Dragon’s Blood as a Super Antioxidant

Continuing on from the last post on antioxidants and ORAC scores, I wanted to introduce you to this tree. It’s called Croton lechleri, aka Sangre de Grado or Dragon’s blood. That red viscous fluid in the image below that looks like blood is actually the sap from the tree. The tree is found all over South America and its sap has been used medicinally for wound healing and internally for diarrhea by local people’s for centuries.

Dragon’s Blood as a Potent Antioxidant

Here’s the kicker: the sap from Dragon’s Blood has an ORAC score of 2,897,110!!!!! That’s 2.8 million. Just as a reference, cloves are clocking in at 314K and Acai berries at 102K.

In vitro and animal studies show that it can promote the healing of gastric ulcers, and inhibit cutaneous neurogenic inflammation. A proanthocyanidin oligomer isolated from the latex of Croton lechleri is approved by the FDA as a prescription drug to relieve diarrhea associated with antiretroviral therapy in HIV/AIDS patients.

Double blind placebo controlled trials of preparations of Dragon’s blood have shown increased wound healing in patients. I have not personally used this remedy clinically or seen anyone who has, but am excited to learn more about it.

About Dr. Iwanicki

Dr. Mark Iwanicki is a board certified Naturopathic Doctor and Acupuncturist, and a co-founder here at Innovative Medicine. After serving as Chief Operating Officer for the company for 7 years, Mark decided to return to school to pursue a clinical doctoral degree in Naturopathic Medicine and a masters in Acupuncture at NCNM. For the past 5 years Dr Iwanicki has spent his time studying both allopathic and western medical interventions and modalities as well as natural and holistic approaches to health and wellness. He spent 6 months on an intensive Cardiology and Pulmonary medicine internship at the Center of Natural Medicine with Dr. Martin Milner. He also spent 6 months interning with Dr. Amy Bader, a world expert in detoxification, drainage and constitutional homeopathy. While in school, Dr. Iwanicki won a North America wide student case writing scholarship with NDNR and had his case on paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia published in the journal. He also won the Paul C. Bragg Naturopathic student scholarship contest for his essay on the importance of diet and nutrition in a holistic health care practice. You can learn more about Dr. Iwanicki on his site.

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