Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Koa is a small, strongly scented mint shrub of the high Andes. Its botanical name is Clinopodium bolivianum. It is also called khoa, q'oa, muña or Inca muña.
The dried leaves are brewed into a hot tea. In Bolivia and Peru people drink it for an upset stomach, gas and altitude sickness. Bundles of the dried plant are also burned as incense in Andean offerings.
Here is the honest verdict on the evidence. Almost everything known about koa comes from test-tube and animal work, not from trials in people. Long use in a tradition is not proof that a plant works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
One point matters more than the rest. The leaf tea is a mild, food-like drink, but the concentrated essential oil is not. That oil is rich in pulegone, a compound that can harm the liver in high doses.
No one has shown how koa works in the human body. What follows is proposed, not proven.
The leaves hold a fragrant oil. In test-tube studies, that oil slows the growth of some bacteria and fungi. In lab dishes, leaf extracts also mop up free radicals, which is an antioxidant test.
Mint-family oils can relax gut muscle in animal and tissue studies. That would fit the old use for cramps and trapped wind. Whether a cup of tea does the same in your gut has not been tested.
For altitude sickness, the traditional idea is that the warm, aromatic tea eases headache and nausea. There is no good human study behind that idea. Only oxygen, rest and going down to a lower altitude are proven to treat it.
Loose dried leaf for tea is the form most people meet.
Other forms on sale include: - tea bags, sometimes blended with other Andean herbs - powdered leaf, used as a seasoning - alcohol tinctures and liquid extracts - a steam-distilled essential oil - bundles of dried stems sold as ritual incense
The essential oil is a different product from the tea. It is many times stronger. It is not for swallowing, in any amount.
Labelling is often poor outside the Andes. Plants sold as "muña" may be Minthostachys mollis instead, which is a different species. Check the botanical name on the pack.
Andean households used koa long before written records. The leaves were brewed after heavy meals and for stomach pain. Miners and travellers drank it for soroche, the local word for altitude sickness.
Under the name q'oa, the dried plant was burned as an offering to Pachamama, the earth. That ritual use is still alive in Bolivia today.
Colonial-era and later botanical writers listed the plant as Satureja boliviana. Herbalists also used it in steam inhalations for colds and blocked noses. None of this older use involved the kind of testing a modern trial would do.
Stop koa and see a doctor the same day if you notice: - yellow skin or yellow eyes - dark urine or pale stools - pain under your right ribs - unusual tiredness with nausea and loss of appetite
Get emergency help at once if someone swallows the essential oil, or if you have swelling of the lips or tongue, a spreading rash or trouble breathing.
At altitude, treat confusion, breathlessness at rest, a bubbling cough or unsteady walking as an emergency. Go down and get medical help. Do not wait to see if tea helps.
In Bolivia and Peru koa is an ordinary food herb and tea. In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement or herbal tea, and it is not approved as a medicine. In the United Kingdom and European Union it is sold as a herbal tea, with no approved medical claim.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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