The Amazon rainforest, the largest rainforest on earth, is richer in plant life than any other place in the world. Targeted by pharmaceutical companies for over a century as a land of exploration for source materials of new drugs, the Amazon rainforest is also a treasure trove of botanicals for the herbal supplement industry. Among the many Amazon botanicals which have come to light in recent years, Una de Gato (Uncariatomentosa ), which means “cat’s claw” in Spanish, is one of the most promising of all. A woody vine, the plant earns its name cat’s claw due to a preponderance of sharp, claw-like thorns. Dispersed throughout Central and South America, Una de Gato has been used for centuries by numerous native tribes.

Una de Gato is described by Dr. James Duke in his Amazonian Ethnobotanical Dictionary as a plant used widely in Peru for anti-inflammatory, contraceptive and cytostatic (retards tumor cells) purposes. In popular literature, Una de gato is additionally touted as an immune stimulant, and a large number of studies do in fact show that Una de Gato offers significant anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing benefits, and that constituents in the vine may help to inhibit tumor cell formation.

Una de Gatohas been known for a long time due to the explorations of Voctorian era explorers. But the plant gained the attention of the European scientific community in the early 1970’s when Austrian Klaus Keplinger heard of a remarkable cancer cure attributed to the use of the plant. Keplinger spent time in the Peruvian Chanchamayo region of the Amazon, and familiarized himself enough with the plant that he became one of the most important scientific authors on its uses. Since that time, researchers have plumbed Una de Gato’s chemical secrets, in search of what might account for its purported healing benefits. Analysis shows that Una de Gato contains at least five alkaloids, and two other important groups of compounds, quinovic acid glycosides and triterpenoidsaponins. In addition, the plant contains antioxidant polyphenols.
Studies conducted in vitro with Una de Gato show that constituents in the plant possess anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, antiviral and immune-stimulating properties. The alkaloids in Una de Gato demonstrate immune-enhancing activity by producing an increase in phagocytosis, a process by which potentially harmful materials are “eaten” by protective cells.  In studies of quinovic acid glycosides in the plant, researchers observed significant anti-inflammatory activity. Additionally, these same compounds were shown to inhibit several types of common viruses. In studying triterpenoidsaponins, scientists observed that these chemical agents inhibited the growth of some tumor cells.

Good science provides assurance of herbal efficacy to today’s modern, medically-oriented market. Well-conducted scientific studies appear to validate several of the traditional uses of Una de Gato. The plant appears to be safe and non-toxic, and is useful in cases of inflammation, compromised immunity, and viral infection. It is a significant aid to relief in cases of both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis. With further research, the plant may eventually play a broader role in a complementary approach to the prevention and treatment of certain types of cancer. Tribal people in the Amazon would no doubt be amused by scientific inquiries into Una de Gato. After all, they’ve known for centuries that the woody vine with the sharp, claw-like thorns is a healer.

Looking for Una de Gato products – I have become acquainted with various Una de Gato products, and recommend two if you are going to use this medicinal plant. One is Saventaro, a product made in Austria from Una de Gato harvested in Peru. Saventaro is an encapsulated product, available in natural food stores.  Raintree Nutrition, on the other hand, offers a fluid extract of Una de Gato, also from the Amazon rainforest. This fast-acting fluid has a woody taste and is available from Rain-tree.com.

Pick of the week:  I have previously written about ginger, and this widely used plant will crop up repeatedly, due to its broad uses. In any case, not everybody is willing to shred or grate their own ginger. With that in mind, a company called Ginger People makes a Minced Ginger in a jar. You just scoop a spoon full of this finely ground fresh ginger into whatever you’re cooking, and you can easily and quickly derive the benefits of ginger.The zippy taste, combined with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, make this herb a healthy powerhouse. I’d still recommend grating your own, but convenience is king these days, and this minced ginger product delivers that. Thanks to innovation, many herbs that used to be time-consuming to prepare are now ready to use in bottles and jars. It’s a whole new world of herbalism.

Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide.  His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com

The first time I ever tried acai (pron: ah-sah-yee) in 1997, the fruit was served to me as a thick drink by an Ipixuna Indian woman, when I was living on the Amazon river for a month.  Acai, Euterpe oleracea, was as deep purple as any food I had ever seen.  In fact, a spill stained a favorite t-shirt of mine forever.  I loved the rich flavor of acai, and the energy it imparted, and consumed as much as I could during the course of my time on the river. When I left Brazil that time, I lamented that I’d probably never be able to obtain acai back home.  Times have changed, and this delicious fruit is now widely available, from Whole Foods to up-market grocery stores.

A so-called “super-berry” that grows on palms trees in the Amazon, acai is a staple food throughout Amazonia, and that status owes directly to its marvelous flavor.  Acai explodes with flavor, and gets better with every mouthful. Rich in the potent purple pigments called anthocyanins, acai has a higher antioxidant activity rating than bilberries or blueberries, and is rich in beneficial dietary fibers.  A glass of blended acai fruit, with just a slight touch of energizing guarana and certified organic sugar, imparts so much energy, you’ll want to dance and yodel while climbing a mountain at the same time.  No wonder endurance cyclists and ball players have taken to this fruit. Surfers, skateboarders, X-gamers and outdoor enthusiasts speak of acai with reverence.

The berry craze is on full throttle now, and purveyors of each berry, from blueberries to blackberries, black currants and elderberries, have positioned their berry as the ultimate.  All of these berries are rich in the purple antioxidant pigments called anthocyanins, and all impart both antioxidant protection to cells, and anti-inflammatory activity as well.  As far as I am concerned, they are all extraordinary foods, and are valuable in any person’s diet. I just happen to favor acai most of all, because I love the flavor and the fact that the acai trade is helping to reduce deforestation in some parts of the Amazon. .

Forest Preservation – Fast-forward years later, once more in the Brazilian rainforest, this time in the company of Ryan Black, founder of Sambazon Acai.  We are watching several hard-working Brazilians climb tall acai palms rapidly, cut branches laden with ripe purple acai berries, and strip the berries into baskets, readying them for processing. “Our wildharvesting system was developed in conjunction with the Forest Sustainability Council,” Ryan explains. “We’ve taught people how to wildharvestacai, and protect the forest at the same time.” Through ecologically sound agro-forestry management practices, Sambazon has established a top-notch conservation program that protects the Amazon rainforest and minimizes habitat loss.  On top of that, they’ve implemented a fair wage system that provides higher than average wages to over ten thousand familiesin Brazil’s Amapa state. Sambazon has won praise and support from World Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy and Greenpeace. As far as Ryan is concerned, it’s all just a reasonable and fair way to operate a business. “Might as well do it right if you’re going to do it,” he comments.

Harvested from August through December in the hot, humid Amazon rainforest, acai is a high labor fruit. I watch the remarkable climbing skills of the harvesters, and realize with some sadness that I could never climb trees like that, let alone do it every day.

Traditional acai -We are invited into a large wooden house with open windows and about a dozen children crowding around us, to watch a woman prepare acai the traditional way. In this house, the preparation is all performed by hand.  The woman hand grinds the berries through fiber mats, until the juice and fine pulp drip into a container underneath. After laboring on our behalf for more than half an hour, she serves us acai. Several of us spoon the rich berry preparation into our mouths, and laugh at our good fortune until tears form in our eyes. “Now this is how to eat acai,” Ryan declares. Truth is, unless you make a pilgrimage to the Brazilian Amazon, your best acai bet will be freezer packs or smoothies found in natural food stores.

Acai diets – Just a quick word about the acai diets that everybody has been spammed over.  Useless.  Acai is not a diet miracle. It is a wonderful, amazing-tasting, highly beneficial fruit that gives you energy and makes you feel good. But don’t be bilked by companies that want you to believe it’s the key to slimming. It isn’t.

There’s really no need to try to make something more than it is. In the case of acai, this is a superior, nutrient-rich fruit with tremendous antioxidant value. It offers great flavor, and makes you feel good. The harvesting of acai provides a living to a lot of people, and helps to preserve some of the Amazon rainforest. In my mind, that’s more than enough.

Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide.  His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com

I looked at that photograph and thought about how the sighting of that aircraft must have played in the psyches of the previously ‘uncontacted’ tribal members on the ground.  The first response was, clearly, fear and a corresponding commitment to protect themselves by force.  That’s an understandable reaction when the unknown presents itself as a flying machine disturbing the peace of the Amazonian sky.

It speaks to the inherent capacity of man to join together, create a community and protect it.  It shows the inherent bravery at the core of every great people—whether numbering 250 million or a thousand.  It means that we are related in our souls even to the most “primitive” men and women, because the highest attributes we possess are not expressed in the machines we create or the buildings we build, but the relationships we forge, the value we place on our “villages,” and the courage we can summon in the face of adversity.

Perhaps the villagers will prepare for war.  Perhaps they will pray for peace or for strength.  Perhaps a sense of wonder and possibility will mingle with their raw determination to survive.  Perhaps that hope for something miraculous from the sky will overtake their fears.  I pray that they will not interpret the machine in the sky as the beginning of Armageddon, as the final chapter of their existence—but we know that communities much closer to home have needlessly seen the end looming near.

I imagine they will hold their children closer or kiss them in their sleep or prepare for them an oral or written history of the great event that took place in their lives before they were old enough to record their own life stories.  Maybe those who rushed outside at the sound and then sight of the aircraft above will be remembered for generations to come as heroes.

The truth is we could share gifts with these Amazonian people.  We have learned so much about maintaining our health, journeying to frontiers of scientific and technical knowledge previously unthinkable, and expanding the range of human possibility in communication and travel. 

Yet we also should be careful to note—for them and for us—that some of our achievements have transported too many of us away from our connections with ourselves and one another, away from our connections to nature and away from our connections to God.  And reminders of these invaluable assets, inherent to man, may be among the gifts these Amazonian people can offer us.

Late tonight, when I arrive home to my family after a short trip, I will kiss my wife and son and daughter in their sleep and remind myself—in honor of the “uncontacted” men and women and children in the rainforest—that human beings are much more alike than different in what we need and what we can give, and often more afraid than we need to be.

Dr. Ablow is a FOX News psychiatry correspondent. Visit his Web site at www.livingthetruth.com.