 Muira puama is a bush/small tree up to 5 meters in height and produces strong smelling flowers with a jasmine like fragrance. It is native to the Amazonian Rainforest.
Indigenous people have historically make use of muira puama by either chewing the bark or brewing a beverage from the bark, stems, or roots. It has been used as an aphrodisiac and a sexual tonic that promotes verility and treats impotence. It is also a traditional herb for nervous exhaustion and depression. South American Indians consider it atonic for the nervous system, capable of promoting overall nerve function while preventing or treating nerve pain and disorders of the nervous system. Muira puama is a traditional herb for indigestion and other gastrointestinal disorders. Women have used it to alleviate menstrual cramps and discomforts of menopause. Amazonian tribes have also been known to use muira puama to treat rheumatism,dysentery, paralysis,and beri-beri..
Research discovered that the root and bark are rich in long-chain fatty acids, sterols, coumarin, essential oils and alkaloids named “muirapuamine.” Chemically, it contains .05% muirapuamine, .4% fat, .5% alkaloids, .6% pholbaphene, .6% alpha-resinic acid, .7% beta resinic acid, .5% of a mixture of esters including behenic acid, lupeol and beta-sitosterol, as well as tannin, volatile oils and fatty acids.
A paper presented by Dr. Jacques Waynberg at The First International Congress on Ethnopharmacology held in Strasbourg, France, in 1990, described a trial done at the Institute of Sexology in Paris on 262 men with erection problems and a lack of sexual desire. Researchers found that over half of the subjects given a daily dose of 1 to 1.5 g of muira puama extract over two weeks experienced positive benefits to their sex lives. An earlier scientific study of muira puama was conducted by another French doctor, Dr. Rebourgeon. His research found the plant to be effective in gastrointestinal and circulatory asthenia as well as impotence.
Three of the most respected scientific authorities on medical herbalism recommend muira puama. In published books, James Duke, Ph.D., chief of the United States Department of Agriculture's Medical Plant Laboratory (314), and Michael Murray, M.D (315). recommend muira puama for erectile dysfunction or lack of libido. In addition, Daniel Mowrey, Ph.D., in Herbal Tonic Therapies (316), stated: "Based on the clinical reports documenting the libido and energy enhancing effects of muira puama, it is possible that this herb induces these positive changes by favorably altering the hormone balance in aging men, i.e., increases free testosterone and/or suppresses excess estrogen" (316). |