lt is a giant perennial vine that grows climbing around trees, with claw-shaped thorns that grow along with the plant and resemble a cat's claw. These claw-shaped thorns, allow the vine to grasp the bark of the trees and give the plant its name. lt grows in virgin lands of the Amazonian humid rainforest, especially in the high Amazon region of Perú. The best part, for medicinal purposes, is the bark or root around 3 years old, of the young plant. Due to its multiple curative properties, the American lndians considered Uncaria tomentosa a kind of panacea 'a cure for everything', the main ailments that were treated with this plant are: gastritis, rheumatism, inflammations. However, it was not until the beginning of the 70s that Klaus Keplinger, a self-taught journalist, an ethnologist from lnnsbruck, Austria, organized the first definitive work in Uncaria tomentosa; He obtained 4 US patents that described the extraction procedures, for a group of chemicals, called oxindolic alkaloids found in this plant and the immunostimulatory actions of these alkaloids. Many of the studies, published after Keplinger's work, confirmed the immunostimulatory properties of alkaloids in the bark and root.
Benefits.
- It has anti-inflammatory effects especially on diseases such as arthritis, arthrosis, gout, and rheumatism.
- Due to its alkaloid content, has immunostimulating effects.
- In addition, it helps to alleviate, in a natural way, various stomach problems, since it completely cleans the intestinal tract.
- This medicinal herb is detoxifying and useful in cases such as acne, colitis, gastritis and ulcers.
- Antioxidant, far its polyphenol content.