Chanca Piedra
Chanca piedra, commonly known as stone breaker, is a plant indigenous to the amazon rainforest and other tropical areas. Chanca piedra has a long history of traditional medicinal use for many different health conditions, although is especially known for its ability to dissolve kidney stones and gallstones and promoting gallbladder, liver and kidney health.
Scientific evidence has supported some of chanca piedra traditional uses, suggesting chanca piedra potential benefits for liver and kidney health and the prevention or treatment of kidney stones.
In This Guide
This experts guide summarizes our experience working with chanca piedra. We looked into traditional remedies, published medical studies as well as the thousands of the chanca piedra reviews and testimonials we gathered over our many years of practice. We will be focusing on chanca piedra use for kidney stones, gallstones, gallbladder, liver and kidney health.
We hope this guide will help you enjoy the many chanca piedra benefits while minimizing chanca piedra side effects.
Chanca piedra is commonly known as: phyllanthus niruri, chancapiedra, gale of the wind, stonebreaker, seed-under-leaf, euphorbiaceae.
| Chanca piedra use | Chanca piedra recipe | Preferred chanca piedra extract |
|---|---|---|
| Kidney stones & kidneys. | Kidney cleanse drink.(detox drink, tea). | Renaltrex: wildcrafted lab grade chanca piedra. |
| Gallstones, gallbladder & liver. | Liver Gallstone cleanse drink. | Livatrex: wildcrafted lab grade chanca piedra. |
Buying Chanca Piedra Guide: How to buy.
Chanca piedra kidney stones
Chanca piedra is well known for its ability to dissolve kidney stones and gallstones. Chanca piedra has a long traditional use in treating and preventing kidney stones (urolithiasis, nephrolithiasis), with the chanca piedra kidney stones connection also suggested by science.
A few published studies concluded that chanca piedra may have potential as a natural treatment for kidney stones that should be further explored (1, 2). Chanca piedra was shown to interfere with many stages of kidney stone formation, reduce the stone crystals aggregation and modify the kidney stone structure and composition. The mechanism of action of chanca piedra is believed to be related to ureteral relaxation: using chanca piedra was found to relax the tubes that push urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. This is very beneficial as it may help to eliminate substances that can form kidney stones (2).
Chanca piedra was also shown in one published human study to help normalize elevated urinary calcium levels in calcium stone forming patients. This condition also known as hypercalciuria or hypercalcemia, causes elevated calcium levels in the urine, which can lead to kidney stones and even kidney failure (3).
How to use chanca piedra for kidney stones
Using chanca piedra for kidney stones is very popular and can be very effective when done correctly.
When it comes to kidney stones, it is always best to consult your doctor in order to identify what causes kidney stone in your body, the types of kidney stones you may have and the suggested treatment.
When you use chanca piedra to dissolve kidney stones, it is essential to make sure your entire renal and urinary system function properly. This is very important. Once the kidney stones are dissolved, you want your body to flush them out effectively in the urine so they won’t get stuck. For this reason, a common best practice is to combine chanca piedra with other kidney cleansing herbs that in addition to help softening and dissolving the kidney stones, can also support normal urinary, bladder and kidney function:
Uva ursi (bearberry, arctostaphylos), hydrangea, goldenrod (solidago), horsetail (equisetum arvense) and marshmallow (mallow root) are widely used for this purpose with a long history of traditional use that is also backed up by science.
Best chanca piedra for kidney stones
When using chanca piedra for kidney stones, a liquid chanca piedra extract tincture is preferred for improved absorption and solubility in the body. The liquid extract also means you can easily mix it with water, teas or other detox or cleansing drinks.
Renaltrex is a good example of a high quality lab grade chanca piedra extract from a wildcrafted chanca piedra plant, that uses the spagyrex® extraction process that preserves the complete nutritional profile and freshness of chanca piedra.
Renaltrex formula combines chanca piedra with other organic and wildcrafted kidney cleansing herbs, and is specifically designed to help the body to naturally dissolve kidney stones, break down and flush kidneys built up toxins, remove excess uric acid and cleanse the entire urinary tract. Renaltrex has been included in our kidney stone cleanse and other toxins elimination protocols for a long time with great results in terms of effectiveness, ease of use and safety.
Here are a few easy ways of using chanca piedra for kidney stones:
Chanca piedra kidney stone cleanse drink
- Squeeze the juice of ½ organic lemon and add 1 teaspoon of organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar into 16 ounces of distilled or spring water.
- Add 1 dropper of Renaltrex.
- Drink 2-3 times a day, always on an empty stomach for 5-7 days.
- Make sure to drink enough water, always using good source of water. Many people find this kidney cleanse drink as a good alternative to flavored water or other beverages.
- Limit your regular table salt or other high salt foods during the kidney cleanse. When using salt, replace the regular table salt with natural salt. Himalayan pink salt is a great example.
Chanca piedra tea
Another option is to make chanca piedra tea. To make chanca piedra tea for kidney stones:
- Warm a cup of 16 ounces of distilled or spring water. Water temperature should be warm so you can comfortably drink the chanca piedra tea, but not too hot, usually between 120-135 fahrenheit.
- Squeeze the juice of ½ organic lemon. Add the entire lemon to the water and leave for 5 min.
- Add 1 dropper of Renaltrex and drink.
- To sweeten the tea, you can use stevia or monk fruit extract to taste.
Chanca piedra gallstones
Using chanca piedra for gallstones, gallbladder and liver health has also been a known traditional use of chanca piedra. Due to its gallstones breaking abilities, chanca piedra is commonly used in many natural liver and gallstones cleanses. A study done on hyperlipidemic rats (hyperlipidemia is a condition where there are high levels of fats in the blood), found that chanca piedra stimulated bile secretion in the liver (15). This is a significant benefit of chanca piedra for gallstones, as imbalances in the substances that make up bile can cause gallstones. Bile is the fluid that carries toxins and waste from the liver and helps the body digest fats and the fat-soluble vitamins (16).
How to use chanca piedra for gallstones
When it comes to gallstones issues, the same suggestion mentioned earlier for kidney stones apply as well. If you experience gallstones symptoms such as abdominal pain, yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, fever, gallstone pain or any other signs of gallstones, it is always best to consult your doctor in order to identify what causes gallstones in your body, the types of gallstones you may have and the suggested treatment.
Using chanca piedra for gallstones typically combines chanca piedra with other gallbladder and liver cleansing herbs as well. This is considered a common best practice for two reasons. One is to improve the effectiveness of the gallstones treatment; the other is for safety reasons. Certain gallbladder and liver cleansing herbs have the ability to relax the bile duct, helping the body to pass gallstones more easily, minimizing the chances that of a gallstone get stuck. Using liver cleansing herbs can also help the body to better handle the released toxins from the gallbladder and liver, and support the regeneration of damaged liver tissue. The liver is one of the primary organs in the body that breaks down and removes toxins. When you dissolve the gallstones, it is common to have increased toxins released from the liver as well.
The best most commonly used liver cleansing herbs that are typically combined together with chanca piedra include milk thistle seed (silybum marianum), chicory root (cichorium intybus), dandelion (taraxacum officinale), greater celandine (chelidonium majus), yellow dock root (rumex crispus) and turmeric (curcumin).
Liquid chanca piedra extract tinctures are preferred over the powdered or capsules form due to improved absorption in the body and the ease of use. The liquid extract makes it easier to mix it with tea, water or other detox or cleansing drinks that are very popular when doing a natural gallbladder cleanse. A good example for a gallbladder liver cleanse recipe is our beet-carrot liver cleansing juice.
Best chanca piedra for gallstones
Livatrex is the chanca piedra extract complex we have been using in our gallstones, gallbladder and liver cleanse protocols, as well as in our toxins elimination protocols.
Livatrex also uses the spagyrex® extraction process that preserves the complete nutritional profile and freshness of chanca piedra. Livatrex formula combines chanca piedra with other organic wildcrafted gallstones, gallbladder and liver cleansing herbs, and is specifically designed to help the body to naturally soften and dissolve gallstones, detoxify fatty deposits and buildup in the gallbladder, and promote overall liver health and regeneration.
Livatrex has also been included in our gallstones, gallbladder, and liver cleanse and other toxins elimination protocols for a long time with great results in terms of effectiveness, ease of use and safety.
Chanca piedra gallstones – gallbladder – liver cleanse drink
- Squeeze the juice of ½ organic lemon and add 1 teaspoon of organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar into 16 ounces of distilled or spring water.
- Add 1 dropper of Livatrex.
- Drink 2-3 times a day, always on an empty stomach for 5-7 days. Many people find this drink as a good alternative to flavored water or other beverages.
- Cleanse your colon: when the body dissolves gallstones, they are flushed out of the body throughout normal bowel movements together with other toxins that are eliminated from the liver and gallbladder during this process. Accumulated waste buildup in the colon can cause these toxins to circulate in the body longer making you feel sick. This is common and known as a healing crises. Removing the toxic waste buildup before the liver and gallbladder cleanse was shown to make a significant difference in minimizing many of these side effects (see study). For this reason, we highly recommend to always start the gallstones – gallbladder – liver cleanse with a quick colon cleanse. The overnight colon cleanse recipe is a good example, and it is designed to cleanse your digestive tract quickly and safely by removing these toxins and accumulated waste buildup as you sleep.
Chanca piedra and liver health
In addition to its ability to dissolve gallstones, chanca piedra is also considered a very good herb for overall gallbladder and liver health. In one published study done on wistar rats, treatment with chanca piedra was shown to protect the liver from damage caused by a high fat diet (4). According to the research data, a protein isolated from chanca piedra protects the liver from oxidative stress by increasing antioxidative defense (5,6).
Additional evidence suggests that chanca piedra may also be helpful for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): In one study, NAFLD was induced in rats by feeding the rats with a special high-fat diet. The study found that the rats who consumed chanca piedra extract with the high fat diet had less signs of fatty liver. Chanca piedra was shown to reduce belly fat (visceral adiposity), improve liver enzymes abnormalities, liver lipid peroxidation and fat accumulation in the liver. This study further supported findings from other studies regarding the antioxidant and fat lowering effects (hypolipidemic) of the bioactive components in chanca piedra (7).
Where to buy chanca piedra
Chanca piedra is a very popular herb with many potential benefit, and as such, it is commonly available in many products and formulas. It also comes from many different sources or varieties of the chanca piedra plant. For this reason, always buy chanca piedra from a trusted source to make sure you are getting a high quality chanca piedra.
Below is a summary of the most important factors to look for when you buy chanca piedra, so you get the best chanca piedra extract and enjoy its reported medicinal properties and benefits. If you are looking for good examples, the chanca piedra source we use in our protocols comes from Dr. Edward Group Livatrex (for gallstones, gallbladder and liver health) and Renaltrex (for kidney stones and kidney health).
Organic or wildcrafted chanca piedra
Organic or wildcrafted chanca piedra extracts are considered more potent, safe and reliable compared to conventional ones. One of the biggest concerns with conventional extracts is that many of them contain high levels of toxins, pesticides, preservatives and allergens that can cause a strong reaction and side effects. These toxins can make you feel bad, and even lead to further health complications.
For this reason, always buy your chanca piedra from a trusted company. The source of the chanca piedra herb (organic or wildcrafted) should be specifically mention the on the label.
Lab grade chanca piedra
To get the highest quality lab grade chanca piedra, a specific extraction process of chanca piedra is required. A good example is the spagyrex® extraction process that is designed to preserve the complete nutritional profile of chanca piedra. The result of this cold extraction method is described by its inventor as high potency raw herbal extracts that taste, smell and feel just as you would pick the chanca piedra fresh from the wild.
Chanca piedra tincture
When using chanca piedra, liquid chanca piedra extract tincture is usually preferred over powders, capsules or pills, for improved absorption and solubility by the body. The liquid extract also means you can easily mix it with water, teas or other detox or cleansing drinks.
Chanca piedra and fillers
Toxic fillers and binders such as magnesium stearate, maltodextrin, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, flour and others are often added to reduce manufacturing costs, make ingredients bind together or look/taste better. Lubrication substances are commonly used to prevent herbs and powders from getting stuck to the machines. Yikes! Not only our bodies do not need these, they can cause health issues and even cancer. Fillers and binders are considered by many health authorities a very big problem of natural supplements, and are usually listed under other ingredients on the product label.
Additional chanca piedra benefits
Chanca piedra: antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal
Chanca piedra is also known for its traditional use against parasites, bacterial, viral and fungal infection. This chanca piedra use was also supported by a few medical publications. One study found chanca piedra beneficial in treating chickenpox (varicella), vaginal yeast infections (vaginal candidiasis) and pulmonary tuberculosis (8).
Another study that tested chanca piedra antibacterial activity, found it to be effective against H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori) bacteria, without affecting beneficial lactic acid bacteria. The significance of this finding is that unlike antibiotics that kill both good and bad bacteria, chanca piedra was able to selectively fight H. pylori without killing the good bacteria (9).
Chanca piedra also showed significant antibacterial activity against the pathogenic bacteria Bacillus pumilus, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia as well as antifungal activity against candida albicans (10).
Chanca Piedra antioxidant effects
Chanca Piedra antioxidant effects are well known and suggested by many published studies as the mechanism of action for chanca piedra benefits. One human study that investigated the potential antioxidant effects of drinking chanca piedra tea, found that chanca piedra consumption increased antioxidant markers in human blood (ascorbic acid and gallic acid), which may contribute to chanca piedra pharmacological effects (11).
Chanca piedra and inflammation
Chanca piedra has a known traditional use for inflammation and pain. Multiple published studies have shown chanca piedra anti inflammatory effect for ulcer protection (12), ulcerative colitis (13) and relieving sore throat pain due to tonsil inflammation (14).
Chanca piedra side effects
Stone breaker side effects
Chanca piedra side effects are rare and it is usually considered very safe when properly consumed. A few studies that tested the safety of chanca piedra didn’t find any evidence of toxicity or safety concerns (2, 17).
References
- Phyllanthus niruri inhibits calcium oxalate endocytosis by renal tubular cells: its role in urolithiasis (1).
- Phyllanthus niruri as a promising alternative treatment for nephrolithiasis (2).
- Phyllanthus niruri normalizes elevated urinary calcium levels in calcium stone forming (CSF) patients (3).
- Protective effect of Phyllanthus niruri on alcohol and heated sunflower oil induced hyperlipidemia in Wistar rats (4).
- Herbal (Phyllanthus niruri) protein isolate protects liver from nimesulide induced oxidative stress (5).
- The protein fraction of Phyllanthus niruri plays a protective role against acetaminophen induced hepatic disorder via its antioxidant properties (6).
- Phyllanthus Niruri Standardized Extract Alleviates the Progression of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Decreases Atherosclerotic Risk in Sprague–Dawley Rats (7).
- The Genus Phyllanthus: An Ethnopharmacological, Phytochemical, and Pharmacological Review (8).
- Antimicrobial activity of an Amazon medicinal plant (Chancapiedra, Phyllanthus niruri L.) against Helicobacter pylori and lactic acid bacteria (9).
- Antimicrobial Effect of Leaves of Phyllanthus niruri and Solanum nigrum on Caries Causing Bacteria: An In vitro Study (10).
- Antioxidant effects of Phyllanthus niruri tea on healthy subjects (11).
- Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and gastric anti-ulcer activity of Phyllanthus niruri L. (Euphorbiaceae) leaves in experimental rats (12).
- Spray-dried extract of Phyllanthus niruri L. reduces mucosal damage in rats with intestinal inflammation (13).
- Symptomatic treatment of acute tonsillo-pharyngitis patients with a combination of Nigella sativa and Phyllanthus niruri extract (14).
- Lipid lowering activity of Phyllanthus niruri in hyperlipidemic rats (15).
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK): What are gallstones? (16).
- Acute toxicity studies of aqueous leaf extract of Phyllanthus niruri (17).
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