Wildcrafted Chanca Piedra and Your Liver

As it has with so many other herbs and medicinal plants, the Amazon Rain Forest has once again produced another gift in the form of a plant called chanca piedra. The native peoples of the area have used chanca piedra for thousands of years, primarily as a powerful liver cleanser, but researchers in recent times have discovered and documented many other uses for this amazing plant. Relatively obscure to the Western world until the last few decades, chanca piedra is now being used more commonly by herbalists and other natural health care practitioners as well as by informed individuals who have learned of its many benefits.

There is some debate as to the origins of chanca piedra. Some say due to writings from the 18th century, that the plant was originally found in India or in the Philippines, and then transplanted to the New World. However, it is clear that it has been a staple of South American medicinal herbalists for many hundreds of years, and now grows wild from Argentina to the southern United States as well as in tropical zones around the world. Chanca piedra is known by several other names including chamberbitter, breakstone, and leafflower.

When choosing a source of chanca piedra to use as a supplement, it is important to secure wild or "wildcrafted" forms of the plant as they are generally more potent and effective than cultivated plants. This is likely due to the natural genetic characteristics of the plant that have developed over time in the wild.


Why is Chanca Piedra Such Good Medicine?

Chanca piedra (Phyllanthus niruri) has been employed in traditional and herbal medicine for centuries, and it has a long list of uses that until recently have only been supported by folklore. The name chanca piedra means "stone breaker" or "shatterstone" in Spanish, a reference to its ability to treat kidney stones and gallstones. Recently, the scientific community has gained quite an interest in chanca piedra, and several major studies have been done to learn more about what it can do for our health and why it is so beneficial.

One of the results of these studies is a better understanding of chanca piedra's effects on the liver, the main filter and detoxifying organ of the body. Research has shown that chanca piedra acts as a catalyst to enhance the liver's natural detoxifying properties. When the liver is operating at peak efficiency, the blood, and therefore the entire body, is able to rid itself more effectively of toxins we become exposed to through food, water, pharmaceutical drugs, the air, and other sources of pollutants. This one factor can greatly decrease our risk for many degenerative conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and others.

In addition, it has also been discovered that chanca piedra helps to stimulate greater bile secretion from the liver, a factor that improves digestion and allows us to absorb more nutrients from our food. Bile also boosts the body's ability to remove waste products more effectively.

What Else can Chanca Piedra Do For My Health?

Besides its positive effects on the liver, Chanca Piedra is helpful to many aspects of our health:

• As its name indicates, chanca piedra is commonly used to help dissolve, eliminate, and prevent kidney stones and gallstones. It is estimated that about 20 million Americans are afflicted with kidney stones alone every year, due mainly to a lack of water and a poor diet. A study in 1999 found that chanca piedra can both shrink existing stones and prevent them from forming in the first place.
  
• It has a relaxing effect on smooth muscles, such as those involved with expelling kidney and gallstones.
  
• Chanca piedra has been shown to lower blood cholesterol too. This is thought to be a function of its beneficial effects on bile production and efficient operation of the gallbladder.
  
• This plant is an immune system booster with antiviral effects that many people use to ward off and treat the common cold, flus, HIV, and other infections.
  
• Other uses for chanca piedra include: as a diuretic and laxative, to relieve intestinal gas, externally on minor skin irritations, for jaundice, to reduce inflammatory pain, and even to rid the body of parasites such as worms and others.

I have seen the wonderful effects of chanca piedra when supported by other cleansing herbs in helping to dissolve and eliminate gallstones and liver stones. This is the reason that when formulating the main product, LivaPure, for my Optimum Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse, wild-crafted chanca piedra was chosen to be one of the chief ingredients.