Sutherlandia
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Sutherlandia 60x400mg caps (aka the African Ginseng)
Supplement Facts:
Serving size 1 capsule
Servings per container 60
Amount per serving % Daily value
Sutherlandia frutescens
Subsp. microphylla 400mg **
** Daily value not established
Other Ingredients:
Vegetarian capsule shell 90mg
(Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose)
Free of corn, yeast, wheat, soy, salt, sugar and dairy products and formulated without the use of preservatives, artificial colours and flavours. Suitable for vegetarians.
Full botanical name: Sutherlandia frutescens subspecies microphylla elite SUM.2g™ chemotype
Common names: Kankerbos (Afrikaans) and Cancer Bush (English)
Sutherlandia enjoys a long history as a highly valued component of African Traditional Medicine and some of it's traditional indigenous names in Southern Africa indicate this:
" In Tswana it is called Phetola which means it changes, meaning that the plant changes the course of many illnesses towards a favorable outcome. (This is similar to the European concept of an alterative.)
" The North-Sotho name of Lerumo-Lamadi means the spear for the blood indicating that Sutherlandia is a powerful blood-purifier and all-purpose tonic.
" Sutherlandia frutescens is called Motlepelo in Sotho, which means bringing back the heart. This points to the traditional treatment with Sutherlandia for emotional shock and stress.
" The ancient Zulu name is Insiswa. This means the one who dispels darkness. This speaks about it's anti-depressant effect, and about the fact that it is a great and powerful medicine and healer for a diverse range of health conditions.
Sutherlandia frutescens is regarded as the most profound and multi-purpose of the medicinal plants in Southern Africa. Because of its efficacy as a safe treatment for diverse health conditions it has enjoyed a long history of use in Southern Africa.
Sutherlandia powerfully assists the body to mobilize its own resources to cope with physical and mental stresses, and it is therefore correctly speaking, an adaptogen (in the class of herbs such as Astragalus, Ginseng, and Ashwaganda.
In fact Sutherlandia is the African adaptogen par excellence. It is an herb with a profound effect on the body-mind-energy system, maintaining and optimizing physical, mental and emotional wellness, and it is as if Nature has combined in Africa, in a single plant, the immune stimulating benefits of Echinacea, the anxiolytic and anti-depressant effects of Hypericum and the energy of Panax Ginseng.
The indigenous, folk, and contemporary uses of Sutherlandia include:
" Enhancing well-being
" Immune support
" Treatment for Cancer (hence it's common English and Afrikaans names)
" Longevity
" Stress, Depression and Anxiety
" Wasting from Cancer, TB, and AIDS
" Quality-of-Life tonic for Cancers, HIV/AIDS and TB
" Appetite Stimulant in Wasted Patients (but not healthy people)
" Influenza
" Chronic Fatigues Syndrome, ME Syndrome and Yuppie Flu
" Viral Hepatitis
" Asthma and Bronchitis
" Type 2 Diabetes
" Mild to Moderate Hypertension
" Rheumatoid Arthritis
" Peptic Ulcer, Gastritis, and Reflux Oesophagitis
" Hot flushes and Irritability in Menopause
Chemistry and Pharmacology
The chemistry of Sutherlandia been rigorously studied by Prof. Ben-Erik van Wyk and Dr. Carl Albrecht.
The chemistry is intriguing, and suggests that it is the combined effects of the phytochemicals, rather than any single key active that accounts for the efficacy.
The five known key compounds are:
" L-Canavanine
" Pinitol
" GABA
" Asparagine
" A novel triterpenoid glucoside which is very close in structure to astragloside from Astragalus.
The published biological activities of these compounds validate some of the traditional uses of the plant:
L-Canavanine
This potent non-protein amino acid is an L-Arginine antagonist with published anti-viral, including against the influenza virus and retroviruses (Green, 1988), anti-microbial, anti-fungal and patented anti-cancer (Swaffar, 1995; Crooks, 1994) activities. Prof. van Wyk found an average of 2.2 mg of L-Canavanine per dry gram of leaf material of Sutherlandia. L-Canavanine is also a selective inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase, mediating inflammation and smooth muscle contractility and has application in the treatment of septic shock and chronic inflammation (Anfossi, G. et al. 1999; Levy, B. et al. 1999).
Pinitol
Pinitol, a known anti-diabetic agent (Narayanan, 1987), has been isolated from Sutherlandia leaves, and quantitative work is in progress. A US Patent (Ostlund, 1996) has been taken out for the clinical application of using Pinitol for treating wasting in cancer and AIDS patients.
GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid)
GABA was isolated from dry Sutherlandia leaves at levels of up to 14 mg per gram dry weight. It is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces stress, depression, anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia and it's presence could account for the traditional use of the plant for anxiety and stress, and for the improvement in mood and well-being experienced by many patients.
Asparagine
A non-essential amino acid that has a stress reducing effect on the body. It also aids the effective functioning of the liver and kidneys. It is required by the nervous system to maintain equilibrium and is also required for amino acid transformation from one form to another.
Triterpenoid Glucoside
A novel triterpenoid glucoside has been isolated and characterized, and is one of the key compounds used in the selection of raw material for propagation. This compound has promising biological activities, and is still the subject of ongoing research. Triterpenoids closely related to the one isolated from Sutherlandia have well known immune-modulatory activity.
Summary and Comments
Preliminary scientific research, published peer-reviewed scientific research, and clinical experience suggests that the key phytochemicals in select chemotypes of Sutherlandia varieties are:
" Immunomodulatory
" Anti-inflammatory
" Vaso-dilatory
" Analgesic
" Anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial
" Anti-cancer
" Inhibitors of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) - excess production of TNF known to drive the wasting process in Cancer, TB and AIDS patients.
Other Documented Traditional Uses
Sutherlandia is generally regarded as the most beneficial of the medicinal plants in Southern Africa, and has thus been used by all cultures in Southern Africa including the San, Khoi Khoi, Sotho and Nguni-speaking people.
Emotional
Sutherlandia has been used as supportive treatment in mental and emotional stress, including irritability, anxiety, hypertension and depression. In olden times widows of slain Zulu warriors used Sutherlandia as a gentle tranquillizer during the mourning period and agitated Zulu warriors returning from battle would be given an infusion of Sutherlandia "to take the war out", i.e. as a calming tea.
Respiratory
Sutherlandia was traditionally used throughout its natural distribution to good effect to combat the symptoms of flu during the 1918 influenza pandemic in Southern Africa, and is still used to treat flu to this day. Sutherlandia is traditionally believed to shorten the duration and severity of the illness and it can also be taken as a convalescent tonic for post-influenza debility. Sutherlandia has traditionally been used in both the prevention and treatment of the symptoms of asthma and to treat bronchitis.
Gastrointestinal
Sutherlandia has been used to treat symptoms of heartburn, reflux oesophagitis, gastritis and peptic ulceration. Traditional African herbalists in South Africa use Sutherlandia for nervous disorders and stomach ulcers. Sutherlandia was historically used to treat diarrhea and dysentery, and it was used as a supportive remedy for people with unspecified liver conditions. It is slightly purgative at higher doses and has therefore been used as a gentle remedy for constipation.
Urogenital Tract
Sutherlandia was used to treat urinary tract infections, including gonorrhea, and cystitis, and particularly what would nowadays be termed interstitial cystitis.
Diabetes
Sutherlandia is widely used by rural herbalists and medicine men to treat type 2 diabetes.
Musculo-Skeletal
Sutherlandia has traditionally been used to treat gout, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Cancer
In Southern Africa, Sutherlandia is still used as a traditional treatment to improve the quality of life in patients with malignant tumors, as a Cancer preventative and as a supportive supplement for wasting from cancer and tuberculosis.
Safety
In keeping with World Health Organization guidelines for the assessment of herbal medicines, Sutherlandia is generally regarded as safe on the basis of its long history of safe use in South Africa.
It is one of the few medicinal plants on the world market that has been formally studied for safety, in this case in Vervet monkeys. Sutherlandia frutescens subsp. microvillage dried leaf powder was tested for safety in 2001 by the Medical Research Council of South Africa. The study was part of an Medical Research Council Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) process to establish a "clinical platform" to assess the safety and efficacy of promising South African indigenous medicinal plants.
No toxicity was apparent in any variable studied by the MRC.
Cultivation
All Sutherlandia frutescens subsp. microphylla that is used in Big Tree products is tested for quality and is kept within strict specifications. A strict phytochemical profile is kept and adheared to, in the interests of consistent product quality, and to prevent environmental damage, we use only organically cultivated plant material that has been selected from natural strains of plants with typical phytochemical profile.
An elite chemotype (called SUM.2g™) of Sutherlandia frutescens Microphylla subspecies has been developed, where specific phytochemical compounds, and including amino acids, are assayed and quantified and it is this plant material that is used for our Sutherlandia products.
Sutherlandia frutescens subspecies microphylla is also the form of Sutherlandia that was used in the Medical Research Council Safety Study.
The label contains the following text:
Big Tree
African Ginseng™
Sutherlandia frutescens
Subsp. microphylla elite SU1™ chemotype
African Ginseng™ is a powerful adaptogen and provides support for the proper functioning of the immune system*
60 x 400mg VEGE-CAPSULES
Dietry Supplement
Suggested Use:
1 capsule twice daily or as directed by a healthcare professional
Do not use during pregnancy or while breast feeding. Keep out of reach of children. Store in a cool dry place. Do not use if seal is broken or missing.
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
