The short answer
Vasavaleha is a thick, sweet paste (avaleha) of vasaka (adulsa) leaf juice cooked down with sugar, ghee and pippali (long pepper), with honey stirred in once it cools. The formulary lists it for cough, breathlessness, fever, bleeding disorders, tuberculosis and chest pain. In one small Indian trial in asthma, the paste and a granule form of it both eased symptoms over four weeks, about equally. There was no placebo or standard-treatment group, so it cannot show the paste works.
Sugar and honey make up 768 g of the 960 g added to the juice, which matters if you have diabetes. It also contains pippali, whose compound piperine raised phenytoin levels in a small study. If you have asthma, diabetes or take phenytoin, tell your doctor before you start it.
What is in it
The official recipe is in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, formulation 3:26 (printed page 45).[1]
| Ingredient | Botanical name | Part used | Proportion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vasaka svarasa (vasa, adulsa leaf juice) | Adhatoda vasica | Leaf | 768 g |
| Sita (sugar) | - | - | 384 g |
| Sarpi (cow's ghee) | - | - | 96 g |
| Pippali (long pepper) | Piper longum | Fruit | 96 g |
| Madhu (honey) | - | - | 384 g |
Amounts from the 2003 printed edition. The 2023 amendment does not change this entry. These are batch amounts for making the paste, not doses.[1]
Classical source
The formulary takes the recipe from the Bhaishajya Ratnavali, Rajayakshma chapter, verses 82-82½ in the 2003 print (the e-book copy gives 82-84). The verse asks for a prastha of vasaka juice with eight palas of sugar, two of ghee and two of pippali, cooked until it thickens, with eight palas of honey added once it is cool. At 48 g to the pala, that gives the formulary's weights.[1]
What it is used for
- The formulary lists it for kasa (cough), shvasa (breathlessness), jvara (fever), raktapitta (bleeding disorders), rajayakshma (tuberculosis), parshva shula (pain in the side of the chest) and hritshula (chest pain).[1]
What the evidence says
RCTAt an Ayurveda teaching hospital in Jamnagar, 66 people with asthma (tamaka shvasa) were randomly given Vasa Avaleha or granules made from it for 28 days, without blinding. Peak flow, eosinophil counts and symptoms improved in both groups, with no significant difference between them, and nobody's asthma went fully into remission. The study compared two forms of the same medicine, so it cannot show that either works better than nothing or than standard asthma care. No adverse reactions were reported.[2]
Safety notes
- Sugar and honey: each batch has 384 g of sugar and 384 g of honey. This matters if you have diabetes.[1]
- Contains pippali. In 20 people with epilepsy, a single dose of piperine, the main compound in pippali, raised blood levels of phenytoin. That study used isolated piperine, not this paste. See Pippali and phenytoin.[3]
- The asthma trial did not test Vasavaleha in place of inhalers or other asthma medicines.[2]
Who makes it
Sold in India by makers including Dabur, IMPCL. We list names so you can match your bottle to this page. We do not recommend or sell any brand.
Withheld until review
Questions people ask
Can Vasavaleha replace an asthma inhaler?
No study has tested that. The one trial we found compared the paste with its own granules, and nobody's asthma went fully into remission. Any change to asthma medicines is a decision for your doctor.[2]
Related
Sitopaladi Churna
A classical cough powder, about half sugar by weight. It contains pippali; piperine, a pepper compound, raised phenytoin levels in a small study.
FormulationTalisadi Churna
A classical cough and digestion powder, two-thirds sugar by weight, with pippali and black pepper. We have not found a study of it in people.
InteractionPippali, black pepper and phenytoin
Piperine, the compound in pippali and black pepper, raised phenytoin blood levels in two small Indian studies. Phenytoin has a narrow safe range.
ConditionType 2 diabetes (sugar): what Ayurveda offers
Some herbs, such as methi and karela, lowered HbA1c a little in trials. Taken with diabetes medicines, they can add to the risk of low sugar.
Sources
- Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, 2nd revised English edition, 2003. Vasavaleha, 3:26, printed page 45.
- Paneliya AM, Patgiri B, Galib R, Prajapati PK. Efficacy of Vasa Avaleha and its granules on Tamaka Shwasa (bronchial asthma): open-label randomized clinical study. Ayu. 2015;36(3):271-277. PMID 27313413.
- Pattanaik S, Hota D, Prabhakar S, Kharbanda P, Pandhi P. Effect of piperine on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of phenytoin in patients with epilepsy. Phytother Res. 2006;20(8):683-686. PMID 16767797.
Awaiting review by The Good Vaidya Medical Board. Prepared from the sources below and checked against each one.
Published 4 November 2026 · Last updated 4 November 2026
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