Lapacho Tea
The Power of Pau d’Arco…
At first glance, you might have been a bit confused… why is he talking about Chinese sausage?… I thought this was about tea?… look closely at the spelling and you will discover you were right. It is about tea, so let’s jump into the “session”.
Let me correct myself right up front before the tea experts get their tea leaves all twisted, technically this is a tisane, because it doesn’t come from the Camellia sinensis plant, rather from the inner bark of a beautiful tree.
A Bit of History
Lapacho (aka Pau d’Arco or Taheebo), (Handroanthus impetiginosus), previously the tabuia genus. It hails from the Amazonian rainforest, and other parts of South America, from northern Mexico to northern Argentina.
It has been used for over 1,000 years in traditional medicine by indigenous groups like the Kallawaya and Inca’s. Historically, it was used as a medicinal tea to treat fevers, infections, and stomach ailments. Within the South American indigenous languages, the name is often associated with the bark often called "Gift of the Gods".
What Parts are Used Today
This tree usually will reach a height of 125ft and has beautiful pink or magenta colored flowers. Although the flowers and leaves can be used for tea, primarily it is the inner bark that’s used, much of the same way it has been for years.
Potential Health Benefits of the Inner Bark
Cancer anyone? Research shows that there is a compound called beta-Lapachone in the tea that shows promise in being added to cancer chemotherapy. Additionally, if you have pain associated with cancer, and/or arthritis this tea may significantly reduce or eliminate it.
Candida a problem? The antioxidant’s in this tea, beat back those free little radicals in assisting the body in fighting the candida.
Do you have inflammation in your body and joints, this little champion may help reduce or eliminate it.
Got a literal hole in your gut? The studies were on rats, but when provided extract from this bark it created a mucus layer that didn’t let the ulcers”roll the stone away” and brought healing to the lining of the rats stomach… we could only conclude it may have the same benefits for humans.
Viral or fungal problems? The same compound mentioned above may have the ability to smack down the enzymes in virus cells, which directly affects the synthesis of DNA and RNA. In other words, the virus is “neutered and unable to reproduce cells making it an excellent anti-viral and anti-fungal fighter. For skin infections you can also pour some of the tea water in a separate container and apply topically to skin infections.
Dinner not seeming to go anywhere? Do you have that full, got a rock in my gut feeling… or maybe you just need to detoxify in general… well this tea has an excellent laxative effect, and will loosen things up real nice so you can feel confident leaving the house again… that is unless you indulge in too much… uh, I think you get it… Additionally, it is an excellent detoxifier and may assist in ridding your body of many unwanted toxins, even residue from chemotherapy.
How Do I Make It
I like to make this one in a pan, as it makes a nice potent brew that I can the bottle and take to work to sip on throughout the day… not chug, but sip… If I’m making a warm cup in the evening, I will lighten it up a bit and sip only one cup.
Put 1 teaspoon of bark into 2 cups of boiling water.
Let the bark sit in the boiling water for 20 minutes.
Remove heat and let the tea cool for at least 1 hour.
Strain the water into a 16oz glass bottle and sip slowly throughout the day. Usually at the end of an 8 hour day I will finish it.
**** For an evening cuppa, I will use a cup strainer, put 1tsp of bark in the strainer, pour boiling water over and steep for 5-10min. Set the strainer out, and sip on it until finished.***
Conclusion
This is a wonderful tea, with many amazing benefits. I mainly use it for its ability to detoxify and drink a hot cup or two a month, or 1-2 bottles of it a month throughout the day. It is a powerful herbal drink, so as always you should consult with a health professional if you are pregnant or have any existing conditions.
Until next time my friends,
Raj