to 10% andrographolides (30 mg) 300mg

Vitamin C (from magnesium and zinc ascorbate) 80mg

Zinc (from zinc ascorbate) 5mg

Directions: As a food supplement, take one capsule twice daily with food, or as directed by your healthcare practitioner