Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Walnut (Juglans regia), of the Juglandaceae family. Large deciduous tree with aromatic pinnate leaves and a fleshy-hulled nut; native range: Persia and the mountains of Central Asia to the Himalaya; long carried westward across Europe. Globally recognized as akshota in Sanskrit, akhrot in Hindi, hu tao ren (胡桃仁, kernel) in Chinese, jawz (جوز) in Arabic, and Persian walnut, English walnut in English. The part used is the ripe kernel (hu tao ren); and, in the West, the leaf and the green hull. A convoluted, brain-like kernel of two lobes in a hard wrinkled shell; oily and richly sweet with a faint astringent bitterness in the skin. Leaf and green hull are aromatic and stain the hands brown.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
WALNUT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- walnut
- Scientific name
- Juglans regia L.
- Family
- Juglandaceae
Form
- Part used
- the ripe kernel (hu tao ren); and, in the West, the leaf and the green hull
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (the kernel)
- Ayurveda
- dominant: sweet (madhura) · astringent (kashaya, of the skin)
- Western
- sweet (kernel) · astringent · bitter (leaf and hull)
- Unani
- sweet · astringent
Temperature
TCM: warm (the kernel)
Ayurveda: heating (ushna)
Western: warm
Unani: hot & dry (2nd degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses agree on a warming, kindling nut — a food and tonic against cold and depletion
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Kidney · Lung · Large Intestine (the kernel)
- Western
- kidneys · lungs · bowels · skin
- Unani
- brain · stomach · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- tonifies Kidney yang and warms the Lung to still wheeze and cough; strengthens the low back and knees; moistens the Intestines to move a dry stool
- Ayurveda
- vata-hara, balya (strengthening), medhya (brain tonic), vrishya (aphrodisiac), a snigdha rasayana nutrient
- Western
- kernel nutritive and nervine; leaf and hull astringent, alterative, detergent and anthelmintic
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-dimagh (brain tonic), muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac), mughalliz-e-mani, a warming restorative food; leaf and rind qabiz (astringent)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- phlegm-heat cough, diarrhoea and loose stool, and yin-deficient heat; heavy kernel intake in kapha and high-pitta states; nut allergy
- Toxicity
- the kernel is a wholesome food; the green hull and its juglone are strongly staining and, taken to excess, irritant
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