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Lychee: Health Benefits, Side Effects, Uses, Dose & Precautions

Lychee

Other Name(s):

Cerisier de Chine, Lechia, Leechee, Lichee, Lichia, Lici, Litchi, Litchi chinensis, Litchi de Chine, Litchia, Litchibaum, Litchipflanze, Nephelium litchi.

Overview

Lychee is a tree. The fruit is eaten as a food and used for medicine.

People take lychee for cough, fever, pain, to invigorate the body, and to promote urination.

In foods, lychee fruit is peeled and eaten alone or as part of a dish.

How does work?

Lychee might lessen swelling and reduce feelings of pain. It might also stimulate the immune system and work as an antioxidant.

Uses

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

  • Coughs.
  • Fever.
  • Pain.
  • Other conditions.
More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of lychee for these uses.

Side Effects

It isn't known if lychee is safe. In some people, lychee might cause allergic reactions.

Precautions

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the use of lychee during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

"Auto-immune diseases" such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or other conditions: Lychee might cause the immune system to become more active. This might increase the symptoms of auto-immune diseases. If you have an auto-immune condition, it's best to use lychee cautiously until more is known.

Allergies: Lychee might cause allergic reactions in people who are allergic to birch, sunflower seeds and other plants from the same family, mugwort, and latex.

Diabetes: Lychee extract might lower blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes and take lychee extract, monitor your blood sugar levels closely.

Surgery: Lychee extract might lower blood sugar levels. There is some concern that it might interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery. Stop using lychee extract at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

QUESTION

Next to red peppers, you can get the most vitamin C from ________________. See Answer

Interactions


Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs)Interaction Rating: Moderate Be cautious with this combination.Talk with your health provider.

Lychee extract might decrease blood sugar. Diabetes medications are also used to lower blood sugar. Taking lychee extract along with diabetes medications might cause blood sugar to go 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.


Medications that decrease the immune system (Immunosuppressants)Interaction Rating: Moderate Be cautious with this combination.Talk with your health provider.

Lychee might increase the immune system. By increasing the immune system, lychee might decrease the effectiveness of medications that decrease the immune system.

Some medications that decrease the immune system include azathioprine (Imuran), basiliximab (Simulect), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), daclizumab (Zenapax), muromonab-CD3 (OKT3, Orthoclone OKT3), mycophenolate (CellCept), tacrolimus (FK506, Prograf), sirolimus (Rapamune), prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone), corticosteroids (glucocorticoids), and others.

Dosing

The appropriate dose of lychee 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 lychee. 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.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).

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References

Besra SE, Sharma RM, Gomes A. Antiinflammatory effect of petroleum ether extract of leaves of Litchi chinensis Gaertn. (Sapindaceae). J Ethnopharmacol 1996;54(1):1-6. View abstract.

Garrido S, Garcia BE, Echechipia S, et al. Anaphylaxis following the first ingestion of lychee fruit: clinical features and immunological cross-reactivity implications. Allergy 2007;62(8):962-3. View abstract.

Giannattasio M, Serafini M, Guarrera P, et al. Contact urticaria from litchi fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn.). Contact Dermatitis 1995;33(1):67. View abstract.

Guo C, Yang J, Wei J, et al. Antioxidant activities of peel, pulp and seed fractions of common fruits as determined by FRAP assay. Nutr Res 2003;23(12):1719-1726.

Guo JW. Effects of Litchi seed on enhancing insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic-insulin resistant rats. Chinese J New Drugs 2003;12:526-9.

Li J, Jiang Y. Litchi flavonoids: isolation, identification and biological activity. Molecules 2007;12(4):745-58. View abstract.

Menzel C. The physiology of growth and cropping in lychee. Acta Hortic 2001;558:175-184.

Menzel CM. The control of floral initiation in lychee: a review. Scientia Horticult 1983;21:201-215.

Niggemann B, Reibel S, Hipler C, Wahn U. Anaphylactic reaction to lychee in a 12-year-old girl: cross-reactivity to latex? Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2002;13(1):64-7. View abstract.

Ohno H, Sakurai T, Hisajima T. The supplementation of oligonol, the new lychee fruit-derived polyphenol converting into a low-molecular form, has a positive effect on fatigue during regular track-and-field training in young athletes. Adv Exerc Sports Physiol 2008;13(4):93-9.

Olesen T, Menzel CM, Wiltshire N, McConchie CA. Flowering and shoot elongation of lychee in eastern Australia. Aust J Agri Res 2002;53(8):977-983.

Raap U, Schaefer T, Kapp A, Wedi B. Exotic food allergy: anaphylactic reaction to lychee. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2007;17(3):199-201. View abstract.

Vieths S, Scheurer S, Ballmer-Weber B. Current understanding of cross-reactivity of food allergens and pollen. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2002;964:47-68. View abstract.

Wang X, Wei Y, Yuan S, et al. Potential anticancer activity of litchi fruit pericarp extract against hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. Cancer Lett 2006;239(1):144-50. View abstract.

Wang X, Yuan S, Wang J, et al. Anticancer activity of litchi fruit pericarp extract against human breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2006;215(2):168-78. View abstract.

Yang B, Wang J, Zhao M, et al. Identification of polysaccharides from pericarp tissues of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit in relation to their antioxidant activities. Carbohydr Res 2006;341(5):634-8. View abstract.

Zhao M, Yang B, Wang J, et al. Immunomodulatory and anticancer activities of flavonoids extracted from litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn) pericarp. Int Immunopharmacol 2007;7(2):162-6. View abstract.