Organ Specific Guide - Raintree Nutrition, Inc

CHANCA PIEDRA CAPSULES or EXTRACT
Description: Chanca piedra means "Stone Breaker" throughout South America and the Amazon where
it is commonly employed for kidney stones and gallstones.
Traditional uses by organ or system: Gallbladder/Liver: For gallstones, and as a hepatotonic, hepatoprotector,
and antihepatotoxic to tone, balance, strengthen, detoxify, and protect the liver and to balance
liver enzymes. Kidney/Urinary Tract: For kidney stones and gout, to tone, balance, strengthen, detoxify
and protect the kidneys and to reduce uric acid and increase urination.
Ingredients: 100% pure chanca piedra whole herb (Phyllanthus niruri). The extract is made with distilled
water and 40% vegetable glycerine.
Suggested Use: Capsules: Take 2-3 capsules twice daily. Extract: Take 60 drops two or more times daily.
Contraindications: Not to be used during pregnancy or while breast-feeding.
Drug Interactions: None reported; however, it may potentiate antihypertensive and diuretic drugs.
Other Practitioner Observations and Possible Precautions:
• Chanca piedra has been documented with female antifertility effects in one mouse study (the effect was
reversed 45 days after cessation of dosing). While this effect has not been documented in humans, the
use of the plant is probably contraindicated in women seeking pregnancy or taking fertility drugs.
• This plant has demonstrated hypoglycemic activity. Individuals with hypoglycemia or diabetes should be
monitored more closely for this possible effect.
Synopsis of research: (Please the online Tropical Plant Database for Chanca Piedra for all cited
research.)
Kidney/Urinary Tract:
Chanca piedra has been documented in human and animal studies to have the ability to block the
formation of calcium oxalate crystals as well as provide a direct antilithic action. Three new studies were
published in 2006 on chanca piedra's beneficial uses for kidney stones and gout. In a long-term randomized
study with 150 human patients with a history of kidney stones, researchers confirmed the plant's ability
to prevent reoccurring stone formation in humans and reported: "Regular self-administration of P. niruri
[chanca piedra] after extra-corporeal shock wave lithotripsy for renal stones results in an increased
stone-free rate that appears statistically significant for lower caliceal location." A 2006 animal study confirmed
the plant's use for gout reporting that it: "significantly reversed the plasma uric acid level of
hyperuricemic animals to its normal level in a dose-dependent manner, comparable to that of allopurinol,
benzbromarone and probenecid which are used clinically for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout.
Another 2006 study with rats indicated that chanca piedra: "may have a therapeutic potential, since it was
able to modify the shape and texture of calculi to a smoother and probably more fragile form, which could
contribute to elimination and/or dissolution of calculi." In an earlier 2002 rat study, researchers reported that
chanca piedra strongly inhibited the growth and number of stones formed over the control group. In 2003,
scientists again confirmed in vitro that chanca piedra could help prevent the formation of kidney stones.
Previously (in the mid-1980s) the antispasmodic activity of chanca piedra was reported. This led
researchers to surmise that "smooth muscle relaxation within the urinary or biliary tract probably facilitates
the expulsion of kidney or bladder calculi." Researchers had already reported chanca piedra's antispasmodic
properties and smooth muscle relaxant properties in several earlier studies.
Gallbladder/Liver:
The hepatoprotective activity of chanca piedra have been confirmed in one in vitro study and four in vivo
studies (with rats and mice). Researchers reported that chanca piedra protected rats from liver damage
induced by alcohol, and normalized a "fatty liver." In addition, two human studies reported chanca piedra's
hepatoprotective and antihepatotoxic actions in children with hepatitis and jaundice. Indian researchers
reported that chanca piedra was an effective single drug in the treatment of jaundice in children, and British
researchers reported that children treated with a chanca piedra extract for acute hepatitis had liver function
return to normal within five days. Researchers in China also reported liver protective actions when chanca
piedra was given to adults with chronic hepatitis. A 2000 study even documented that chanca piedra
increased the life span of mice with liver cancer from thirty-three weeks (control group without treatment)
to fifty-two weeks.