Cat's Claw
I first encountered this plant in the Amazon rainforest around 25 years ago. What have we learned about it since?
I have a bottle of Captain Morgan rum in the bookcase of my home office. Take a swig, and you’ll note that it doesn’t taste like the rum you expect, but is somewhat earthy, woody, and bitter. Looking closer, you’ll see a bundle of long, skinny slips of wood floating in the dark amber liquid. This is actually not wood, but root bark, which is used in traditional medical treatments for aches and pains. The bark is from an Amazonian cure-all, locally known as uña de gato, or Cat’s claw. The plant's scientific name is Uncaria tomentosa, and it is from the same plant family (Rubiaceae) where we find pharmacological treasures like the coffee plant!
When I first arrived in Iquitos, Peru, in 1999—gateway to the Peruvian Amazon—I noted that this plant was popular among herb vendors in the floating Belén market. It is prepared either as a decoction (by boiling in water) or an alcoholic tincture (steeped in rum) and drunk. Local healers, working far from the city deep in the tributaries of the Amazon, use it for various ailments, treating general aches and pains, rheumatism, and many other applications. In other words, it is a popular cure-all or panacea which targets a variety of inflammatory diseases.
Nearly 25 years have passed since I first learned of this medicinal plant. We had little scientific evidence in support of these healing claims back then. In this post, I examine some of the new lessons learned about Cat's claw's safety, efficacy, and utility.
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