Natural Remedies - Healing with Medicinal Herbs
Quassia
Quassia (Quassia amara), also called bitter wood, is a small tropical tree of Central and South America. Its wood contains quassinoids, among the most bitter substances found in nature — a piece of the wood steeped in water yields an intensely bitter drink even at tiny concentrations. The bitterness is precisely what makes quassia medicinal.
Like gentian and wormwood in European tradition, quassia belongs to the classic bitter tonics that wake up the whole digestive system.
Use in Healing
Quassia is used above all for poor appetite and sluggish digestion: the bitter taste reflexively stimulates saliva, gastric juice and bile, easing fullness and bloating after meals. Folk medicine has long used quassia against intestinal parasites, especially threadworms, and a rinse of quassia water is a traditional remedy against head lice. Because it contains no tannins, it is gentler on the stomach than many other bitters.
Cultivation
As a tropical tree quassia is not grown in temperate gardens; the medicinal wood and bark are imported. Ready-made chips, tinctures and extracts are available from herbal suppliers.
Preparation and Dosage
For internal use
- Cold infusion: half a teaspoon of quassia wood chips steeped in a cup of cold water overnight, strained and drunk in small sips half an hour before meals, up to twice daily
- Tincture: 10-20 drops in a little water before meals
For external use
- Lice rinse: a strong infusion cooled and combed through the hair, repeated after a week
Warnings
- Do not use during pregnancy or breastfeeding
- Do not use with stomach or duodenal ulcers
- High doses can irritate the stomach and cause nausea or vomiting
- Limit continuous use to a few weeks; bitters are meant as a course, not a permanent habit
