SCELETIUM TORTUOSUM

(1 min read)

Nature’s ancient healing properties found in a beautiful, indigenous succulent with a bright yellow flower.
Africa is a land full of wisdom, wisdom that is embedded in the rocks and drawn up through the roots of the plethora of healing plants that grow from her fertile ground.

The species: Sceletium Tortuosum, from the genus Sceletium, comes from the family of Aizoaceae plants.
Commonly known as Kanna, Channa or kougoed (which is literally translated as ‘chewable things’ or ‘something to chew’). These plants are endemic to Southern Africa.
This medicinal plant has been used for centuries by the Khoi and Sanpeople as a mood altering substance.

Often chewed before hunting trips to improve strength and endurance and sometimes made into tea’s and snuffs. It was introduced to the colonizers of the Cape in the 17thcentury.

Sceletium tortuosum contains mesembrine and the related alkaloidsmesembranol and mesembranone.
Mesembrine is best known for its calming effects on the central nervous system which can aid in decreasing feelings of anxiety as well as being a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, acting as a mild anti-depressant in specified doses.(more on these special alkaloids in the next blog)

We have only scraped the surface of the healing abilities of this versatile botanical and hold a powerful vision for what its future holds in the realms of alternative healing and natural medicine. 

We continue to listen to what the plants have to teach.