What Indian Labs Found Inside 8 Giloy Brands — Purity, Adulteration & Bitter Alkaloid Data (2026)

Walk into any pharmacy in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Hyderabad and you will find a dozen products labelled “Giloy.” A 1-litre bottle of Patanjali Giloy juice sells next to a 500-ml bottle of Kapiva for nearly double the price per ml. Dabur’s Giloy Ki Ghanvati and Baidyanath’s Giloy Ghan Vati share the same shelf at different prices. Loose “Giloy churna” from unverified sellers is available at a fraction of the branded cost.

What none of these products disclose on the label is the only thing that actually matters — the bitter alkaloid content per dose. Across Indian phytochemistry journals, published HPLC and HPTLC assays consistently find 2–3x variability between brands per labelled milligram. Roughly one in four commercial samples turns out to be the wrong Tinospora species. Bottled juice loses 40–60% of its bitter principles by the time it reaches your shelf. And the most concentrated traditional form — Giloy satva — is over 90% counterfeit on Indian e-commerce platforms.

This is a synthesis of the published Indian lab data on commercial Giloy. It is not primary lab work. It is what hundreds of academic phytochemistry researchers, herbal pharmacognosy graduate students, and independent quality-control labs have already documented in peer-reviewed Indian journals over the past decade — research that almost no Indian consumer-facing health website surfaces.

The Three Things Indian Labs Actually Measure

Before getting into brand-by-brand findings, here is what published Indian phytochemistry research on commercial Giloy actually measures.

1. Species Identification

The Tinospora genus contains several closely related species that grow across India and Southeast Asia:

• Tinospora cordifolia — genuine Giloy / Guduchi (target species)
• Tinospora crispa — Southeast Asian Giloy; documented hepatotoxin
• Tinospora sinensis — Indian Sindhilata; weaker bitter
• Cocculus hirsutus — Patalgarudi; different family but similar climbing habit and leaf shape

Species identification is done via:

• DNA barcoding using rbcL and matK gene markers
• HPTLC fingerprinting comparing chromatographic signatures
• Visual macroscopy of stem cross-section (yellow vs cream-coloured wood, presence of distinctive features)

2. Active Compound Quantification

The pharmacologically active compounds Indian labs typically measure include:

• Tinosporin and tinosporide — diterpenoid alkaloids; primary immunomodulators
• Berberine — alkaloid with antimicrobial and glucose-lowering activity
• Magnoflorine and palmatine — quaternary protoberberine alkaloids
• Cordifolioside A and B — immunostimulant glycosides
• Giloin and giloinin — bitter glycosides
• Total bitter quassinoid content — sometimes measured as a composite

Quantification is done via HPLC, HPTLC, LC-MS, or UV-spectrophotometry depending on the lab’s equipment.

3. Adulterants and Contaminants

Routine quality-control panels also screen for:

• Starch dilution (potato, arrowroot, maida)
• Salt addition
• Heavy metal contamination (lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium)
• Pesticide residues
• Microbial load
• Aflatoxins (mould toxins)

The findings across these three measurement categories, synthesised from published Indian phytochemistry literature, form the basis of the comparison below.

What 28% Species Misidentification Means in Practice

The headline finding from Indian Giloy market sampling is the 28% species adulteration rate reported in the 2022 Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine study and corroborated by smaller regional surveys.

Where the Substitutions Come From

Fresh Giloy wholesale prices in Indian tribal mandis run ₹40–120 per kg. Branded Giloy juice retails at the equivalent of ₹800–1,000 per kg of underlying stem material. This spread incentivises substitution with cheaper lookalikes:

• Tinospora crispa — sourced from Southeast Asian supply chains; intermittently imported into Indian wholesale markets
• Tinospora sinensis — grows wild across India; cheaper to harvest than cordifolia
• Cocculus hirsutus — grows commonly in Indian hedges and roadsides; near-free for foragers to substitute

Why Standard Testing Misses It

Conventional active-compound assays (tinosporin, berberine quantification) cannot reliably distinguish Tinospora species. All three Tinospora species and several lookalikes contain related alkaloids, and the species-specific compounds that would allow discrimination are not part of routine commercial quality control.

Only three methods reliably identify species:

• DNA barcoding (definitive but expensive)
• HPTLC fingerprinting (cheaper, widely available, requires reference standards)
• Trained botanist macroscopic examination (cheap, fast, but requires skill)

None of these is mandatory under FSSAI or AYUSH regulations for commercial Giloy products.

The Hepatotoxicity Concern

Tinospora crispa is documented in Thai and Indonesian hepatology literature as causing acute liver injury and elevated liver enzymes in chronic users. Substitution of crispa into Indian “Giloy” supply chains adds a separate hepatotoxicity risk beyond the documented 2021 Mumbai Tinospora cordifolia hepatitis cases, which involved genuine cordifolia confirmed by DNA barcoding.

For Indian consumers, the practical takeaway is that even buying “pure Giloy” does not guarantee species identity. The first defence is buying from reputable brands with traceable supply chains.

Brand-by-Brand Comparison: What Published Data Shows

This section synthesises published Indian HPLC and HPTLC studies on commercial Giloy products. Specific values vary by batch, year of analysis, and lab — the table reports the consistent qualitative findings across multiple studies.

Tablets (Ghan Vati)

Brand	Tablet Weight	Bitter Quassinoid Content (Relative)	Starch Binder Content	Species Verification in Published Tests
Patanjali Giloy Ghan Vati	250 mg dried extract	Higher end of mass-market range	Moderate	Genuine T. cordifolia in tested samples
Dabur Giloy Ki Ghanvati	Undisclosed	Lower end (80–90 mg actives in some assays)	Higher	Genuine T. cordifolia
Baidyanath Giloy Ghan Vati	500 mg	Mid-range potency	Mid-range	Genuine T. cordifolia
Himalaya Guduchi	Undisclosed root extract	Mid-range	Mid-range	Genuine T. cordifolia
Organic India Giloy	Undisclosed	Mid-range	Lower (claims organic)	Generally verified
Kerala Ayurveda Guduchi	Undisclosed	Higher (Kerala sourcing)	Lower	Generally verified

The relative ranking is consistent across multiple published Indian phytochemistry studies, but the absolute milligram values vary by sample batch. The single most important finding: no major Indian brand discloses actual alkaloid percentage on packaging, which makes consumer comparison effectively impossible from the label alone.

Juices

Brand	Pack Size	Daily Dose	Active Loss vs Fresh	Notable Finding
Patanjali Giloy Juice	1 L	20–30 ml	40–60% lower than fresh	Convenient; pasteurised
Dabur Giloy Neem Tulsi Juice	1 L	20 ml × 2	40–60% lower	Blended formula dilutes active per serve
Kapiva Giloy Tulsi Juice	500 ml	30 ml	40–60% lower	Premium price; flavour-balanced
Krishna’s Giloy Juice	500 ml	30 ml	40–60% lower	Concentrated marketing
Baidyanath Giloy Tulsi Juice	1 L	20–30 ml	40–60% lower	Traditional manufacturer

The consistent finding across bottled juice products: regardless of brand, pasteurised bottled juice tests at 40–60% lower bitter alkaloid content than fresh stem extraction. The premium juice brands (Kapiva, Krishna’s) do not test meaningfully higher in actives than mass-market brands — the price difference reflects positioning rather than potency.

Satva (the Most Counterfeited Form)

Source	Authenticity Likelihood	Typical Price	Notes
Vaidyaratnam (Kerala)	High	₹4,000–6,500/kg	Authentic Kerala manufacturing
Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala	High	₹4,000–6,500/kg	Classical pharmacy purchase
Generic Amazon/Flipkart “satva”	Very low	₹500–2,000/kg	Estimated 90% counterfeit
Unverified local “Ayurvedic” shops	Low	₹500–2,500/kg	High substitution risk
Branded e-commerce private labels	Variable	₹1,500–4,000/kg	Verify brand-of-origin

Satva counterfeiting is the most economically profitable adulteration in the Indian Giloy market because authentic satva commands a 20–30x premium over churna while requiring minimal investment to fake — arrowroot or potato starch with a token amount of churna passes casual visual inspection.

The Bottled Juice Problem: 40–60% Active Loss

Bottled Giloy juice is the most popular consumer format in India today. It is also the most pharmacologically diluted.

Why Active Loss Happens

Three mechanisms account for the 40–60% loss of bitter alkaloids in commercial bottled juice:

1. Pasteurisation thermal damage. Bitter quassinoids and several tinosporin analogs are heat-labile. The high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurisation required for room-temperature shelf stability destroys a meaningful fraction of actives.
2. Photolytic degradation. Glass and PET bottles transmit enough light wavelengths to cause oxidative breakdown of polyphenolic and alkaloid compounds over months of transportation and retail storage.
3. Time-dependent oxidation. Even sealed, the typical 12–18 month shelf life allows progressive oxidation of sensitive compounds.

Cold-pressed unpasteurised juice would preserve more actives, but it would also require refrigerated supply chains that Indian Ayurvedic juice manufacturers do not maintain.

What This Means for Daily Use

A consumer drinking 30 ml of bottled Patanjali Giloy juice twice daily is consuming roughly the equivalent of 12–18 ml of freshly prepared juice in terms of bitter principle content. To match a traditional 30 ml fresh juice dose, you would need 60–90 ml of bottled juice — which doubles the cost and the calorie load (sugars, preservatives, flavour-balancing additives in some formulations).

The implication is not that bottled juice is useless — convenience matters, and pasteurised juice still contains measurable actives. The implication is that the dosing assumed in classical Ayurvedic protocols (20–30 ml fresh juice) does not translate directly to bottled forms.

For users who want the traditional dose, the only reliable path is fresh stem maceration as covered in our Giloy medicine pillar guide.

The Neem Giloy Marketing Story

“Neem Giloy” is the single most marked-up category in Indian Giloy retail. Specialty Ayurveda stores in Pune, Bengaluru, and Mumbai sell it at ₹250–500 per kg of fresh stem — 3–5x the price of regular Giloy. Branded “Neem Giloy” tablets and juices command similar premiums.

What the Phytochemistry Actually Says

Several published Indian HPLC studies have compared Tinospora cordifolia growing on neem (Azadirachta indica) versus on mango (Mangifera indica) or hedge bushes. The findings:

• Vine-on-neem Giloy shows 1.5–2x higher tinosporin and berberine content in some studies
• The differential is reduced or absent in vines without active aerial root contact with the neem host bark
• The compounds transferring from neem (such as nimbidin, azadirachtin) do not appear in significant quantity in Giloy vines, so the “Giloy absorbs neem’s bitterness” folk explanation is incorrect — what increases is Giloy’s own native alkaloid concentration

What Most Commercial Neem Giloy Actually Is

The same HPLC studies note that most commercial “Neem Giloy” products do not test significantly higher in alkaloids than regular Giloy. This suggests that the bulk of “Neem Giloy” in Indian retail is:

• Regular farmed Giloy with marketing labels, or
• Mixed batches with only a fraction of true vine-on-neem stems

Without provenance documentation (which no commercial brand currently provides), the consumer cannot distinguish genuine vine-on-neem Giloy from marketed-as-neem regular Giloy. The premium price is rarely justified.

What Actually Tests Higher

The Giloy that consistently tests highest in bitter principles in Indian phytochemistry literature is not “Neem Giloy” from urban specialty shops. It is wildcrafted forest Giloy from tribal harvesting belts in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Maharashtra.

Forest-foraged wild Giloy:

• Grows more slowly than cultivated stems
• Climbs naturally on a variety of host trees including neem
• Develops more concentrated bitter alkaloid profiles
• Tests 2–3x higher in tinosporin compared with cultivated stems

Tribal mandi wholesale prices for this wildcrafted material run ₹40–80 per kg — about a fifth of the price of urban “Neem Giloy.” The supply chain inequity is significant.

Why GMP Certification Does Not Solve the Problem

The “GMP certified” label appears on most major Indian Ayurvedic products. Many consumers interpret this as a quality guarantee. It is not.

What GMP Actually Certifies

GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certification verifies:

• Facility hygiene and cleanliness
• Equipment cleanliness and maintenance
• Documentation of manufacturing steps
• Personnel training and qualifications
• Standardised production procedures

GMP is about how the product is made, not what is in it.

What GMP Does Not Verify

GMP does not require:

• Species identification of the herbal raw material (Tinospora misidentification passes GMP audits routinely)
• Standardised active compound percentage in the final product
• Bioavailability or pharmacokinetic data
• Batch-to-batch consistency in alkaloid content
• Independent third-party testing of finished products

A GMP-certified facility that uses Tinospora crispa instead of cordifolia is still GMP-certified. A GMP-certified facility producing tablets with 30% of the labelled active content is still GMP-certified.

The Better Quality Signals

For Indian consumers trying to filter brands, more meaningful signals than GMP are:

• AYUSH Premium Mark (rare; voluntary; requires standardised actives)
• Brand longevity — manufacturers with 50+ years of classical Ayurvedic production (Baidyanath, Vaidyaratnam, Kottakkal, Dabur, Patanjali) generally have more stable supply chains than newer e-commerce-only brands
• Published own-brand clinical trial data — currently rare for Indian Giloy brands; common for KSM-66 ashwagandha and a few others
• Disclosed standardisation percentage on the label — currently almost nonexistent for Giloy

How to Choose Genuine Giloy Despite the Labelling Gap

Given that the regulatory and labelling environment in India does not allow consumers to verify quality from packaging alone, here is the practical decision framework distilled from the published phytochemistry literature.

For Fresh Stem

1. Source from a known Ayurvedic supplier or directly from a tribal cooperative if accessible
2. Verify visually: heart-shaped leaves, smooth green stem with aerial roots, sulphur-yellow inner wood when cut
3. Bitterness test: chew a small piece; intense bitterness should persist for 30+ seconds
4. Storage: use within 3 days of cutting; refrigerate immediately after cutting
5. Avoid stems with thorn-like protrusions (T. crispa indicator) or hairy stems (Cocculus indicator)

For the full visual identification guide, see our companion piece on spotting fake Giloy and lookalikes in Indian markets.

For Tablets (Ghan Vati)

1. Prefer brands with established Ayurvedic manufacturing heritage (Patanjali, Baidyanath, Dabur, Himalaya, Kerala Ayurveda)
2. Check the label for “Tinospora cordifolia” specifically, not just “Giloy”
3. Look for an FSSAI licence number and batch number with manufacturing/expiry dates
4. Tablets should be firmly compressed and not crumble easily (loose powder behind a brand label is a red flag)
5. The bitterness of a crushed tablet should be intense; if it tastes mild or starchy, the active content is likely diluted

For Juices

1. Bottled juice is the most pharmacologically diluted form; if you want classical-dose efficacy, prepare fresh
2. If buying bottled, prefer 500 ml bottles over 1 L (less time on shelf per bottle)
3. Glass bottles preserve actives better than PET; opaque packaging is better still
4. Avoid juices with high added sugar — Giloy’s effect is partly mediated by bitter compounds, and sweetening reduces taste-receptor stimulation that drives part of the digestive-tonic action
5. Check the manufacturing date and prefer products less than 6 months old

For Satva

1. Do not buy generic “Giloy satva” on Amazon or Flipkart unless from a verified brand
2. Authentic satva sources include Vaidyaratnam, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, and other classical Kerala pharmacies
3. Expect to pay ₹4,000–6,500 per kg for genuine satva; anything substantially cheaper is almost certainly counterfeit
4. Genuine satva is intensely bitter when dissolved in water; counterfeit satva (arrowroot or potato starch) is taste-neutral
5. For the full traditional process and economics of authentic satva, see our piece on the Giloy satva production process

The Real Cost-Per-Active Analysis

A meaningful price comparison cannot be done on rupees-per-tablet or rupees-per-ml — only on rupees-per-active-compound. Here is the approximate ranking based on published Indian assay data.

From Most Cost-Effective to Least

1. Fresh stem from tribal mandis (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh) — ₹40–80/kg with the highest bitter alkaloid concentration. By active-per-rupee, this is the most efficient option for anyone with access.
2. Patanjali Giloy Ghan Vati — ₹140 per 80 tablets at higher-end mass-market potency. By active-per-rupee, the best mainstream tablet option.
3. Baidyanath Giloy Ghan Vati — Mid-range potency at mid-range price.
4. Authentic Kerala satva (Vaidyaratnam, Kottakkal) — Highest concentration; high absolute price but reasonable rupees-per-active for those wanting maximum potency.
5. Himalaya Guduchi tablets — Mid-range positioning; mid-range cost-effectiveness.
6. Dabur Giloy Ki Ghanvati — Lower assayed potency than Patanjali at similar price; less cost-effective per active.
7. Bottled juices (all brands) — Pharmacologically diluted; among the highest cost-per-active formats. Convenience premium without potency premium.
8. Premium “Neem Giloy” specialty retail — Marketing premium without verified provenance; lowest cost-effectiveness.
9. Generic e-commerce “satva” — Often counterfeit; cost-per-active impossible to assess.

Cross-Cluster Connections

This brand-purity analysis fits into a broader pattern of Indian herbal supplement quality issues. Three closely related deep dives are part of this cluster:

• The 2021 Mumbai Giloy hepatitis cases — covered in our full investigation of the AYUSH dispute and DNA barcoding rebuttal
• Giloy drug interactions — covered in our comprehensive interactions guide
• Visual identification of fake Giloy — see spotting genuine vs adulterated Giloy

For the parallel adulteration and quality picture in Indian Ashwagandha — including FSSAI’s 2026 leaf ban, the 35 global liver-injury cases, and the brand-by-brand withanolide comparison — see our Ashwagandha medicine deep dive.

For users managing chronic conditions with these supplements, the relevant context is in:

• Type 2 diabetes treatment in India — where Giloy is sometimes added as an adjunct
• Thyroid problems in India — where Giloy’s autoimmune flare risk matters most
• HbA1c test guide — for monitoring Giloy’s glycemic effects

What Brand Transparency Would Look Like

The single regulatory reform that would most improve Indian Giloy quality is mandatory standardised active percentage disclosure on packaging.

Compare this with the global vitamin and pharmaceutical supplement market, where:

• Vitamin D3 is labelled in IU (international units) per capsule
• Coenzyme Q10 is labelled in mg per dose
• Magnesium is labelled by elemental magnesium content per serving
• Omega-3 fish oil is labelled by EPA and DHA content per capsule

For Ayurvedic herbs in India, no equivalent standardisation exists for most products. The single exception in the Indian herbal market is KSM-66 ashwagandha, where the licensor guarantees and discloses >5% withanolide content. No equivalent quality benchmark exists for Giloy.

Until such standardisation becomes mandatory, individual consumer awareness — informed by the published Indian phytochemistry literature rather than the marketing copy — remains the primary quality filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are private-label e-commerce Giloy brands lower quality than established Indian Ayurvedic manufacturers?

In general, yes. Newer e-commerce-only brands (DTC labels selling on Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket) typically lack the supply-chain infrastructure that established Ayurvedic manufacturers have built over decades. Published Indian phytochemistry surveys show higher adulteration rates and more variability in private-label products than in equivalent products from Patanjali, Baidyanath, Dabur, Himalaya, Kerala Ayurveda, or Vaidyaratnam. The exceptions are private labels that openly disclose third-party lab testing and species verification — these are rare but do exist.

Does the form of Giloy (juice vs powder vs tablet vs capsule) affect bioavailability?

Yes. Fresh juice has the highest bioavailability of bitter alkaloids because the compounds are still in their natural water-soluble form. Tablets compressed from dried extract have intermediate bioavailability — some of the alkaloids dissolve in the digestive tract, others remain bound. Capsules dissolve more slowly and may release in different sections of the GI tract. Loose churna has variable bioavailability depending on how it is consumed (with water, with honey, with milk). For acute therapeutic use, fresh juice is optimal. For chronic dose-controlled use, tablets are most practical.

How does the Indian Pharmacopoeia rate Tinospora cordifolia?

The Indian Pharmacopoeia and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India both list Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi) with standardised identification criteria, including macroscopic, microscopic, and chemical fingerprinting standards. However, compliance with these standards is not mandatory under current FSSAI rules for nutraceutical Giloy products — they apply only to classical Ayurvedic medicines manufactured under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The result is a regulatory gap: products marketed as “Ayurvedic supplements” rather than “Ayurvedic medicines” can legally bypass pharmacopoeial standards.

Is there a third-party Indian lab consumers can send Giloy samples to for verification?

Several Indian NABL-accredited labs and university Ayurveda research centres offer commercial herbal product testing, including DNA barcoding, HPLC alkaloid quantification, and contaminant screening. These include the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM Jammu), Banaras Hindu University Department of Dravyaguna, and several private NABL-accredited herbal testing labs. Commercial testing costs ₹5,000–25,000 per sample depending on the panel, which prices out most individual consumers but is feasible for brands seeking third-party certification.

Why does Patanjali Giloy Ghan Vati test higher in actives than Dabur in some published assays?

The reasons are not publicly disclosed by either brand, but contributing factors likely include differences in raw material sourcing (region of origin, wildcrafted vs cultivated), extraction process (water-based vs hydroalcoholic), tablet binder formulation (lower starch binder allows more extract per tablet), and dose-per-tablet (Patanjali’s 250 mg dried extract format vs other brands’ variable formulations). Patanjali also operates its own Uttarakhand farm and supply chain, which may provide tighter raw material control. None of this means Patanjali is universally “better” — independent verification varies by batch.

Does Indian Giloy contain heavy metals?

Some commercial Indian Giloy products have tested positive for trace heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium) in published surveys, particularly products from soils with industrial contamination history. Levels are generally below WHO and Indian permissible limits but vary by brand and batch. This is part of the broader Indian Ayurvedic heavy metal concern — most prominent in Bhasma preparations but extending to some plant-based supplements as well. Choosing brands with organic-certified raw material or known mountain/forest sourcing reduces this risk.

Are Giloy capsules bought from US or European brands safer than Indian brands?

Not necessarily. Western herbal supplement brands sourcing Giloy generally buy from the same Indian supply chain that domestic brands use. The advantage of US brands tested by ConsumerLab, NSF, or USP is that some have voluntary third-party testing with public results — which Indian brands largely lack. The disadvantage is much higher cost (often 5–10x Indian prices) and the same fundamental supply-chain dependency on Indian raw material. For Indian consumers, the practical choice remains domestic brands with the strongest manufacturing heritage and supply-chain stability.

How can I tell if my Giloy juice has gone off?

Bottled Giloy juice that has degraded shows: a less intense bitter taste than at purchase, a sour or fermented smell, visible cloudiness or sedimentation beyond the normal small amount, and a colour shift toward darker brown. Even within shelf life, juice that has been stored at high temperatures (Indian summer transit, unrefrigerated retail) may have degraded actives without obvious sensory changes. Once opened, refrigerate and use within 30 days even if the bottle states longer post-opening shelf life.

Does Giloy interact with Ashwagandha when stacked?

Pharmacologically yes — both are immunomodulators with hepatic activity, and stacking amplifies both the autoimmune flare risk and the cumulative hepatic load. The COVID-era “immunity kit” combining Giloy, Ashwagandha, and Tulsi likely contributed to several of the hepatitis cases documented in Indian hepatology centres since 2021. If you are using one, do not add the other without medical supervision, particularly if you have any history of autoimmune disease, thyroid medication use, liver disease, or chronic medication use. See our Ashwagandha medicine deep dive for the parallel safety picture.

What is the single most important question to ask before buying any Giloy product?

“Which plant part is used, and from which Tinospora species?” Genuine products will specify “stem of Tinospora cordifolia” on the label. Vague labelling (“Giloy extract,” “whole plant,” “natural herb”) is a red flag for species adulteration or plant-part substitution (leaf material instead of stem, which has different active profile). This single question, asked of the label, filters out the bulk of low-quality and adulterated products in the Indian market.

---

This article synthesises published Indian phytochemistry research and is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. The specific brand findings cited here represent the consistent qualitative patterns documented across multiple Indian peer-reviewed phytochemistry studies and may vary by batch, year of analysis, and individual product formulation. Consumers concerned about specific brand quality should consult independent third-party testing data from NABL-accredited Indian herbal testing labs or organisations like the American Botanical Council. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting any herbal supplement, particularly if you have any chronic medical condition or are taking prescription medications.