Leaf and stem against fatigue
Asia’s ephedra and the Andes’ coca were used against fatigue and altitude for their stimulant alkaloids; modern drugs came from both.
Side by side
| Ephedra | Coca | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin name | Ephedra sinica, E. major ve diğerleri | Erythroxylum coca |
| Family | Ephedraceae | Erythroxylaceae |
| Region | Asia and Siberia, Anatolia and the Mediterranean | Andes, Amazon |
| Part used | Green stems | Leaves |
| Use | Healing, Ritual and shamanic, Poisonous | Ritual and shamanic, Healing, Food |
| Scientific evidence | Clinical | Traditional |
| Safety | High risk | Caution |
| Legal status in Türkiye | Restricted in Türkiye | Illegal in Türkiye |
Ephedra
Used in Chinese medicine as ma huang for at least 2,000 years for asthma, coughs and colds.
It is debated whether haoma, the sacred drink of the Zoroastrians, and the soma of the Indian Vedas were ephedra.
Science: Contains ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which open the airways and stimulate the heart. Ephedra weight-loss products were banned in the US in 2004 because of serious heart problems.
Safety: Can raise blood pressure and heart rate dangerously; strokes, heart attacks and deaths have been reported.
Coca
In Andean villages the leaf is held in the cheek and chewed (chacchar, akulliku) against altitude sickness (soroche), hunger and fatigue. It is at the heart of offerings to Pachamama, and the fall of the leaves is read for divination.
Mate de coca (coca tea) is served freely in hotels and cafés; it is the first drink offered to travellers arriving in Cusco.
Science: The leaves contain about 0.5–1% cocaine; chewing and tea absorb it slowly and at a very low dose. Its effect on altitude sickness is strongly accepted in tradition but controlled studies are few.
Safety: The tea and leaf are mild stimulants; people with heart disease should be careful. Urine tests can come back positive for cocaine.
Last reviewed: · Türkçe
Other bridges
- Same molecule, two rituals
- One plant, the evil eye on two continents
- Sacred resin and smoke
- Healing with a stinging herb
- Two roots, two power foods
- The dark side of tropane alkaloids
- Cleansing with smoke
- Sacred teacher or simple pleasure?
- Two traditions that beat malaria
- Dye written on the body
- Two sources of red
- Two continents’ vitamin C stores
- One fruit, two medicines
- Human-shaped roots
- Two cacti of mescaline