The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Kola Tree

Scientific Names

Kola Tree

  • Cola acuminata L.
  • Sterculia family

Common Names

  • Caffeine nut
  • Kola nut
  • Guru nut

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Parts Usually Used

Seed
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Description of Plant(s) and
Culture

The fruit of the kola tree is a yellowish-brown woody pod that contains several large, flattened, white or red nut.
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Where Found

Grows wild in West Africa and is cultivated in tropical South America and in the West Indies.
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Medicinal Properties

Stimulant, tonic
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Biochemical Information

1.1% to 2.5% caffeine and kolanin
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Legends, Myths and Stories

The kola or cola nut has been used for ages in Africa as a masticatory; often combined with grains of paradise. The nuts were used to make a stimulating native beverage. Natives sometimes endured hardships or dangers in order to obtain a supply of kola nuts. The nuts contain 1.1% to 2.5% caffeine and kolanin. The stimulating effect of the nuts, when chewed, is more slowly produced and longer lasting because the caffeine-kolanin constituents are combined with about 50% nutritive matter. Kola nuts, in the fresh state, are bitter at first but this is soon followed by an agreeable sweetish taste.. Nuts are much used in “soft” drinks and in liqueurs and wines.

Exported kola nuts, as we receive them, become extremely hard and are not used as a masticatory.
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Uses

Kola nuts contain more caffeine than coffee berries and are taken as a stimulant to prevent fatigue. They also act as a tonic agent for the heart and are sometimes useful in relieving pains of neuralgia and headache.
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Formulas or Dosages

Infusion: steep 1 tsp. kola nuts in 1 cup water. Take 1 cup per day.

Powder: the powder can be taken conveniently in size 00 gelatin capsules, 1 or 2 at a time as needed.
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Bibliography

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

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