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What is it?

The pleasant smelling and tasting leaves and stems of Damiana, a long-lived shrub that grows up to about 2 meters in height and favours hot and humid parts of the world (it is native to Central America).

How has it been used?

The Latin name 'aphrodisiaca' gives away its main traditional use. Damiana has been considered to be a potent sexual tonic for many centuries. It is thought to mimic the action of testosterone and to “provide a generally stimulating and enhancing influence on those functions that relate to the reproductive system, especially in the male” (Simon Mills).

Damiana also has a reputation as being a tonic for the nervous system, particularly of benefit when people are tired or depressed.

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Personal experiences

Damiana is an invigorating and uplifting herb but I think of it much more as a tonic than an aphrodisiac and often use it as part of a formula for people who are run-down and low in energy.

I use Damiana in both tea and tincture form. At least some of the active ingredients that make Damiana work come from the essential oils that create its distinctive and intriguing smell. You can tell if you have good quality Damiana simply by smelling it For a tea, one tsp of Damiana to one cup of hot water is plenty. This is not a herb that works better by taking more of it. For a tincture I would use around 3 or 4 mls a day.

Damiana combines very well with Panax Ginseng and Withania for its tonic effects which, if given time to work, may very well improve wellbeing to the extent that the libido is noticeably improved.

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Excerpt from Felter & Lloyd's Kings Dispensatory from 1898

Damiana has been eulogized for its positive aphrodisiac effects, acting energetically upon the genito-urinary organs of both sexes removing impotence in the one, and frigidity in the other, whether due to abuses or age. Many physicians who have tried it, deny its possession of such virtues, but the friends of the drug attribute their failures to the use of the spurious articles. It will very likely be found to possess laxative, tonic, and diuretic properties only; and the aphrodisiac effects following its use, no more prove that these belong to it, than the same effects, that not unfrequently appear after the employment of many other agents prove that such agents possess similar excitant virtues. Upon the system at large, it exerts a tonic influence, and is useful in some cases of chronic cystic and renal catarrh. It relieves irritation of the urinary mucous membranes, improves digestion, and overcomes constipation in some instances. In respiratory disorders, it may be employed to relieve irritation and cough, and, by its tonic properties to relieve excess secretions.

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