Devil’s Claw: Sent From Heaven? [BLOG]

Devil’s Claw is a herb which you may have heard of if you have horses but most in the western world do not know that the herb can also be used in humans. It is native to South Africa and the tribal people in that region have used it as an anti-inflammatory drug for eons. Devil’s Claw is a wonder herb for joint pain and will also improve your indigestion to boot.

 

The effect of Devil’s Claw on sufferers of arthritis has been widely studied. It is supposedly useful in reducing knee and hip osteoarthritis pain. Due to it’s affect on joints, apparently the tribal people who use it in folk medicine report no cases of arthritis. They are as springy as a lamb well into old age. And for those who aren’t as springy as a lamb into old age, the herb can be used to slow the progression of osteoarthritis.

 

The anti-inflammatory effects of Devil’s Claw may prove beneficial to sports people post-workout and those who have regular joint pain or even after injury. Use it in conjunction with turmeric and other anti-inflammatory herbs to provide a natural treatment for joint pain after sport. Throw it in with your pile of supplements and you may be well on your way to a natural post-workout recovery.

 

Lots of wild plants are powerhouses of medicine and most modern day pharmaceutical drugs stem from plants. This makes them very important but we have to be careful with the environmental aspects of harvesting these wild medicines too. If we over harvest we may reduce the plant to extinction. We’ve got to be careful and we must acknowledge the cultural links of these plants.

 

But is all this plant medicine just mumbo-jumbo and do we need to be really careful not to poison ourselves? Up until now, only a few studies have looked into the efficacy of Devil’s Claw in joint pain treatment. Even though there is only a small number a studies, the results do seem promising, pain can be reduced using Devil’s Claw. South African tribal people wouldn’t have taken it for thousands of years if it did nothing. But because the study size is small, the safeness of the herb has not been determined either way, neither purely safe nor purely bad. Therefore it is possibly safe.

 

At the end of the day, plants can be used to help maintain a healthy life, you’re more in it for the long haul with plant medicine. It may not treat acute pain or severe injuries like modern drugs but it benefits the body nonetheless. We all know these days the benefits of increasing plants in our diets so why not take some supplements as well. If they can help get you to the geriatric football league then why not?

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