Yucca

tiffy

Can yucca be used as a natural anti-inflammatory?

Yes BUT ... it can have exactly the same side effects as prednisone.  *some* is fine -- particularly if the FOOD is used.  (I should ask -- are you talking about yucca capsules or yucca the root that you get at the grocery store and cook and eat??)

Adding yucca to a dog's food is great.  You can get the frozen pieces (which are often deep fried by Spanish folks) OR if you are patient you can peel the root, hack it up and cook it.  Even cooking the frozen pieces that are already cut up is TIME-consuming.

You have to cook it into oblivion - add water and cook it until it goes to a paste.  There will be 'strings' and just take those out and throw them away.  But adding it to the dog's food is great.  You won't overdose that way.  But the capsules can become habit-forming and you can cause many of the same side-effects as you'd see with prednisone. 

Yucca IS a natural steroid.  Plain and simple -- so don't over do it -- but for arthritis is can be a good help.  Just not every week.

 Callie, I'm looking for a natural anti-inflammatory for Tootsie.

To do what?  Sorry -- not trying to be dim here.  ALL anti-inflammatories (natural or pharmaceutical) come with a price tag to the body -- do you have my arthritis article?  Email me if you want (not a PM -- I gotta send you an attachment).

In other words, there are NONE that you can just take without care.  There's white willow bark, but it's REAL similar to aspirin and without care it will, like all other nsaids, cause stomach bleeding.  So you combine with relaxants, etc. 

But then there are anti-inflammatories for the skin, etc. -- depends on what caused the inflammation and where.

Is she on fish oil and GAGs already (the building blocks of cartilage)?  That's the basic starting point for any anti-inflammatory concerns that involve joints.

I had terrific luck with Lulu and switching her to a diet naturally low in inflammatory elements, and using GAGs and cetyl-M.  She's out guarding the sheep again (she insists, though I insist that she stay in at night).  She started out with some almost completely fused joints in her tail and spine.  All these joints have loosened up considerably and continue to improve steadily.   I've been particularly impressed with the cetyl-M.

But fish oil is the number one weapon, really.  Make sure it's a good one.  I recently went from a good holistic store brand to Seapet's human line, for myself.  What a difference!  I take it for mood moderation and there was a huge, huge difference - same dose, just better quality.  And make sure you have the right dose.  You'll want about 1200 mg EPA+DHA combined - that's not fish oil amount, that's the "active ingredients" listed in the nutritional analysis.

Lu's diet is so low in omega 6s (the main inflammatory element in our diets) that she actually takes an omega 6 supplement to balance it.  There's really no better way to offer such a diet, than to prepare it yourself.

I was watching Lu come galloping across the field a couple days ago for her morning meal, and was just amazed at the turnaround in her.  Our three year old Maremma Minnie was running with her and you couldn't tell which was younger.  Our neighbor used to say something about, "There's your old dog," but now she has to stop and say, "There's - who is that?  Min?  Tully  Is that Lu?" 

 OK I give what is GAGs?

I am thrilled to hear the old girl is young again LOL

yucca root is a staple in the diet of many populations. It's also called cassava and manioc. When processed it's called tapioca. It's very similar to potatoes but potatoes are inflammatory and yucca is anti-inflammatory. As long as you cook it very well it's an ok carb source.

Yucca IS a natural steroid.  Plain and simple -- so don't over do it -- but for arthritis is can be a good help.  Just not every week.

many people around the world eat yucca every day of their lives.

 Tootsie gets Grizzly Salmon Oil daily, along with vit. e. Whats GaG?

mudpuppy

Yucca IS a natural steroid.  Plain and simple -- so don't over do it -- but for arthritis is can be a good help.  Just not every week.

many people around the world eat yucca every day of their lives.

Maybe it has different effects on dogs just like chocolate?

mudpuppy

Yucca IS a natural steroid.  Plain and simple -- so don't over do it -- but for arthritis is can be a good help.  Just not every week.

many people around the world eat yucca every day of their lives.

Would depend on how much.  

Yucca was a staple of the California coastal peoples' diet.  I think it may have been in the northeast, too.  We got to eat manioc paste at a demonstration in school.  It tasted like unsweetened tapioca.  I was a bit disappointed when I learned later that it WAS tapioca! 

GAGs or glycosaminoglycans is the class of protein chains in which chondroitins (connective tissue and cartilage), and hyaluronate (synovial fluid) belong, both of which are key in joint health. Glucosamine is a precursor of these.  It is not clear at this time how effective simply supplying chondroitin is, because of the size of the molecule - instead you will typically see one of the sulfated GAGs or HA in a joint supplement. 

I'm lazy and don't want to type out glycosaminoglycans - and besides, with my dyslexia I usually get lost about halfway through.   

mudpuppy:

Yucca IS a natural steroid.  Plain and simple -- so don't over do it -- but for arthritis is can be a good help.  Just not every week.

 

many people around the world eat yucca every day of their lives.

 

 

Would depend on how much.  

staple of the diet. As in, main source of daily calories. It doesn't contain a "steroid" it contains saponins. Might want to read up on it. Saponins are what they put in various foods to lower people's blood cholesterol. The only side effect I've ever seen reported is if you consume fairly large quantities of yucca extract, i.e. purified saponins, it may interfere with absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.  Here's a fairly old rambling article on yucca extract being fed to a wide range of animals.

http://www.asas.org/symposia/9899proc/0909.pdf

 So... it would be like a really good thing to use tapioca flour in my dog treats?

I had no idea that tapioca and yucca were the same.

 I'm not sure the flour has the anti-inflammatory properties but it at least is inflammatory neutral unlike wheat or barley or oat flour.  Even rice is not so great.  Yup, tapioca is also cassava, yuca, what we mistakenly call yucca (it's not the same as the spiny decorative plant), and several other names.