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What is it?

The part used in herbal medicine is the reddish/purple splintered inner bark that has a strong, intense woody flavour when brewed into a decoction or taken as a tincture. Pau D’arco or Taheebo are some of the common names for a tree that grows at high altitude in the Andes of the South American rainforest.

How has it been used?

Pau D’arco was used as one of the main medicines of the Incas for at least a thousand years. From their tradition, the Callawaya tribe still extensively uses the herb to this day. It is also still widely used in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and has developed considerable popularity further afield in recent years.

The historical use of Pau D’arco strongly revolves around its ability to treat external skin infections, illnesses and wounds. Pau D’arco has been shown to have potent antimicrobial and antifungal actions and these would have made it extremely valuable in the tropical setting where any kind of bite or scratch can very quickly become infected and septic.

Pau D’arco’s use as an internal medicine is steeped in mythology and folk-lore. It has been historically regarded that it has the power to cure or prevent cancer as well as work for other such serious conditions as snake-bites, leprosy, syphilis, dysentery, diarrhoea and fevers.

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Personal experiences

I am confident that Pau D’arco really is a powerful and potent medicine but sadly I have a problem with Pau D’arco in that I think it is very hard for most people to take very much of it for any length of time. If you grew up familiar with the taste, or if you were sick enough that you would take anything, then I think it could be a different story but for most people this is a herb that can pose some real issues with compliance.

When I look at the literature on Pau D’arco I can see that the traditional dose used by Indian doctors was very high, around 20grams in a litre of water a day. This is probably the kind of level required but it would be just too challenging for many people. Partly because of the taste and also, as shown by studies from the U.S national cancer institute, Pau D’arco may indeed prevent, delay or treat cancer but the oral doses needed to reach useful levels in the blood can cause side effects such as anaemia, diarrhoea, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

It may be that Pau D’arco really is a genuine medicine that can assist with the great fight against cancer but I would be very cautious before trusting in capsules of Pau D’arco that bypassed the traditional method of boiling up a big handful of it on a daily basis. It takes a lot of capsules to reach 20grams.

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How I use it

I currently use Pau D’arco as a tea for external use when needed. For example I think it can be particularly effective against the candida organism as it contains three potent anti-fungal ingredients identified as; lapachol, beta-lapachone and xyloidine. Chronic skin infections or sores that are not healing are definitely good reasons to consider trying a course of Pau D’arco. To make it you have to boil the bark for a good 10-15 minutes to extract the active ingredients. After straining off the tea you then have to get it in contact with the affected areas. A douche would be the way to go for an internal thrush infection. Soaking a cloth in the tea and placing it on the skin as a compress will work and likewise simply soaking a hand or foot in the cooled tea can be very effective if those are the areas that need treatment.

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Historical notes

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