Disclaimer: This website or these products are not intended to diagnose or prescribe for medical, chiropractic or psychological conditions, nor to claim to prevent, treat, mitigate, or cure such conditions. They are not intended to recommend specific information, products, or services as treatment of disease or to provide diagnosis, care, treatment, or rehabilitation of individuals, or apply medical, mental health, or human development principles, to provide diagnosing, treating, operating, or prescribing for any human disease, pain, injury, deformity, or physical condition.

Potential benefits are recommended based upon traditional uses and may not be generally recognized as substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Any use of the techniques, education, information, herbal salves, and other products or services is based upon customer informed consent and private license. Results may vary depending upon use and commitment.

An Amazonian Traditional Herbal Tincture

Choo-choo-w�so

Choo-choo-W�so
(Maytenus macracarpa [Past.])

Concentrated Tincture of the
Inner Bark of Chuchuguazo


8 fl. oz. (240 ml.)

Dosage: 3 ml., 2X Daily
(One bottle lasts 40 days)

Email

Summarized Description: Choo-choo-W�so (TM) is an herbal tincture made from the inner bark of "chuchuguazo" (its common name in Pastazan Shuar), a large canopy tree found in the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru (where it is called "chuchuasi" or "chuchuasha.") [ 1 ] It is one of our Amazonian traditionals. [ 2 ] Chuchuguazo has a long history of indigenous use in the Amazon. See Protocol and Usage section below.


Choo-choo-W�so (TM) is a potent herbal tincture traditional from the Amazon, with a long history of indigenous use. Our version of this product is made with puro (grain alcohol made from sugar cane) and can be consumed fresh or after heating in a tea pan to flash off the alcohol.
Like many alcohol-based herbal tinctures, many will find formula overpowering without the addition of honey, molasses or other sweetener.



Uses & Protocols
The following uses and protocols are well-established among the Shuar of the Ecuadorean ori�nte. As is the case with other Amazonian traditionals, please note that these are indigenous uses. Additionally, the use of this product is supported by the widespread sale of chuchuguazo bark in the "f�ria libres" (open farmer markets) of Ecuador. This ethnobotanical information is provided as a guideline to how others use this product.
Dosage: Begin with three milliliters (slightly over one half teaspoon), 2X daily -- taken before breakfast and lunch. (The traditional dose in the Amazon calls for a "cucharita" (Spanish for teaspoon) taken before breakfast, lunch, and dinner for ten days.)

Contraindications
Similiar to other Amazonian traditionals, the contraindications for this product are primarily dietary: during the period of use, do not consume pork, cow's meat, chicken, or sea fish. Freshwater fish is alright.
As is the case with all herbal tinctures, be sure to consult your physician first if you are taking any prescribed medications. This product contains alcohol, which may be contraindicated with a prescription you may be taking.

Shelf-Life
This herbal tincture has a functional shelf-life that is guaranteed to be in excess of four years from the date of purchase.
To U.S. Users: This product have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Bienvenidos a Pastaza
Sourcing From
The Amazon
All the materials used to make our Choo-choo-w�so are wild-crafted and harvested from deep in the provinces of Pastaza and Moreno Santiago, near the Peruvian border. There are no cultivated varieties. Click photo to enlarge.

Question Over
Identification
In his extensive botanical treatise, Medicinal Plants of Latin America, Dr. James Duke laments the variety of species covered by the same term "chuchuhausi" (under "Heisteria acuminata (Humb. & Bonpl.) Engl.)", p. 350). The phonetical proximity of this term, presumably Peruvian, to "chuchuguaso" (i.e. only the final vowel makes it sound different) alerted us to its relation.
We freely admit that because of the isolated area where we are getting the particular tree variety we use to make this product, that it might be an unnamed species under either genus "Heisteria" or "Maytenus." However, we chose to use it because it has a long-standing history of usage by the peoples in that area. There have not been any reports of side effects or adverse reactions. Its place in the indigenous community there is tried and true.
Our choice of "Maytenus macracarpa" is based on the close relation of our plant to one of the same physical characteristics in Peru. It not only has similar physical characteristics, but has the same intended use, traditional manner of preparation, etc.
Interestingly, Duke provides information on two other species of the genus "Maytenus", (family: "Celastraceae"). Neither of those two species, Mayten (Maytenus boaria Molina) or Holy Thorn (Maytenus ilicifolia Mart. ex Reissek) match those of the tree in question, or any of its parts.
Mayten has native applications as a purgative and febrifuge, with no mention as an anti-arthritic, while Holy Thorn has wide-ranging uses in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay -- among them as an aphrodisiac and abortifacient -- none of which apply to this plant bark and its common usage.