This plant is one of the oldest documented living plants on our planet. NDGA is also a powerful anti-inflammatory. Larrea contains active flavonoids and ligans that, in addition to being anti-oxidants, act as antifungals, antibiotics, and antivirals. Clinical evaluations consisted of testimonies from close to 36 persons. The lotion proved to work faster and to be more effective than acyclovir, the main drug for herpes.
Herbalists use it to treat arthritis in carefully prepared preparations.
Of Larrea is under attack by the FDA primarily because it is being used as a treatment for certain cancerous conditions. The FDA claims that six cases of acute nonviral hepatitis in North America are linked to chaparral. In one of the cases cited a woman experienced liver failure. She was taking two capsules of chaparral with garlic in a tea of chickweed and nettle. Extensive studies were carried out in the seventies and eighties by Dr. Norman Farnsworth, who found the plant to have no hepatoxic properties.