Yucca – a Medicine, Soap, Tea, Food, and So Much More

The well known yucca plant, also known as, Yucca glauca (Eastern) Yucca brevifolia (Western), Soap-tree, Soapweed, Soapwell, Soap Root, and Adam’s Needle has been viewed as both a nuisance and a useful commodity to different cultures.

Soapweed Yucca is perennial shrub that grows in the spring and summer throughout the state of Kansas. The yucca is considered to be nuisance to cattle ranchers due to their spreading habit that competes for space and grazing grasses for their cattle.

But the Native American tribes found many beneficial uses for lowly Yucca as they once lived in harmony with nature on the western prairie. They used the leaves of the yucca for such common ailments as psoriasis, dandruff, hair loss, and skin sores. Yucca was also used to relieve inflammation, including joint inflammation due to rheumatism and arthritis. Even the Indian tribes of the Southwest found beneficial uses for the yucca. They used the yucca’s leaves to make soaps, shampoos and other hygiene related items, including dental floss. In northern New Mexico, healers use a tea brewed from yucca leaves to treat asthma and headaches. Actually both the leaves and roots have been used as a tea for these ailments.

The Native American also used the yucca plant for many products in their daily lives. The strong fibers from the plant came in handy in making cord, cloth, baskets and sandals. Raw flowers were eaten in salads, or boiled as vegetables. The immature pods were roasted and peeled before eating and the dried pods and seeds were ground into flour. The roots were also utilized by Native American tribes. Since the roots form a frothy soap, it was both used a cleansing agent and a skin cream for treating rashes.

Surely, the Native American knew what modern research has just recently discovered. This research suggests that there are saponins found in yucca that are considered to be a precursor to cortisone, which prevents the release of toxins from the intestines that restrict the growth of cartilage. While cortisone is widely prescribed by physicians today to treat inflammatory and arthritic conditions, it does not come without many side effects and some of which are clearly contrary to the conditions to the diseases they are prescribed to treat. Most notably, these side effects include damage to connective tissues in the bone. The other side effects include water retention, elevated blood sugar levels, loss of bone calcium, suppression of the adrenal glands and the immune system due to increased susceptibility to bacterial, virus and fungal infections. Not exactly a healthy choice for anyone, especially the elderly.

Also, recent research confirms is that yucca is useful in treating arthritis and other soft tissue inflammatory diseases without the unwanted side effects of cortisone. As an added benefit, saponins are both water and fat soluble, so its delivery system in the human body is thorough and unimpeded.
Even more recently, research suggests that yucca leaf extract may be useful in preventing blood clots as well and has the possibility of preventing strokes, common to the aging population in America.
 
Interested in learning from the Native American culture? Learn how to prepare your own yucca recipes.