Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Palo mulato is the bark of Bursera simaruba, a tropical tree of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and south Florida. In Latin American home medicine the bark is simmered into a tea for fevers, colds and itchy skin.
The tree is easy to spot. Its red outer bark peels in thin papery sheets, which gave it names like gumbo-limbo, indio desnudo and tourist tree.
You will find it sold as dried bark, tea bags, powder, capsules and tinctures. Leaves, sap and resin are also used on the skin in home settings.
Here is the honest verdict. The tradition is long and well recorded, but human trials are almost absent. Traditional use is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
No one has shown how palo mulato works in the human body. Almost all of the research is lab and animal work.
In test tubes, bark extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. Whether that happens on skin or inside the gut is not known.
In rodent studies, extracts cut paw swelling and protected the stomach lining. Animal results often fail to repeat in people.
Lab tests also show antioxidant activity. A strong antioxidant reading in a dish does not predict any health benefit.
The traditional idea was simpler. Healers treated the bark as cooling, and used it to draw out heat, fever and skin irritation. That idea has never been tested in a proper trial.
Dried bark is the common form. Most other products are made from it.
Shredded or chipped bark, simmered in water as a tea.
Tea bags and loose bark powder.
Tinctures, which are alcohol extracts sold as drops.
Capsules of powdered bark.
Fresh leaves or sap, crushed and put on skin in home use.
Resin, burned as incense in some communities.
Quality is not checked the way medicines are. Strength, purity and labelling vary between sellers.
Palo mulato has deep standing across Latin America and the Caribbean. Maya and other Mesoamerican healers used the bark, and Spanish colonial records noted it early.
The bark tea was given for fever, flu, colds and body aches. It was also used for gout, kidney complaints and upset stomach.
On skin, crushed leaves and bark washes were applied to rashes, bites, sores and sunburn.
Its best known folk use is for the rash from poisonwood, a tree that often grows nearby. Local lore held that the cure stood beside the cause.
The resin was burned as incense and used as a glue and varnish.
Stop and see a doctor if any of these happen.
Get emergency help for swelling of the lips, face or throat, trouble breathing, or a rash that blisters and spreads fast.
See a doctor the same day for a fever above 39C, a fever lasting more than three days, or fever with a stiff neck or confusion.
See a doctor soon for burning when you pass urine, blood in urine, yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, or ongoing vomiting.
If you have diabetes, check your blood sugar and seek advice if you feel shaky, sweaty or confused.
In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement. It is not approved by the FDA to treat any illness.
In Mexico and parts of Central America it is sold as a traditional herbal remedy. The European Medicines Agency has no approved monograph for it.
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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