Gobernadora revisited

In the March 1997 issue of LareDOS, the Medicine Man column dealt with the desert herbal medicine we know as gobernadora. That was six years and two months ago, to be exact. I am so impressed with the power of this wonderful plant that I felt I should look at it again. What I have done is revised and reprinted the original article, leaving a lot of the original work, and adding some information that I felt would be appropriate to share. I hope that anyone that happens to read about this huehuetlakopajtli receives benefit. Nahuatl lesson: huehue can be translated to mean of a very high order, very old and/or very powerful; tlakopajtli, simply means "medicinal plant."
Larrea tridentata, better known as gobernadora around these parts, is truly a gift from God. In some areas of Mexico it is known as hediondilla, guamis, and falsa alcaparra. Over in the American Southwest, where it also ranges, it is called creosote bush and chaparral. We don't call it chaparral in south Texas, because that is what we call all the brush! The Papago people of Arizona call it greasewood. Regardless of what you call it, gobernadora is truly amazing.
Medicinally speaking, gobernadora is a shining star. It has antiseptic and anti-fungal properties, making it an effective natural treatment for athlete's foot and nail fungus. You can even dust your feet and shoes with powdered leaves to control odor. It also makes a most effective anti-plaque and cavity-fighting mouthwash that is at least as good if not better than anything store-bought.
The plant contains several cholesterol-lowering phytosterols, numerous antioxidant flavonoids, 18 distinct flavone and flavonol aglycones, a dihydroflavonol, larreic acid, three guaiuretic acid lignins, including (probably the most important) nordihydroguaiuretic acid (NDGA), and several quercetin bioflavonoids. Limonene, another compound found in the plant, has anti-Alzheimer activity, plus anti-cancer, anti-viral properties. The NDGA content of the dried plant ranges from 1-10%, and is found mainly in the sticky resin that coats the leaves. Hence, the stickier the leaves, the better the medicine.
NDGA is a potent antioxidant, particularly for fats and oils. For this reason, it may be helpful by preventing the oxidation of lipids in the blood that form plaque on the arterial walls, which lead to heart disease. NDGA may also prevent or reverse the effects of free radical damage. This compound also has analgesic and vasodepressant properties, plus a remarkable ability to stabilize vitamin A.
Ask any old-timer around here what the best herb for kidney stones is and the answer will probably be gobernadora. It actively dissolves the stones and serves as a diuretic to flush the system at the same time. A couple of years ago, a woman I know was having excruciating pain due to a kidney stone and went to the emergency room of a local hospital. She was admitted to the hospital, given pain medication via an IV, and was told that she had to ride out her ordeal. When tests confirmed that the pain was indeed caused by a kidney stone, she and her husband opted to go home and treat the problem with gobernadora and several other appropriate herbs. In less than 24 hours, she passed the stone without further discomfort.
Interestingly, an old common use for gobernadora in rural south Texas and Mexico has been to clean out the calcium carbonate deposits in car and truck radiators, just like it cleans out the stones in kidneys.
A few years ago I was talking about medicinal plants with José de la Peña, a very nice gentleman who was 88 years old at the time. He related a most fascinating story to me. It seems that when he was a young boy, he would go to the outskirts of his hometown, Mirando City, TX into the brush to hunt. One afternoon while he was walking about, he heard some strange cries and moaning sounds. He knew that he was alone out there, yet an animal was not making the sounds he was hearing. Cautiously, he approached the area from where the sounds were coming. To his amazement, he happened upon a man, who was kneeling before a gobernadora bush. With emotion and passion, he was thanking the lowly bush for saving his life. The young José cautiously approached the man and asked what had happened. He began to tell young José that he had been very ill, almost to the point of death. In desperation, the man went to consult with a Native American medicine woman named Meta, who healed people with yerbas, and lived on the outskirts of nearby Oilton. She told the man to start drinking gobernadora tea and to sleep on a bed of its branches. He followed her advice, and soon he fully recovered. The young boy never forgot that day out in the brush near Mirando City. Mr. de la Peña told me about another man, Mr. José Garza, that Meta had also healed from a serious fever that was going around at the time. She also recommended gobernadora in his case as well.
As with most herbs, a lot of the information we have is based on traditional, historical, and anecdotal evidence. There is, quite often, a lack of scientific data to substantiate some traditional claims. This, however, does not necessarily discredit herbs as medicine. It only looks at herbs from a particular perspective.
One of the unique uses for gobernadora is to fight cancer. It is reported that there are individuals who have been healed, or have otherwise been given more years to live, by having taken the herb as a medicine. Scientific studies have shown that there are properties in gobernadora that both inhibit and stimulate cancer cells.
Other uses for gobernadora include treating respiratory problems, arthritis and rheumatism, superficial skin wounds, intestinal discomfort, menstrual cramps, nausea, dandruff, anemia, headache, ulcers, hypertension, hemorrhoids, dry skin, brittle hair and nails, allergies, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune diseases, herpes, PMS, as a douche, and more. I know a traditional indigenous healer who uses gobernadora to treat female infertility.
As with any medicine, an important consideration is dosification. I have always advocated the use of gobernadora in tea form over capsule. This is because the herb is so bitter tasting that a person will not take too much for too long by accident. In capsule form there is no taste, so it is very easy to take more than one should. There is a documented case of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer, who took 15 capsules of 500 mg every day for five months and developed a liver condition as a result. Through supportive care and abstaining from the herb, she fully recovered. You cannot safely take that much gobernadora. If a person is going to take the herb in capsule form, it is best to limit the amount to 1,000 mg or less per day. Higher doses should not be taken for more than 7-10 days, without a week break in between. (The woman who became ill took 7,500 mg a day for five months!) As a preventative supplement, I take a 620 mg capsule in a proprietary extract form per day, sometimes taking it every other day. Some old-timers will brew up a gallon of tea with just a pinch of the herb, which they will drink all the time as a tonic. At that strength, it is probably safe to drink on a regular basis. Individuals with liver disease should not take gobernadora, and it should be discontinued if nausea, fever, fatigue, or jaundice occurs.
If you are familiar with gobernadora, and can identify it in the brush, then you can pick your own in the wild. If not, you can find it at any yerberia, some health food stores, and on the spice racks at some grocery stores.
This will cover it for this month. The information presented in this article is purely for educational purposes, and is not meant to take the place of professional medical care. Do not try to self-medicate with herbs, unless you are very familiar with their proper use and are also aware of the potential interactions that they might have with medicines. Always consult with your physician or healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy. I can be reached via e-mail at glorioso@netscorp.net. For more information on herbal medicine in South Texas, go to www.laredosnews.com and click on "The Medicine Man" column or on the "Medicine Man Archives" for a collection of previous articles.