Already used by the Incas and other indigenous peoples to heal wounds and counter chronic fatigue, Lapacho has more than one trick up its sleeve. Discover in this article all the benefits of this tree with multiple therapeutic virtues.
Lapacho, botanical description
The Lapacho or Tabebuia Avellanedae in Latin, is a tree of the bignoniaceae family native to the tropical areas of South America, from Argentina to Brazil and Peru. The Little Dictionary of Healing Plants presents it as follows: "It has broad, opposite leaves and large, purple, tube-corollared flowers that appear before the leaves The fruit is a long, thin capsule. "
History of Lapacho
For centuries, the lapacho has been considered a salvation tree in these lands. It relieves many ailments including those we will present below. The only research that has been conducted on this plant and more specifically on its bark has been aimed at isolating the anti-cancer molecule in order to patent a drug. Thus, there is not much scientific evidence to support the empirically demonstrated effects. However, lapacho is still used today in Brazil with success among local populations for the most common problems.
In addition, this tree is imprinted with the traditional culture of Amazonian hunters because its wood is used to make bows: "pau d'arco" meaning hunting bow and also the other name designating the lapacho in Brazil.
The main constituents of lapacho.
Lapacho has naphthoquinones in its bark including lapachonone and beta-lapachone.
It is interesting to note that many medicinal plants in the traditional pharmacopoeias of indigenous peoples around the world contain naphthoquinones.
Lapacho and cancer
In the 1960s, various American studies were interested in and demonstrated the anti-cancerous effects of lapacho on rats. Unfortunately, once it was administered to humans, they reported side effects, thus interrupting the treatment attempts. It was not until the late 1990s that beta-lapachone was isolated. This molecule will prove to be just as interesting and effective without the side effects.
Beta-lapachone is said to prevent the growth of cancer cells in cases of prostate, lung, pancreatic and throat cancer. Moreover, it would make these same cells more sensitive to radiation.
Anti-inflammatory properties of lapacho
The anti-inflammatory properties of lapacho have not been studied as much as its anti-cancer properties. However, it has been shown to act on the reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, thus confirming the empirical use of it by South American peoples.
Anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties of lapacho
Traditionally, still today, in Amazonian countries, traditional healers gives lapacho to patients suffering from gastrointestinal infections, urogenital such as cystitis, dermatological (wounds, abscesses, purulent eczema ...) and respiratory. It would also be effective against mouth ulcers and herpes.
Lapacho, the miracle plant.
Some authors argue that they can salve with the lapacho diabetes, hypertension , anemias and mycosis. It would also act on the intestinal flora by "favoring the development and the fixation of the strains of beneficial ferments" (source: "Le petit Larousse des plantes qui guérissent").
Routes of administration, dosage form and contraindications of Lapacho.
Lapacho is usually found in dried, crushed and encapsulated form, sometimes dried to be prepared directly in decoction. Refer to the data from the laboratory and your practitioner.
Caution: having little data on this subject, lapacho is not recommended for children, pregnant and nursing women.
In addition, in view of its anti-coagulant properties, it is not recommended to take it if you are a hemophiliac or under anticoagulant treatment: anti-vitamin K, heparin, aspirin etc...
Whatever your problem, always ask your doctor for approval, especially if you are under treatment.
This plant with 1000 virtues contains in its bark promises worthy of a panacea. Lapacho has many benefits, it is undeniable and even for some of them, scientifically proven. As such, he deserves to be better known, recognized and respected.
However, one should always be cautious when it comes to miraculous claims regardless of the product, even "green" ones. Health is a conjunction of multiple factors that a single plant, however powerful, cannot synthesize. It is a whole, a collaboration, a synergy.