Rio Health Lapacho (Pau d'Arco)

Of all the herbs used by the ancient Incas, lapacho was one of the mainstays.

Also called pau d'arco, ipe roxo or taheebo, lapacho is a rainforest medicine made from the inner bark of the large native South American tree known as tabebuia.

"In many parts of the world, physicians are recognizing it as an aid to patients with immune deficiency illnesses. For ME, chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein-Barr and Tired All The Time Syndrome, lapacho can be a great aid to recovery due to its positive effects on the immune system." Michael van Straten

Throughout South America, indigenous tribes have drunk tea made from the shredded inner bark to boost the effectiveness of the body's own immune defence mechanisms. They have also used this traditional remedy for centuries in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, infections and some form of cancer.

Rainforest Indians have always valued lapacho as a powerful medicine for strengthening immunity and to protect them against gut parasites. Caribbean folk healers use the leaf of this tree in addition to the bark for the treatment of backache, toothache, sexually transmitted diseases, and as an aphrodisiac.

Ghandi took a cup of lapacho tea each morning throughout his life. The tea has an interesting flavour, part woody, part flowery, and is delicious hot or cold.

Active constituents: Lapachol and beta-lapachone (known collectively as naphthaquinones) are two primary active compounds in lapacho. According to laboratory tests, both have antifungal properties as potent or more so than ketaconazole, a common antifungal drug.^* Although these compounds also have anticancer properties, the effective dosage for this effect is toxic. Therefore, lapacho cannot currently be recommended as a treatment for cancer.

*Guiraud P, Steiman R, Campos-Takaki GM, et al. Comparison of antibacterial and antifungal activities of lapachol and beta-lapachone. Planta Med 1994;60:373-4.

Recommended Use:

See labels for instructions. The capsules and elixir will be more powerful than the tea.

Do not use if pregnant or breast-feeding.

The herbal preparations in the Rio Range have been sourced and prepared to the highest standards, and are manufactured in facilities licensed for pharmaceutical use. They contain the finest quality ingredients, tested at source for purity and active levels.

Rio Health has specialized in the herbs of the Amazon Rainforest for over fifteen years. By far the greatest concentration of plant species on the planet is to be found in the Amazon basin.

It is estimated that over 80% of the earth's bio-diversity is located in this amazing profusion. Amongst this huge biomass there are thought to be many plant species with therapeutic possibilities.

Although from the air the jungle canopy may look like a wild diverse confusion, there are signs that hand the hand of man may once, thousands of years ago, have been involved in the selection and planting of species. Some food plants, for instance, not native to the Amazon basin, appear along clearly defined routes stretching hundreds of miles, as if they had been sketched to support travellers. So do some of the known medicinal plants. In the intervening centuries the pathways of this vast herb garden have become overgrown and unclear, but head westward from Manaus, along an ancient route may bring to light some very special new plant by the wayside.

Herbs
For thousands of years, herbs have been used to help maintain many aspects of health and wellness. Today, research and technology are bringing herbalism into the modern age – with improved extraction, standardization, and farming methods. Clinical studies are beginning to validate herbal therapies, so even some in the medical community are starting to accept them.