Venus Flytrap & Cats Claw
Nature’s Little-known Remedies for Chronic Disease
By Angela Garabo




The first of these herbs is an amazing insect killer. The other sounds like kitty torture, but is actually a woody vine that grows to more than 100 feet as it attaches to and winds up the trees in the highland of the Peruvian rain forests.  Teamed together, these two herbs combat some of the deadliest human diseases known. These wonder herbs are Venus’ Flytrap and Cat’s Claw (uña de gato).  Research indicates that both of these plants have unique active constituents that assist in the body’s natural defense system.

 In Germany, a pharmaceutical extract of Venus’ Flytrap called Carnivora is used in the treatment of chronic diseases, including most forms of cancer, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, all types of herpes infections, chronic arthritis, and almost any immune deficiency state, including AIDS. Carnivora is dispensed orally, by inhalation, or by injection. However, individuals cannot legally import Carnivora to the U.S. without first proving that they suffer from a life-threatening disease.  Fortunately, fresh Venus’ Flytrap extract can be both purchased and used legally in the United States, though few people are aware of its uses.

In cases of cancer, Venus’ Flytrap is reported to work therapeutically to shrink solid tumors, and in fact works for any type of cancer except for blood abnormalities, such as leukemia.  It is also noted to work best if the patient has not previously undergone chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

The discoverer of this herb’s usefulness is researcher and oncologist, Helmut Keller, M.D. Keller began studying Venus’ Flytrap at Boston University in 1980, but moved to Germany a year later to find more freedom for his research.

One of his patients interviewed in 1991 was 65-year-old Betty Williams of Ames, Iowa. Diagnosed with inflammatory breast disease, the most lethal form of breast cancer, she went to Dr. Keller for treatment. Her case study revealed that the skin of her right breast was at first swollen, warm, hardened, and painful, and finally turned black. Diagnosis by biopsy revealed that it was inflammatory carcinoma. Doctors gave her no chance for survival, and predicted death within a few weeks.  The oncologists said that they would try chemotherapy, then radiation, and finally surgery to buy her a little more time.  When she learned of Dr. Keller, she decided to try his Carnivora treatment.  She received one three-hour intravenous injection a day.  She experienced no side effects, and eventually recovered completely. 

According to Morton Walker of The Herb Quarterly, one of Venus’ Flytrap’s faithful users is President Ronald Reagan.  Walker reported that following the removal of malignant polyps from his colon, President Reagan sent to Nordhalben, Germany for an herbal extract of the Venus’ Flytrap to take as a preventative against the spread of cancer. Thereafter, he drank thirty drops of the extract in a glass of water or tea four times a day.  As of 1995, the former president was still taking the Venus’ Flytrap extract.

In addition to its success with cancer, Venus’ Flytrap extract has had a dramatic effect on patients infected with the HIV virus.  Dr. Keller learned that various strengths of the Carnivora formulations work for all diseases in which immune stimulation and modulation are required. Carnivora increases the number and activity of the sick person’s T-helper cells and other immune system components. Laboratory test readings recorded by Dr. Keller on HIV- positive patients show the patients T-helper cell counts rose from as low as 11 per cubic millimeter of blood to well beyond 700, while the T-suppressor cells decreased sharply.  This makes the individual’s important helper/ suppressor ratio almost normal.

The most surprising result has been Venus’ Flytrap’s direct effect in reducing the viability of HIV.  An identified biochemical ingredient in Venus’ Flytrap actually kills the AIDS virus. The Beta-2 Microglobulin test, which measures the amounts of plasma proteins produced by HIV, also decreases. This test for Beta-2 levels indicates that the patient is not advancing to full-blown AIDS.

Cat’s Claw is another incredible herb that can be mixed with the Venus’ Flytrap extract for utmost results.  It has also been used successfully in other countries to treat AIDS and cancer among other diseases.  Cat’s Claw is an herb from Peru known there as Uncaria tomentosa, commonly called Uña de Gato in Spanish and “Cat’s Claw” in English.  This wonder herb, according to Indian folklore, has been used to cure tumors and other serious diseases.

Beginning in the 1970’s and continuing through today, studies conducted at research facilities in Peru, Austria, Germany, England, Hungary, and Italy suggest that Uncaria tomentosa (Cat’s Claw) may be beneficial in the treatment of cancer, arthritis, bursitis, rheumatism, genital herpes and herpes zoster, allergies, ulcers, systematic candidiasis, diabetes, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, PMS, and irregularities of the female cycle, environmental toxic poisoning, numerous bowel and intestinal disorders, organic depression, and those infected with the HIV virus.

Cat’s Claw seems to have the ability to break through severe intestinal disorders that no other available products can touch. Its amazing healing ability and benefit to the immune system appears to have so many therapeutic applications that it far surpasses such well-known herbs as golden seal, echinacea, pau d’arco, maitake, shitake, and reishi mushrooms, Siberian Ginseng, astragalus, and other natural products such as caprylic acid, citrus seed extract, and shark cartilage.

In 1972, a 78-year-old Peruvian plantation owner named Don Luis was sent home by his doctor to die after being diagnosed with lung cancer.  His son went to an old Indian medicine woman, desperate for help for his father.  She gave him tea made from Uncaria tomentosa.  After drinking the tea daily for six months, his cancer had completely disappeared.  He continued living a healthy, cancer-free life until he died of old age at the age of ninety. In 1989 and 1990, U.S. patents were issued to Austrian scientist Dr. Klause Keplinger. These patents explain how Dr. Keplinger isolated six oxindole alkaloids from the root of Cat’s Claw, and that four of these alkaloids have been proven to have a pronounced enhancement effect on phagocytosis, which is the ability of the white blood cells and macrophage to attack, engulf and digest harmful micro-organisms, foreign matter, and debris.

Among the four immuno-stimulating alkaloids exists an alkaloid known as rynchophylline.  This alkaloid has been studied at the Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  According to those studies, this alkaloid contained in Cat’s Claw may be useful in preventing strokes and reducing the risk of heart attack by lowering blood pressure, increasing circulation, and inhibiting both the formation of plaque on the arterial walls and the formation of blood clots in the brain, heart, and arteries.

It has also been determined that Cat’s Claw has been effective in reducing the unpleasant side effects of both AZT and radiation therapy when used in the treatment in cancer.

Given the research conducted on these remarkable plants, the conclusion can be drawn that Venus’ Flytrap and Cat’s Claw both have tremendous potential as a preventative and as a treatment for many of today’s serious health concerns. Taken together, they enhance each other for ultimate benefit.

Since Venus’ Flytrap has not yet gained popularity in the United States, it can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look.  The only known company manufacturing the extract in the U.S. is Native Essence Herb Company.  This company offers each herb individually as a potent extract, or also as a combination of the two. The concentrated liquid herbal solution of Venus’ Flytrap and Cat’s Claw mixed together called Venus’ Flytrap/Cat’s Claw 50/50.  Native Essence’s Herbal Solutions™ products are uniquely prepared in the traditional Native American manner, using only the finest freshly-grown herbs, which are always organically grown or ecologically wildcrafted.

Although people are generally less familiar with taking liquid herbal supplements than capsules, liquid supplements are almost universally recognized to be superior. Liquid herbal extracts and tinctures offer better absorption by the body over capsules and tablets. With any capsule or tablet, the body has to break it down to some degree before it can be assimilated, whereas liquid supplements are quickly absorbed and used by the body.  Liquid formulas can be easily added to any beverage.

If you would like more information, or would like to know how to obtain these herbs, please call Herbal Alternatives USA at (800) 533-5511 or go to their web site at www.herbal-alternatives.com .


Return to the September/October Index page