MIRACULOUS AMAZONIAN PLANT
Recommended use: CAT’S CLAW (UÑA DE GATO) is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory and a good help in the treatment of certain types of cancer, because its action stimulates the immunologic system, increasing the white corpuscles (leucocytes) production blocking the disease advance.
Also recommended to fight arthritic and rheumatic affections, articulation and osteomuscular pains. It is an immune stimulant, antimutagenic, and antioxidant.

CAT´S CLAW has showed to be effective in the treatment of tumors, gastritis and some epidemic diseases. The isolation of two important alkaloids (Pteropodina and isopteropodina aloisomeriaca) showed together a good cytostatic effect in the immunology process. Consequently they act as anti-inflammatory and allow the use of known cytostatic drugs.

Product description: CAT’S CLAW is one of Peru’s most important medicinal plants.
It grows wild in the highlands of the Amazon rainforest. In the 1º International Congress on this species, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), it was pointed out that no other rainforest plant has ever prompted such worldwide attention since quinine was discovered in the bark of a Peruvian tree in the 17th century.

Peruvian natives of the Amazonian forest, like the Ashaninkas, Campas and Amueshas, have been used this plant for centuries to heal many diseases. CAT`S CLAW has been the focus of nutritional research in many countries throughout the world and there are a lot of scientific studies that confirm the effects mentioned above.

Several alkaloids, quinovic acid glycosides, triterpenes, sterols and many other phytochemical compounds, generating therapeutic effects, have been identified. The anti-inflammatory effect is related to the quinovic acid’s glycosides while the immuno-stimulant effect is more related to the plant’s alkaloids.
However, scientific studies mainly conclude that the most interesting effect occurs when there is a combination of all active principles, since they have a synergic effect on the organism.

CAT’S CLAW has been even compared with some known synthetic medicines like indomethacine or ibuprofen and the studied cases indicated greater effects from this plant.

A study of doctors Cosimo Pizza, Luciana Riva and Francesco de Simona of the Institute For the Cure of Tumors of the University of Salerno (Italy) indicates that CAT’S CLAW inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells of breast until in a 90%. The study was made in vitro with cells MCF7, the most used in investigations on this type.

Part of the plant used: The bark of Uncaria tomentosa plant is used.

Composition of the plant: The possible anticancer properties are thanks to its following immune stimulant alkaloids: Pteropodina, kopteropodina, speciofilina, uncaria F and iso-mirafilina.

Important: Pregnant or nursing women should not take this product. Do not take directly after surgery or transplant operations. Consult a physician before using this product if you are being treated by some medical condition.

Adverse reactions: They have not been reported.

TRIBAL AND HERBAL MEDICINE USES

Indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest have been using the bark of chuchuhuasi medicinally for centuries. Its Peruvian name, chuchuhuasi, means "trembling back," which refers to its long-standing use for arthritis, rheumatism, and back pain. One local Indian remedy for arthritis and rheumatism calls for one cup of a bark decoction taken three times a day for more than a week.
Local people and villagers along the Amazon believe that chuchuhuasi is an aphrodisiac and tonic, and the bark soaked in the local sugarcane rum (aguardiente) is a popular jungle drink that is even served in bars and to tourists (its often called "go-juice" to relieve pain and muscle aches and to "keep going" during long treks in the rainforest).
Local healers and curanderos in the Amazon use chuchuhuasi as a general tonic, to speed healing and, when combined with other medicinal plants, as a synergist for many types of illnesses. In Colombia, the Siona Indians boil a small piece of the bark (5 cm) in 2 liters of water until 1 liter remains, and drink it for arthritis and rheumatism.
In the Ecuadorian rainforest, the Quijos Quichua Indians prepare a bark decoction for general aches and pains, rheumatism, sore muscles, menstrual pain, and stomachaches.

In the Peruvian Amazon, chuchuhuasi is still considered the best remedy for arthritis among both city and forest dwellers. It is also used as a muscle relaxant, aphrodisiac, and pain-reliever, for adrenal support, as an immune stimulant, and for menstrual balance and regulation.
In Peruvian herbal medicine systems, chuchuhuasi alchohol extracts are used to treat osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bronchitis, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and menstrual irregularities and pain.

PLANT CHEMICALS

Chuchuhausi is a powerhouse of plant chemicals-mostly triterpenes, favonols, and sesquiterpene alkaloids. Two of the more well-known chemicals in chuchuhuasi are mayteine and maytansine - alkaloids long documented (since the 1960s) with antitumor activitity and which occur in other Maytenus plants as well.
While these chemicals are found in chuchuhuasi, they don't occur in high enough amounts to really be therapeutic for cancer however. Another rainforest Maytenus plant, espinheira santa (also featured in this book), is a much better source of these anticancerous chemicals.
Other novel compounds found only in chuchuhuasi thus far include dammarane- and friedelane-type triterpenes, which are considered to be some of the plant's active constituents.

The main plant chemicals found in chuchuhuasi include: agarofuran sesquiterpenes, canophyllol, catechin tannins, dammarane triterpenes, dulcitol, ebenifoline alkaloids, euojaponine alkaloids, friedelan triterpenes, krukovine triterpenes, laevisine alkaloids, macrocarpin triterpenes, maytansine, mayteine, maytenin, mebeverine, phenoldienones, pristimeran, proanthocyanidins, and tingenone (and its derivatives).

BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES AND CLINICAL RESEARCH

Chuchuhuasi's long history of use has fueled much clinical interest in the research community. In the 1960s, an American pharmaceutical company discovered potent immune-stimulating properties of a leaf extract and a bark extract, documenting that it increased phagocytosis (the ability of immune cells to attack bacteria and foreign cells) in mice.
Researchers in 1977 reported that alcohol extracts of the bark evidenced anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities in various studies with mice, which validated chuchuhuasi's traditional uses for arthritic pain. Its anti-inflammatory action again was reported in the 1980s by an Italian research group.
They reported that this activity (in addition to radiation protectant and antitumor properties) were at least partially linked to triterpenes and antioxidant chemicals isolated in the trunk bark.

In 1993, a Japanese research group isolated another group of novel alkaloids in chuchuhuasi that may be responsible for its effectiveness in treating arthritis and rheumatism. In the United States, a pharmaceutical company studying chuchuhuasi's anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic properties determined that these alkaloids can effectively inhibit enzyme production of protein kinase C (PKC).
PKC inhibitors have attracted much interest worldwide, as there is evidence that too much PKC enzyme is involved in a wide variety of disease processes (including arthritis, asthma, brain tumors, cancer, and cardiovascular disease).
A Spanish research team found more new phytochemicals in 1998, one of which was cited as having activity against aldose reductase. (This enzyme is implicated in nerve damage in diabetic patients.)

In the mid-1970s, Italian researchers tested a chuchuhuasi extract against skin cancers and identified its antitumorous properties. They attributed these effects to two chemicals in chuchuhuasi called tingenone and pristimerin.
Three groups found new and different sesquiterpene compounds in 1999, two of which showed marginal antitumor activity against four cell lines, and one of which was documented as effective against leishmaniasis (a tropical parasitic disease).
Other researchers found four more chemicals in the roots of chuchuhuasi (named macrocarpins) in 2000-three of which were documented as cytotoxic to four tumor cell lines.

CURRENT PRACTICAL USES

If the constituents in chuchuhuasi responsible for inhibiting PKC can be synthesized, it is possible that a new arthritis drug will be developed.
In the meantime, the natural bark of this important Amazon rainforest tree will continue to be an effective natural herbal remedy for arthritis, for adrenal support and as an immune tonic as it has been for centuries.
It is best prepared as it has been traditionally: as an alcohol tincture or a decoction. It normally takes about 3-4 days of daily use to get a beneficial effect for arthritic pain, and up to a month or longer of daily use is necessary for adrenal support.

CAMU-CAMU
Camu-camu is a low-growing shrub found throughout the Amazon rainforest, mainly in swampy or flooded areas. It grows to a height of about 2-3 m and has large, feathery leaves. It produces round, light orange-colored fruits about the size of lemons, which contain a significant amount of vitamin C. Its high vitamin C content has created a demand for camu-camu fruit in the natural products market.

TRIBAL AND HERBAL MEDICINE USES
Camu-camu has never been documented as a traditional herbal remedy for any condition in the Amazon region. In fact, it was not widely eaten as a fruit by the indigenous people, due to its sour, acidic taste.
In recent years, the fruits have become popular in Iquitos, Peru, where they are made into drinks and ice creams.

PLANT CHEMICALS
Camu-camu fruit has the highest recorded amount of natural vitamin C known on the planet. Oranges provide 500-4,000 ppm vitamin C, or ascorbic acid; acerola has tested in the range of 16,000 to 172,000 ppm.
Camu-camu provides up to 500,000 ppm, or about 2 grams of vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit. In comparison to oranges, camu-camu provides thirty times more vitamin C, ten times more iron, three times more niacin, twice as much riboflavin, and 50% more phosphorus.
Camu-camu is also a significant source of potassium, providing 711 mg per kg of fruit. It also has a full complement of minerals and amino acids that can aid in the absorption of vitamin C. Alpha-pinene and d-limonene (compounds known as terpenes) predominate as the volatile compounds in this fruit.

As with any vitamin C-rich fruit, however, the time between harvesting and consumption is crucial; the fruit may lose up to a quarter of its vitamin C content in less than a month (even if frozen). Even with this loss, camu-camu still has a dramatic edge over its next challenger, acerola, for vitamin C content.

In addition to the chemicals mentioned above, camu-camu contains beta-carotene, calcium, leucine, protein, serine, thiamin, and valine.

Seed - cooked. It can be toasted and ground into a nutty tasting powder that can be used as a breakfast cereal. It can also be used to make biscuits, mixed with flour it is used to make bread and a hot beverage similar to hot chocolate can also be made from it
Very small, about 1mm in diameter, but abundantly produced. The seed contains little or no saponins and so can be used without pre-treatment. The seed is extremely nutritious, it contains about 16% of a high quality protein (it is notably rich in lysine, isoleucine and tryptophan), almost 60% carbohydrate and 8% fat.