Acorus calamus
(Sweetflag, Calamus)

Therapeutic Actions:

• Anti-anorectic
• Aromatic bitter
• Carminative
• Diaphoretic
• Emmenagogue
• Excitant and mild gastric tonic
• Secretegogue
• Sedative
• Sialagogue
• Stimulant
• Stomachic
• Synergist

Clinical Indications:

• AIDS - wasting
• Anorexia nervosa
• Digestive disorders that require secretory activity to be increased
• Indigestion (dyspepsia)
• Reduces intestinal gas (flatulence) and bloating after meals
• Stimulates the appetite
• Stomach cancer - symptomatic relief only
• Tobacco addiction (rhizome (root) is chewed for this)
• Varicose veins - topically

Contraindications:

• Pregnancy - due to the emmenagogue effect and genotoxic property of asarone

Drug/Nutrient Interaction:

• Counterproductive to use medications that inhibit stomach acid production, ie antacids, gastric acid secretion inhibitors and histamine H2 receptor antagonists, since calamus promotes stomach acid secretion

Chemical Constituents:

• Acoric acid
• Acorin, a bitter glycoside
• Bitters
• Muscilage
• Resin
• Tannins
• Sesquiterpenes
• Volatile oils:
  
  Aserone
  Azulene
  Eugenol
  Calamene
  Camphor
  Cineole
  Cis-methyl isoeugenol
  Linalol
  Pinene

Toxicity:

• (In rats)
  Fluid in the abdomen (ascites)
  Growth depression
  Heart and liver changes
  Possibly intestinal malignancies

  Copyright 1998 - 2008 by L. Vicky Crouse, ND and James S. Reiley, ND. All rights reserved (ISSN 1527-0661).