Pau d’arco or Taheebo is not all created equally. If you go down to your local health food store you will probably find many different brands of Pau d’arco in many different forms such as liquid, capsule, tea, etc.
The unfortunate truth is that many of these products are not even true Pau d’arco.
Peruse the research and you will find that the Tabebuia Avellanedae is the effective species. Unfortunately, Tabebuia trees are sometimes harvested along with other rain forest trees that are used for lumber. All the trees are put on a truck and sent to the lumber mill. At the mill they have the bark shaved off and are cut into boards. Many times the sawdust is collected from the sawmill floor and that is what is used in the capsules and many teas that claim to be Pau d’arco. Sawdust is a cellulose compound and cannot even be broken down by the human digestive system.
Research has been done showing that some alleged Pau d’arco products actually contain only sawdust from other rain forest trees and no Pau d’arco. If you put your faith in these products to improve your health you are only wasting your money and, most importantly, your time.
The Pau d’arco you use must come from the inner bark of the correct species of tree and it must be processed properly. Pau d’arco in tea form seems to perform the best.
