Did you know that millions of Americans suffer from kidney stone and/or gallstone problems? In fact, each year, more than one million people in the US learn they have gallstones. Overall, nearly 10% of the American population have kidney stones at some point in their lives, and another 10-15% have gallstones at any point in time. Each year, more than 300,000 people end up in emergency rooms for kidney stone problems and another 800,000 have surgery for gallstones.

Chanca Piedra for Natural Gallstone and Kidney Stone Removal

Luckily, nature has a remedy to help. For generations, chanca piedra has been used by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon for the treatment and removal of gallstones and kidney stones. In fact, the name chanca piedra, as it is known in Peru, comes from its effect on kidney stones and gallstones. The literal translation is "stone breaker." It effectively softens both kidney stones and gallstones for easy passage out of the body. It is also renowned for its diuretic qualities and has been shown effective at helping relieve edema and urine retention.

This natural remedy has sparked the interest of researchers around the world, and since the 1960’s, over 300 studies have been carried out. The first research was conducted by Indian and Brazilian research groups, since the plant is indigenous to their areas. The Brazilian researchers summarized their research stating, "Pre-clinical and clinical studies carried out with the extracts and purified compounds from these plants support most of their reported uses in folk medicine for the treatment of a wide variety of pathological conditions."

Chanca Piedra for Natural Kidney Flush and Liver Detox

In fact, it’s so effective that, for a number of years, Jon Barron has recommended chanca piedra not only as a key component of his kidney flush formula, but also for using that formula before liver detoxing to soften gallstones before trying to pass them during the detox. It also works as an anti-inflammatory agent in the kidneys and as an antihepatotoxic to protect the liver. That is to say, it counters the effects of toxins in the liver.

Chanca Piedra for Hepatitis B Virus Treatment

Its liver-healing properties have prompted research into its benefits in dealing with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). For many healers, based on accumulated research, the herb is considered to be the most effective, natural, non-toxic remedy for HBV. Seeing as one out of every 250 Americans is an HBV carrier, this could make a huge difference in not only treating the virus but eradicating it as well. The hope for the herb is to provide an abundantly available nontoxic alternative not only to treat the disease but, ideally, to render carriers sero-negative for the virus so they won’t pass it on to others. Perhaps even more surprising is that some studies are beginning to indicate that chanca piedra may be just as effective when it comes to dealing with Hepatitis C.

More Natural Health Benefits of Chanca Piedra

As with most natural remedies, the health benefits don’t stop there. Chanca piedra is also an antioxidant. And it has been shown to balance high blood sugar and high blood pressure. Other health issues it has been used to treat include:

• bacterial and viral infections
• colds and flu
• herpes
• HIV
• asthma
• bronchitis & colic
• diabetes
• hypertension
• malaria

How to Take Chanca Piedra

Chanca piedra is available in a variety of forms, from tea and extracts to capsules and tablets. Another interesting thing to note is that there is a significant lack of side effects or signs of toxicity reported in any of the human or animal studies, even in acute or chronic use.

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