This article introduces my readers to the wonderful and amazing healing properties of a major Mexican medicinal herb, Chaparro Amargo (Castela tortuosa).
Introduction: A Chronicle of My Healing Journey with Chaparro Amargo
I have been going down to Mexico periodically for several years now, and more frequently over the last couple of years. One thing that has been very hard for me to take when I am down there is the Mexican diet, with all its meat, grease, salt, fried food and spicy chilies. You see, I believe that, when it comes to our health, each one of us has his or her own karmic weak spots, or points of vulnerability, and mine just happens to be my stomach and digestive tract. There are various reasons for this – a karmic carryover from my previous lifetime, as well as a terrible systemic Candida or yeast infection that my first wife gave me, which seriously compromised my gut biome. In addition, my sister did a little research and found out that Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder, runs in our family. And year after year, when I went down to Mexico, my guts got more and more sensitive to the deleterious effects of the Mexican food that I ate down there. I remember vividly when my poor old guts wrestled with a greasy chile relleno all night – I got up frequently to take various herbal remedies that I thought would help, even going so far as to munch on some fresh bitter Aloe leaves. And then finally, just before sunrise, I went to the bathroom and rid myself of the digestive nightmare that I had been wrestling with all night. Thank God!
From my nightmare episode with that greasy chile relleno that night, I started to get the idea that I should study the local Mexican herbs, that they might be able to help me with the many digestive challenges I faced from the Mexican food. After all, the fresh Aloe leaves that I ate that night were a vigorous laxative, and also stimulated the flow of bile to help me with digesting all that grease. And another herb I took that night, Matarique, I knew was a gastro-intestinal antispasmodic that loosened up colic and cramping in my gut, so I could eventually discharge that greasy chile relleno. And so, little by little I began to study and learn about Mexican herbs. I would frequent the herb sellers at the market in downtown Guanajuato where I lived, inquiring about the various herbs they were selling. Then, in the evenings I would go online and google up the various uses and benefits of the herbs I was studying and taking, as well as other helpful facts concerning their chemical constituents and mechanisms of action. In my travels throughout Mexico, I eventually learned that every region of this vast and diverse country had its own local herbs, and some of them were downright amazing.
Almost a couple of years ago now, I had another kind of health nightmare – inflammatory bowel disease – or, more precisely, it seemed to present pretty much with the symptoms of ulcerative colitis, with explosive attacks of bloody diarrhea, brought on by certain trigger foods. My bowels were getting really finicky in general, and I never knew exactly when I would have the urgent need to go to the bathroom – or exactly what would come out in the stool. In addition, I was developing allergies and sensitivities to many, many different foods. The food that seemed to be the most provocative of bloody diarrhea attacks was cheese, and I didn’t do many other dairy products that well, either. As many people know, Mexican food has a lot of cheese in general. Cheese is a dairy product, and dairy products tend to generate a lot of phlegm; if eating cheese didn’t provoke a bowel attack, it would often make me sluggish and dizzy, which are symptoms of excess phlegm and dampness going to the head, which is a common hangout spot for excess phlegm in the body. Anyway, with all my food allergies and sensitivities developing and multiplying, I knew I had to do something to stem the tide and reverse this whole thing. It was then that I discovered Chaparro Amargo. I found capsules of the powdered herb in a local health food store, ( Chaparro Amargo is very bitter) and started to take them.
I immediately started to notice a big difference in my gut – all of a sudden, my bowels got a lot calmer. I knew that Chaparro Amargo is very bitter, but I would chew the capsules with my teeth in order to release the bitter herb right into my digestive tract as soon as possible – and I noticed an instant difference: there was profound calm and peace in my bowels once again. I took many other herbs from time to time, as the need arose, but I kept on keeping on with the Chaparro Amargo, taking two capsules in the morning, upon arising, as well as two capsules in the evening, upon retiring – and I noticed my intestinal condition improving steadily the longer I continued using the herb. The only time when things got worse was when my supply ran out – then I would notice the attacks starting to come back. I quickly learned that I had to keep taking that herb as a fundamental cornerstone of my health regimen. And since I have been using Chaparro Amargo, I have also noticed that I have a greater tolerance for foods that I used to be sensitive to. This isn’t an open invitation to abuse or gorge on those foods, as I quickly learned if I overindulged in those trigger foods.
A Closer Look at Chaparro Amargo
Chaparro Amargo, also known as Chaparro Amargoso, is a bush or small tree that grows mainly in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of northwestern Mexico and the southwest of the United States. Its botanical name is Castela tortuosa, although other species of the Castela genus have also been used. The bush has many thorns or spines, and bears yellow flowers and bright red berries or fruit; the woody branches and roots of the plant are used as medicine, and also the oval shaped green leaves, with the roots and branches being the main medicinal part. – 1. Chaparro Amargo is a very versatile medicinal plant with many different therapeutic uses and applications. Usually, a bitter tea is made from the branches or the root and drunk internally, although it can also be used as a topical wash to treat skin conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis. Chaparro Amargo can also be taken in drops as an alcoholic extract or tincture, or the herb can be powdered, put into capsules and taken internally – that’s my preferred way.
Chaparro Amargo’s principal use seems to be as a stomach, liver and digestive tonic to treat various digestive disorders such as gastritis, stomach ulcers, liver congestion and toxicity and hepatobiliary congestion and stasis. The herb is also an excellent liver tonic and hepato-protector. Chaparro Amargo is also an excellent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant, and is very beneficial in treating diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal amebiasis and parasites, and inflammatory bowel disorders. Some herbalists also feel that it has anti-tumoral properties that could be useful in treating cancers of the colon and GI tract, but this has not yet been conclusively proven. Being a strong anti-inflammatory, Chaparro Amargo is also useful in bringing down fevers, particularly those of the intermittent or malarial variety. Chaparro Amargo may also be useful in blood sugar control for those who suffer from type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, since, being of the Simaroubaceae phylum or larger family of plants, it is botanically related to Quassia wood (Picrasma excelsa) which is one of the main herbs used in Mexico to treat Type Two Diabetes. The two plants seem to share an active ingredient, Quassine, as well as related bitter principles and Quassinoids, which contribute to their hepatotonic and blood sugar lowering properties – 2. Incidentally, both plants have been used topically as insect repellents. Chaparro Amargo is also used in homeopathic medicine to treat chronic diarrhea and dysentery with tenderness over the liver and much mucus in the stools. – 3.
Disclaimer:
As a whole, Chaparro Amargo is well tolerated, but still, there are some contraindications and precautions that should be observed. Its safety during pregnancy and lactation has not been well established, so it should be avoided at these times. There are also those who feel that taking it in excessive doses, or for extended periods of time has the potential to accumulate in, and damage, the liver and kidneys, but this has not been my experience with the herb. – 1. At any rate, if you have any concerns about taking this herb, or whether or not to take it, please consult with your doctor or personal physician.
Chaparro Amargo in the Light of Greek Medicine and Traditional Healing
The word, “Amargo” is Spanish for “Bitter”, and Chaparro Amargo is indeed quite bitter; its healing benefits come principally from its bitter taste, I feel. In herbal medicine, the bitter taste is cleansing and purifying, as well as being calming, soothing and anti-inflammatory; many bitter herbs stimulate the metabolism and flow of bile, and Chaparro Amargo is definitely used for hepatobiliary complaints. Since bile, which is Yellow Bile or the Choleric humor, is the humor associated with the Fire element, stimulating and improving its flow and secretion by the liver also seems to have the therapeutic benefit of reducing fire, or heat and inflammation, in that organ. The liver, gall bladder and the biliary ducts empty into the duodenum, which lies right below the stomach in a crucial and sensitive part of the GI tract; therefore, easing and smoothing out the flow of bile has a beneficial effect on lessening the symptoms of GI colic and irritable bowel. Being a powerful antioxidant, as many anti-inflammatory herbs like Chaparro Amargo are, I feel that this herb is also helpful in detoxifying toxic and oxidized pathological forms of black and yellow bile in the liver and spleen, which act as a slow and caustic irritant to the whole digestive apparatus, thus aggravating colic, hyperacidity and irritable bowel.
These are the main properties and characteristics of Chaparro Amargo that explain its wonderful efficacy in treating ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease, I feel, and why it has helped me so greatly. Your experience with the herb may be somewhat different, but if you are suffering from one of the many conditions that it is indicated for, it may be worth a try. It was helpful for me in my struggle with ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease, which are autoimmune conditions. Although every pharmaceutical drug you can take for treating auto-immune conditions has the undesirable or negative side effect of compromising one’s overall immunity and ability to fight infections, many herbs actually heal and balance the immune system and the immune response by reducing allergic and autoimmune reactions while strengthening and benefiting normal, healthy immunity – and I feel that Chaparro Amargo is one of these beneficial immunomodulatory herbs that have a bi-directional healing and balancing effect on the immune response. This is due to the fact that herbs, as living botanical medicines, have biological intelligence inherent in them, whereas pharmaceutical drugs, as dead, lifeless chemical compounds, do not.
I remember my teacher of Western Medicine in acupuncture school, a naturopathic doctor named Jared, explain to me his idea of where the whole phenomenon of autoimmunity came from. We live in such a toxic world, and take in so many additional toxins through an impure and toxic diet, he said, that the bloodstream, which is supposed to be a nourishing River of Life, becomes like a heavily polluted river that is incapable of truly supporting life, but has become toxic and aggravating to it. It was then, he felt, that the bloodstream, instead of feeding and supporting our natural immunity via the vital principles, perverted or subverted it, leading to autoimmune disease. This may be an oversimplification of the whole pathology of auto-immunity, which is actually quite complex in its overall etiology and pathogenesis, but this pollution of the bloodstream is probably an important aspect to consider. Anyway, besides the biological intelligence they embody, which is able to work bi-directionally to adjust the immune response, another great advantage of herbs is they are the great purifiers and detoxifiers of the body, whereas pharmaceutical drugs don’t have this ability the same way that herbs do.
In conclusion, there is no doubt that Chaparro Amargo, as a medicinal herb, is one of the world’s great bitter tonics. Its overall field of action is mainly the stomach, liver and intestinal tract, on which it focuses its properties as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, choleretic and cholagogue. It also seems to have vulnerary properties as a cicatrizant to promote the healing of ulceration in the gut, as well as an ability to inhibit or expel amoeba and parasites. Systemically speaking, Chaparro Amargo’s anti-inflammatory properties can bring down fevers, especially fevers of bilious origin, which tend to be malarial or intermittent. And Chaparro Amargo also appears to be an herb that has a bi-directional healing and balancing effect on the immune response as an immunomodulatory herb; this, I feel, is due to its wonderful calming and soothing properties and energy. In short, Chaparro Amargo needs to be better known and appreciated as a valuable and eminently useful medicinal herb.
An Invitation to Interaction and Dialogue
If you have any questions, comments or feedback concerning what you have read here, please send me an email at: davido@greekmedicine.net . I would love to hear from you and answer your questions and concerns.
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