Yerba Santa

An astringent herb with a pleasant taste when brewed as a tea. This evergreen shrub grows freely in the southwestern United States, discovered and treasured by Californian native tribes, who used it to treat respiratory conditions, fevers, headaches as a topical treatment for wounds, muscle and rheumatic aches by mashing the leaves into a poultice. Also used for smudging and for ceremonial purposes. Termed “Holy Weed” by Spanish priests after learning of its medicinal benefits from the Native Americans. Was introduced to American physicians in the late 1800s and was acknowledged as an official medicine up until the 1960s when stricter regulations were imposed, preventing its further pharmacological use. Leaves can be infused in a bath to ease sore muscles and joints or brewed as a tea. A new 2019 study demonstrates the newly discovered sterubin compound as a potent neuroprotective agent, that has potential to be effective against age associated cell death. In fact sterubin has shown to be 4 times more potent than “fisetin”, an Alzheimers drug candidate.