Pau d' Arco
The Incas (of Peru), over a thousand years ago, discovered a pink-flowered tree. The inner bark of this tree was discovered to be indispensible for treating many conditions:
- Fever
- Sore throat
- Dysentery
- Snake Bite
- Bladder and Yeast infections
- Even cancer
What is this miracle bark? It's called Pau d'arco (pow-DAR-co). The actual meaning of the word is "bow stick", which refers to various trees of the Tabebuia family that can be found growing in the mountains of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru.
More recently, Brazilian researchers studied and did confirm that the ancient Pau d' arco is indeed anti-bacterial naturally. Even more recent studies confirm:
- In Rio de Janeiro a study was conducted at the University and confirmed that pau d' arco does help treat Staphylococcus aureus infections, even when it resists antibiotics.
- The Seoul National University conducted a study that suggests pao d' arco is active against human intestinal bacteria that cause food poisening.
- The National Academy of Sciences confirmed that pau d' arco contains anti-inflammatory properties as well as anti-viral activity, including against herpes I and II.
-
The British Journal of Phytotherapy states that pau d' arco is especially effective against Candida Albicans, the fungus that causes vaginal yeast infections. Dutch herbalist Edward Oswald suggests soaking a tampon in a strong pau d' arco tea while also taking the herb orally. Candida Clear by Vitabase contains sufficient Pau d'Arco that kills yeast by increasing oxygen to cells.
There are also studies being done to see how pau d' arco can treat leukemia and other cancers, but the National Cancer Institute halted their research so pau d' arco is some time away from being used to treat cancer, but the Incas may have been on the right track.
