Cat's claw

Uncaria tomentosa

Also: Uña de gato, Uncaria

CoolingDryingTonifying

An Amazonian vine bark that cools inflamed joints and steadies immunity.

A woody Amazonian vine that climbs into the canopy on paired, curved thorns shaped like a cat's claws. Its inner bark calms inflammation, eases arthritic joints, and steadies immune activity.

Energetics: Cooling, drying, toning
Taste: Bitter, astringent
Family: Rubiaceae (madder family)
Parts used: Inner bark and root

Medicinal uses 3

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Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Joint pain & arthritisTLC
Eased knee osteoarthritis pain and, added to standard treatment, rheumatoid arthritis in small clinical trials.
Frequent colds & low immunityTLC
Steadies immune activity, raising it where it lags and calming it where it overreacts, in lab studies.
Gut irritation & ulcersTLC
A traditional Peruvian remedy for gastritis and stomach ulcers.

Preparations

Bark decoction and standardized extract capsules.

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Cautions

It can slow clotting and lower blood pressure and affects immunity; check with your prescriber if you take blood thinners, blood pressure medicines, or immune-suppressing drugs, and stop two weeks before surgery.
Several unrelated thorny plants are sold as cat's claw; buy Uncaria tomentosa from a sustainable source.

Medication interactions

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Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyAvoid

In Peru it was traditionally taken to prevent pregnancy, and its alkaloids stimulate the uterus, so it is avoided throughout pregnancy and while trying to conceive.

BreastfeedingAvoid

Its active alkaloids have not been studied in nursing, so it is avoided.

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Folklore

The Asháninka of the Peruvian Amazon have long used the bark for inflammation and ulcers, and in the 1970s an Austrian researcher working with them brought it to European laboratories. Uña de gato is a common Spanish name for several thorny plants, so the botanical name matters when buying. The vine can climb a hundred feet into the rainforest canopy, hooking itself up on its curved thorns.

How to grow

A vine of hot, humid lowland forest, not grown outside the tropics. Harvesters cut it about a yard above the ground so it resprouts, then strip the inner bark.

In the wild

Lowland rainforests of the Amazon basin and Central America, especially in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

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