Buy Cat's Claw "5000" - Cats claw is a natural extract of the highest quality inner bark of authentic Uncaria tomentosa, an exciting herbal discovery from the Peruvian Rainforest. Also called Una de Gato, cat's claw herb has been used for hundreds of years by the native Ashanica Indians.

Cat's Claw "5000" is a concentrated water and alcohol extract standardized to contain a minimum of 3% total alkaloids (calculated as mitraphylline) and 15% total Polyphenols.

Cat's Claw Supplement Facts
Cat's Claw - 5000 mg (Uncaria tomentosa) (inner bark) 334 mg of 15:1 standardized extract


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Potential uses of Cat's Claw
Anti-inflammatory
Cat's claw is a remarkably potent inhibitor of TNFalpha production. The primary mechanism for cat's claw anti-inflammatory actions appears to be immunomodulation via suppression of TNFalpha synthesis.

Antioxidant
Cat's claw is an effective antioxidant. Another excellent antioxidant is Resveratrol.

Arthritis
This plant may be helpful treatment for osteoarthritis. The species, U guianensis and U tomentosa are equiactive. They are effective antioxidants, but their anti-inflammatory properties may result from their ability to inhibit TNFalpha and to a lesser extent PGE2 production. Another plant to consider is devils claw.

DNA repair
Human volunteers who took cat's claw for 8 weeks had improved DNA repair.

Memory
Cat's claw total alkaloids exert a beneficial effect on memory impairment induced by the dysfunction of cholinergic systems in the brain and that the effect of the total alkaloids is partly attributed to the oxindole alkaloids tested.

Cat's Claw extract questions
Q. I am currently undergoing ''prolotherapy'' which is the injection of dextrose into ligaments in order to create an inflammatory response to stimulate the body to manufacture fibroblasts in order to strengthen joints and alleviate pain (in my case, low back pain from SI joint injury years ago). I would like to use Cat's Claw as I feel it would be beneficial for me for kidney and colon problems; however, I wondered if the anti-inflammatory effects that it produces would work against the prolotherapy I currently undergoing. I have injections once every 8 weeks. Do you know if Cat's Claw could possibly hinder the inflammatory effects of the prolotherapy.
   A. We don't know whether cat's claw interferes with prolotherapy.

Q. I am interested in your Cats Claw product and have a question. Your webpage states that it is a 15:1 standardized extract; 3% total alkaloids and 15% total polyphenols. What does that mean? There is another product on the market that says it is 3% standardized extract. How is that different from your product?
   A. Various companies have different methods of extraction of their products and supplements since there is no accepted standard of extraction for many herbs, particularly those, such as cat's claw, that have been introduced to the West only in the past few years. We need more details on what the other products says regarding their extraction process to give an informed opinion. Do they mention total alkaloids? Furthermore, even if we knew exactly what each product is standardized to, there is no research to indicate to us whether one product is better than the other unless they are compared head to head in a human study.

Q. I have recently learned about Cat's Claw and found the following article on the web and wondered what your opinion is. "Recent studies have shown that there is a significant problem associated with the consumption of the cat's claw plant that has been collected at random in the Peruvian jungle. It turns out that there are two kinds of Uncaria tomentosa that are distinguishable one from another only on the basis of their chemical constituents. Such plants which look alike but differ markedly in their composition are referred to as chemotypes (chemical types) or chemovars (chemical varieties). The root of one chemotype of Uncaria tomentosa contains quantities of several pentacyclic (5-ring) oxindole alkaloids, including pteropodine, speciophylline, and mitraphylline. Tests in small animals have shown that these compounds produced a number of effects which resulted in a general strengthening of the immune system. In other words, they helped the animals resist disease. Other animal tests showed acute toxicity to be low, and mutagenic activity was not detected. The constituents of the other chemotype of Uncaria tomentosa are quite different. It contains the tetracyclic (4-ring) oxindole alkaloids rhynchophylline and isorhynchophylline, which counteract the immunomodulating action of the pentacyclic alkaloids found in the other variety. They also exert negative chronotropic and inotropic activities, slowing and decreasing the force of the heartbeat. addition, they have a sedative effect which in chemical high doses depresses one respiration and produces ataxia (lack of muscular you. coordination). Obviously, none of these activities is desirable, and the tetracyclic chemotype of cat's claw when mixed with the pentacyclic variety -- as is often the case in commercial samples -- will simply neutralize whatever beneficial effect the latter may have on the consumer's immune system.
   A. Until human studies are done testing the two types of these cat's claw plants in humans for various conditions, it appears that these statements, although appearing educated, are hypothetical. Furthermore, herbs have different affects in different people, and they have different effects depending on the dosage and frequency of use.

Q. Are you aware of any cat's claw research regarding the treatment of breast cancer with this herbal extract?
   A. As of April 2009, we do not.