MUCUNA AS PANACEA

 

Panacea, the daughter of the physician-god Asclepius, had accompanied him with a sort of kit bearing different remedies for all diseases. This is similar to features attributed to mucuna, which is recommended in Ayurveda to treat more than 200 diseases: as a vital tonic, an aphrodisiac, a remedy to reduce stress, a good diuretic... and is also used against parasites, to control diabetes and lower cholesterol. And, of course, it is a treatment for kampavata (the equivalent of Parkinson's disease).

Western science seems to confirm many of these effects. Mucuna improves libido, semen quality... and even works against snake bites.

 

GROWTH HORMONE BOOSTER

Mucuna increases the adaptation and regeneration of tissues in general, and has been shown to increase growth hormone (47).

It has an anabolic effect and increases muscle mass; it also has antioxidant properties and favors the protective functions of the liver (48).

 

LOWERING OF CHOLESTEROL AND GLUCOSE.

Diabetics and people with high cholesterol may benefit from mucuna (49). In rats has been shown to lower cholesterol by 61% and glucose was reduced by 39% (50) (51).

Mucuna enhances the recovery of diabetic neuropathy induced in animals (52). In humans it delays the onset of diabetic nephropathy. Mucuna also protects the stomach to relieve gastric mucosal lesions induced experimentally in rats (53).

 

AN APHRODISIAC THAT IMPROVES SEMEN

Mucuna increases libido, or sexual drive, in men and women due to its dopamine-inducing properties; dopamine is the substance of desire and profoundly influences all appetites.

In male animals Mucuna raises testosterone levels and increases sexual activity (54) (55) (56).

In men with fertility problems mucuna clearly enhances sexual drive and power while improving the quality of the sperm: it increases the number of cells and also gives them greater mobility (57) (58). It is assumed that it act on the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis.

 

IT ACTS AGAINST EPILEPSY AND AGAINST CATALEPSY

Researchers can cause status epilepticus or catalepsy in experimental animals by various techniques: electroshock, pilocarpine or Haloperidol). These improve if treated with velvet beans (59).

 

SNAKE POISON ANTIDOTE

This is not an exaggeration or a myth. Mucuna is a good antidote for snake bites, possibly by a direct effect on the venom, attributed to its glycoprotein antitrypsin content (60) but also because it is procoagulant and prevents cardio-respiratory depression induced by poison.

Specifically, Mucuna reduces mortality due bites from the following snakes: Gariba viper (Echis carinatus) (61), Viper Malaya (62) and spitting cobra (Naja sputatrix) (62) (63) (64).

 

IMPROVES BOWEL MOVEMENT

Mucuna contains prurienine which increases intestinal peristalsis and is a good remedy for constipation, so prevalent in Parkinson’s patients. It usually enhances motility and gastric emptying, although some patients assert otherwise.

 

KAMPAVATA IS PARKINSON'S DISEASE

In India there were Parkinson’s patients three thousand years before the birth of James Parkinson. These were diagnosed as Kampavata, a disease characterized by trembling (Kampa in Sanskrit). In Ayurveda this process was classified within the group of neurological disorders (Vata Rogas) (65) (66).

They obviously lacked Sinemet and Madopar but were treated naturally with levodopa, obtained by crushing mucuna seeds, which they later diluted and administered as a beverage (65) (67). For thousands of years this therapy has worked, these patients have improved and, above all, according to that we know, showed fewer side effects than people taking synthetic drugs.

 

 

(Extract of the book "Mucuna versus Parkinson: treatment with natural levodopa")