Cats Claw
UNA DE GATO (Cat’s Claw)
Latin name: uncario tomentosa, or uncaria guianensis
Plant family: rubiaceae
Parts used: bark, which covers the vine
Found: Peruvian rainforest, upper jungle region
Harvest: after two years the bark is stripped from the vines
Constituents: alkaloids, glycosides, quinovicos, triterpines, polyoxygenates, esteroids
Medical group: alternative, anthelmic, antilithic, antiphlogistic, antirheumatic, antiscrofulous, astringent, antitoxidant, antimutagenic, antiinflammatory, antiviral, bitter, cardiac stimulant, discutient, diuretic, expectorant, pectoral, resolvent, stimulant, tonic
From an article written by Dr Lida Obregen Vilches. Director of the institute of Phytotherapy in Lima, dedicated to the research of native Latin American plants.
Specifications and Scientific Differences regarding ‘Una de Gato’.
One of the most popular medicinal plants in Peru is Una de Gaato (Cat’s Claw) the main species are Uncaria Tomentosa (Willd.)DC & Uncaria Guianensis (Aubl.)Gmel. The abbreviations in brackets refer to the scientists who researched each. In 1797 Uncaria Tometosa was known as Nauclea Aculeata HBK and in 1775 Uncaria Guianensis was known as Ourouparia Guianensis so they are botanical species identified and known for quite some time, even though it is unknown how long before it is since they have been used as a medicinal plant by ethnic groups in the Amazon (Campas, Ashaninkas, Amueshas, among others) the plants are creepers and climbers that could reach 30 metres long and 25 metres height. The name Una de Gato is a generic term referring to around fifty varieties of gigantic rubiaceous Uncaria creepers/climbers with big thorns or prickles. Widely used to protect fencing, out of all varieties only one: Tomentosa has proved curative properties. When you cut across a fresh tree, a clear liquid emerges, natives drink this liquid to ‘take away tiredness and hunger’ even though it leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Tomentosa has been studied in Austria’s University of Graz by a botanist Dr. Tepnerr and by a chemist Dr. Wagner of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology of the University of Munich. The plant has different chemical structures which the following active principles or agents are identified: 6 alkaloids oxydonlicites, 6 glycosides from ‘quinovic’ acid, 3 ‘triterpines polyoxigenates. It is from these studies that evidence has been found that these properties present in ‘Tomentosa’ act as a stimulant to the immune system, also antioxidant, antivirus and antimutagenic. Right now both Uncarias Tomentosa and Guinensis are subject to indiscriminate extraction for commercial reasons given its newly found fame. The reader should bear in mind that only Tormentosa has been studied in detail but the physical similarities with Guinensis makes for a common confusion between both of them, indeed it is with all 50 varieties known as ‘Una de Gato’ that it is common to mistake Tomentosa with the other varieties which do not have the medical claim or research.
The vine ‘cat’s claw’ is receiving renewed interest, thanks to the work of Arthur Brell and Oscar Schueler both German scientists. The plants application in traditional medicine goes a long way back. The Pre-Columbian Peruvians considered it magical and energizing. In modern Peru the peasants and the poorer sectors drink it in the form of a tea brewed, from the bark that covers the vine to cure rheumatoid diseases and tumours.
Recent studies carried out in Europe, the USA and Peru have shown that its amazing therapeutic power comes from the alkaloid and acid components. The plant’s cytostatic action apparently enables it to suppress cancerous cells. At the same time, the increase in its phagocytotic action turns it into a powerful immunological stimulant and possibly a new weapon against AIDS. Trade until a few years back was limited to a few street herb merchants, consumers were superstitious and unaware.
Now it is sold in many forms, crushed into a fine powder and encapsulated, or reduced to a highly concentrated extract in pills, it is an industrially packaged product. There are presently more than 30 brands available locally and its export is increasing there are 10 brands available in the USA. Manufacturers compete for market shares on TV and claim that their product is the only genuine one.
Since the Peruvians plant quinine came on the scene in the 17th century, no other medicinal plant has caused quite the stir Una de Gato is having now. Several notables from Peru have appeared on TV and told of their cure achieved by the herb, one of prostate cancer, another person told of his cure and complete recovery of several malignant tumours in his lungs and brain after taking freeze dried Uncaria pills.
Una de Gato has been used for centuries by several Amazonian tribes. However the first scientific studies and the medicine’s application against immunological system complaints and serious inflammations were thanks to a German pioneer, who married and started a family in Peru, and who lived for half a century in the jungle region of Chancamayo. His name was Arthur Brell. He was born in 1904 and studied Natural Sciences in Munich. He dreamt of the exotic Americas of the Aztecs and Incas. In 1926 he had a chance meeting with a cleric called ‘Schaffer’, who was at the time working as a leader and priest in Pozuzo with a group of German colonists. He suggested to ‘Brell’ that he should make a trip to Peru and set up a school with the aim of teaching the region’s natives the ways of the Western world. This was like a dream come true for Brell who set off immediately. Within three years he became a prosperous coffee grower in Chancamayo. It was there whilst living side by side with the Campa and Amuesha Indians, that he was able to learn their tribal customs.
He noticed that the locals, who despite the fact that they cooked their food on charcoal which fumes if inhaled are carcinogenic due to their tar content, were somehow never troubled by cancer. He started researching and found their systems to be very powerfully resistant to pathogen. ‘Brell’ had already obtained the extract of Uncaria, and managed to eliminate his own long standing rheumatic complaint. He noticed that his complexion improved and his hair which had been receding began to grow rapidly whilst the grey disappeared. He was very pleased.
A friend and colleague appeared on the scene, Oscar Schuler, whose father had a battle with a serious case of terminal lung cancer, decided to consult Brell. To the great surprise of the doctors who had been treating him, after two years of using the Uncaria preparation made from the miraculous plant, the sick man made a full recovery until the day he died from other causes aged 88. He went about working in the tropical sawmill in Villa Rica and he even occasionally smoked cigarettes made from the herb. In August 1974 he wrote a letter to ‘Brell’ saying ‘if it had not been for your treatment and the herbal extracts, I would not be alive today, 4 years after being diagnosed with terminal illness by the doctors.’
After Brell’s death in 1978 research became erratic and was often left aside. Luckily in 1990 a large agricultural firm began sponsoring research again, and established contact with Peruvian and foreign scientists dedicated to explore the medicinal miracle of Uncaria. And in 1995, Oscar Schuler together with a pharmaceutical company joined to produce Una de Gato. Now to ensure supplies of the highest quality they have formed a consortium with the Ashanikas people an ancient tribe that have cultivated the herb. The Ashanikas are an ethnic group that has for centuries lived in the lower jungle at the start of the Amazon basin. Their territory is in the central part of the Peruvian Amazon region, between the rivers Ene and Perene. Like other Amazonian groups they were converted to Catholicism in the late 19th to 20th century, by missionaries that allowed them to keep most of their traditions including their use of traditional medicine. Then during the 1980s when Peru suffered a terrible internal strife with a murderous terrorist group ‘Shining Path’ they took most of the Ashanikas hostage. They dominated the area for several years and used them as forced labour, slaves in fact, torturing, mistreating and decimating their number.
When the government recovered control in the early part of the 1990s, they found that less than half had survived the ordeal. In order to speed up the recovery of the group they were provided with the means to cultivate Una de Gato, as the herb is originally from their zone, which helps to give them an income. Due to the herb’s newly found popularity and scarcity the real medicinal herb is not easy to find. So the Ashanikas are the first group to have and Una de Gato plantation in the Amazon jungle. They will shortly have available Una de Gato guaranteed to be Uncaria Tormetosa (Willd)DC.
When using the herb for strengthening the immune system, a course of one month at two, 150 mg capsules daily up to four times a year is recommended. If dealing with more serious conditions between 3 to 5 grammes should be taken initially daily, after the dose can be lowered when improvement is found and continued for several months.
Latin name: uncario tomentosa, or uncaria guianensis
Plant family: rubiaceae
Parts used: bark, which covers the vine
Found: Peruvian rainforest, upper jungle region
Harvest: after two years the bark is stripped from the vines
Constituents: alkaloids, glycosides, quinovicos, triterpines, polyoxygenates, esteroids
Medical group: alternative, anthelmic, antilithic, antiphlogistic, antirheumatic, antiscrofulous, astringent, antitoxidant, antimutagenic, antiinflammatory, antiviral, bitter, cardiac stimulant, discutient, diuretic, expectorant, pectoral, resolvent, stimulant, tonic
From an article written by Dr Lida Obregen Vilches. Director of the institute of Phytotherapy in Lima, dedicated to the research of native Latin American plants.
Specifications and Scientific Differences regarding ‘Una de Gato’.
One of the most popular medicinal plants in Peru is Una de Gaato (Cat’s Claw) the main species are Uncaria Tomentosa (Willd.)DC & Uncaria Guianensis (Aubl.)Gmel. The abbreviations in brackets refer to the scientists who researched each. In 1797 Uncaria Tometosa was known as Nauclea Aculeata HBK and in 1775 Uncaria Guianensis was known as Ourouparia Guianensis so they are botanical species identified and known for quite some time, even though it is unknown how long before it is since they have been used as a medicinal plant by ethnic groups in the Amazon (Campas, Ashaninkas, Amueshas, among others) the plants are creepers and climbers that could reach 30 metres long and 25 metres height. The name Una de Gato is a generic term referring to around fifty varieties of gigantic rubiaceous Uncaria creepers/climbers with big thorns or prickles. Widely used to protect fencing, out of all varieties only one: Tomentosa has proved curative properties. When you cut across a fresh tree, a clear liquid emerges, natives drink this liquid to ‘take away tiredness and hunger’ even though it leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Tomentosa has been studied in Austria’s University of Graz by a botanist Dr. Tepnerr and by a chemist Dr. Wagner of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology of the University of Munich. The plant has different chemical structures which the following active principles or agents are identified: 6 alkaloids oxydonlicites, 6 glycosides from ‘quinovic’ acid, 3 ‘triterpines polyoxigenates. It is from these studies that evidence has been found that these properties present in ‘Tomentosa’ act as a stimulant to the immune system, also antioxidant, antivirus and antimutagenic. Right now both Uncarias Tomentosa and Guinensis are subject to indiscriminate extraction for commercial reasons given its newly found fame. The reader should bear in mind that only Tormentosa has been studied in detail but the physical similarities with Guinensis makes for a common confusion between both of them, indeed it is with all 50 varieties known as ‘Una de Gato’ that it is common to mistake Tomentosa with the other varieties which do not have the medical claim or research.
The vine ‘cat’s claw’ is receiving renewed interest, thanks to the work of Arthur Brell and Oscar Schueler both German scientists. The plants application in traditional medicine goes a long way back. The Pre-Columbian Peruvians considered it magical and energizing. In modern Peru the peasants and the poorer sectors drink it in the form of a tea brewed, from the bark that covers the vine to cure rheumatoid diseases and tumours.
Recent studies carried out in Europe, the USA and Peru have shown that its amazing therapeutic power comes from the alkaloid and acid components. The plant’s cytostatic action apparently enables it to suppress cancerous cells. At the same time, the increase in its phagocytotic action turns it into a powerful immunological stimulant and possibly a new weapon against AIDS. Trade until a few years back was limited to a few street herb merchants, consumers were superstitious and unaware.
Now it is sold in many forms, crushed into a fine powder and encapsulated, or reduced to a highly concentrated extract in pills, it is an industrially packaged product. There are presently more than 30 brands available locally and its export is increasing there are 10 brands available in the USA. Manufacturers compete for market shares on TV and claim that their product is the only genuine one.
Since the Peruvians plant quinine came on the scene in the 17th century, no other medicinal plant has caused quite the stir Una de Gato is having now. Several notables from Peru have appeared on TV and told of their cure achieved by the herb, one of prostate cancer, another person told of his cure and complete recovery of several malignant tumours in his lungs and brain after taking freeze dried Uncaria pills.
Una de Gato has been used for centuries by several Amazonian tribes. However the first scientific studies and the medicine’s application against immunological system complaints and serious inflammations were thanks to a German pioneer, who married and started a family in Peru, and who lived for half a century in the jungle region of Chancamayo. His name was Arthur Brell. He was born in 1904 and studied Natural Sciences in Munich. He dreamt of the exotic Americas of the Aztecs and Incas. In 1926 he had a chance meeting with a cleric called ‘Schaffer’, who was at the time working as a leader and priest in Pozuzo with a group of German colonists. He suggested to ‘Brell’ that he should make a trip to Peru and set up a school with the aim of teaching the region’s natives the ways of the Western world. This was like a dream come true for Brell who set off immediately. Within three years he became a prosperous coffee grower in Chancamayo. It was there whilst living side by side with the Campa and Amuesha Indians, that he was able to learn their tribal customs.
He noticed that the locals, who despite the fact that they cooked their food on charcoal which fumes if inhaled are carcinogenic due to their tar content, were somehow never troubled by cancer. He started researching and found their systems to be very powerfully resistant to pathogen. ‘Brell’ had already obtained the extract of Uncaria, and managed to eliminate his own long standing rheumatic complaint. He noticed that his complexion improved and his hair which had been receding began to grow rapidly whilst the grey disappeared. He was very pleased.
A friend and colleague appeared on the scene, Oscar Schuler, whose father had a battle with a serious case of terminal lung cancer, decided to consult Brell. To the great surprise of the doctors who had been treating him, after two years of using the Uncaria preparation made from the miraculous plant, the sick man made a full recovery until the day he died from other causes aged 88. He went about working in the tropical sawmill in Villa Rica and he even occasionally smoked cigarettes made from the herb. In August 1974 he wrote a letter to ‘Brell’ saying ‘if it had not been for your treatment and the herbal extracts, I would not be alive today, 4 years after being diagnosed with terminal illness by the doctors.’
After Brell’s death in 1978 research became erratic and was often left aside. Luckily in 1990 a large agricultural firm began sponsoring research again, and established contact with Peruvian and foreign scientists dedicated to explore the medicinal miracle of Uncaria. And in 1995, Oscar Schuler together with a pharmaceutical company joined to produce Una de Gato. Now to ensure supplies of the highest quality they have formed a consortium with the Ashanikas people an ancient tribe that have cultivated the herb. The Ashanikas are an ethnic group that has for centuries lived in the lower jungle at the start of the Amazon basin. Their territory is in the central part of the Peruvian Amazon region, between the rivers Ene and Perene. Like other Amazonian groups they were converted to Catholicism in the late 19th to 20th century, by missionaries that allowed them to keep most of their traditions including their use of traditional medicine. Then during the 1980s when Peru suffered a terrible internal strife with a murderous terrorist group ‘Shining Path’ they took most of the Ashanikas hostage. They dominated the area for several years and used them as forced labour, slaves in fact, torturing, mistreating and decimating their number.
When the government recovered control in the early part of the 1990s, they found that less than half had survived the ordeal. In order to speed up the recovery of the group they were provided with the means to cultivate Una de Gato, as the herb is originally from their zone, which helps to give them an income. Due to the herb’s newly found popularity and scarcity the real medicinal herb is not easy to find. So the Ashanikas are the first group to have and Una de Gato plantation in the Amazon jungle. They will shortly have available Una de Gato guaranteed to be Uncaria Tormetosa (Willd)DC.
When using the herb for strengthening the immune system, a course of one month at two, 150 mg capsules daily up to four times a year is recommended. If dealing with more serious conditions between 3 to 5 grammes should be taken initially daily, after the dose can be lowered when improvement is found and continued for several months.