White willow bark has traditionally been used as an analgesic, dating back to around 400BC. Back then, it was mainly used to reduce pain, fever and inflammation.

The anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects of white willow bark are due to the presence of salicin. Salicin was identified in the 1800s but was expensive to extract so a synthetic compound, salicylic acid, was produced. This, however, was too harsh on the stomach so a milder version called acetylsalicylic acid was derived. Acetylsalicylic acid is more commonly known as aspirin.

As white willow bark is chemically very similar to aspirin, it is used to treat the same sorts of complaints – that is, pain, inflammation and fever. It also has similar side effects. Therefore, if you have a sensitivity to aspirin, you should not take white willow bark.

White willow bark is sometimes added to weight loss supplements. It’s believed that it can have synergistic effects when combined with other compounds such as ephedra and caffeine, increasing the metabolism and enhancing the fat burning properties of these two substances. However, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of scientific evidence to back up this claim.

If you’re on any sort of medication and are thinking of taking a weight loss supplement containing white willow bark, if would be advisable to check with your doctor first because, as is the case with aspirin, it can have negative interactions with other drugs.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 7:48 am and is filed under Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.