Alternative Names: Eastern white cedar, northern white cedar, yellow cedar, tree of life, arborvitae, swamp cedar.
Thuja's main action is due to its stimulating volatile oil.
This plant is commonly used in Chinese herbalism, where it is considered to be one of the 50 fundamental herbs.
Native Americans of the eastern United States and Canada used thuja for generations to treat menstrual problems, headaches, and heart ailments. Loggers drank tea made from white cedar twigs to relieve rheumatism. During the 17th century, some people called the eastern white cedar the "tree of life," because they believed that its sap had healing powers. In the late 1800s, the US Pharmacopoeia listed thuja as a treatment to stimulate the uterus and as a diuretic.
Thuja is an evergreen in the cypress family, native to eastern North America. The tree is also grown in Europe as an ornamental plant. The parts used in herbal remedies are the branches/stem and the tiny, flat, scale-like leaves, which contain the oil thujone. Sometimes also used are the seeds and the root bark.
Leaves from the tree are harvested and dried. Liquid extracts, tinctures, and tea made from thuja are taken internally.
Thuja oil and capsules are available in health food stores and over the Internet.
Both the leaves and the seeds contain an essential oil consisting of borneol, bornyl acetate, thujone, camphor and sesquiterpenes. The leaves also contain rhodoxanthin, amentoflavone, quercetin, myricetin, carotene, xanthophyll and ascorbic acid.
Herbalists prescribe thuja for the following:
There is little scientific evidence available to support these uses.
Some practitioners of Homeopathy recommend use of very dilute thuja, in pill or liquid form, for treating irritability, depression, sadness, impaired thinking, headache, warts, growths, rashes, runny nose, sores in the nose, mouth pain, toothache, gas, hemorrhoids, watery stool, enlarged prostate, gonorrhea, back pain, joint pain, bad dreams, tiredness, insomnia, fevers, shaking chills, muscle pain, and cancer. Again, available scientific evidence does not strongly support these claims.
There is no standard dose of the herb. Thuja ointment is applied directly to the skin.
Taken internally, the herb can cause serious side-effects, and may be toxic in large doses. The essential oil, also known as cedar leaf oil, is not generally sold for internal use. It is poisonous, and can also irritate or burn skin and eyes.
When properly prepared and dosed as dietary supplements, the thujone levels are reportedly below the toxic range.
Thuja internally and topically may help dramatically. A typical dose is 10 drops of tincture bid taken orally.
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