Coca leaf is an indigenous medicinal herb with centuries of nutritional, medicinal, social and spiritual use. Millions of people consume coca every day as a tea or chew the leaf, mainly in South America.
Coca leaf is an excellent source of vitamins A, B1, B2, C and E, as well as calcium, potassium and phosphorus. Coca leaf has a wide variety of medicinal and nutritional health benefits.
Coca chewing and coca tea have the effect of reducing appetite while increasing vigor and energy. Coca leaf is widely used in high-altitude regions as a cure for altitude sickness, as it has the effect of increasing the body’s oxygen uptake and stabilizing blood glucose levels by promoting glycemic homeostasis.
Coca leaf contains many different beneficial and medicinal alkaloids. When using coca tea and whole coca leaf, all of the alkaloids are available, and absorbed more slowly, producing a much different, more modulated and gentle effect than ingesting pure cocaine. Indeed, the vast majority of coca users reject cocaine, and studies show that using coca leaf can help reduce cocaine use and increase health.
Coca leaf doesn’t actually contain cocaine. Rather, cocaine is produced from coca leaves by altering an alkaloid called ecgonine, which is similar in structure to cocaine. Cocaine is created out of ecgonine during the extraction process.
For More Information:
• Seven Secrets Coca-Cola Doesn’t Want You to Know
• The Coca Museum
• Coca leaf: Myths and Reality
• Coca on Wikipedia
• Coca: The History and Medical Significance
• Coca: A Blessing and a Curse, National Geographic
• History and uses of the Coca leaf
• Short history of coca leaf
• Demystifying and rehabilitating Erythroxylum
• Six Health Benefits of the Coca Leaf
• Documentary: The Amazing World of the Coca Leaf