Kola Nut

 Cola Acuminata

Native peoples of West Africa chew the nut for its stimulant effects. It is a natural source of caffeine that originally was used for many popular cola drinks. It is now a common ingredient in many herbal weight loss formulas as well.

The kola nut originates from the Congo and throughout West Africa. Today, it is cultivated in Jamaica, Indonesia and South America. Tribal peoples of Africa would chew the nut for stamina and to help ease hunger. It often was offered as a gift to tribal leaders or visitors. The high caffeine content acts as a powerful stimulant, and it is said to create a feeling of euphoria. Additionally, shamans would use kola nut in ceremonies and to treat coughs, colds and asthma.

In addition to caffeine, the kola nut contains two other known stimulants, theobromine and theophylline, as well as tannic acid. Chemically, it is similar to guarana, coffee and tea leaves. The herb also contains nitroso, a carcinogenic chemical. In areas in West Africa, especially Nigeria, where chewing kola nut is common, there are higher incidences of oral cancer and gastrointestinal cancer.

Kola nut may be beneficial to those suffering from chronic fatigue and loss of stamina. However, as with caffeine or any stimulant, it should be used with caution. The caffeine acts as bronchodilator and can help in the treatment of asthma and bronchitis. It often is found in herbal weight loss formulas because it helps to increase metabolism and decrease appetite. It enhances alertness and increases overall physical energy and endurance.

The nut is also thought to improve the flavor of any food and to counteract the effects of drinking tainted water.

Kola, as its name suggests, is a main ingredient in many traditional colas. In herbal medicine, the nut is usually soaked in alcohol to make tinctures. May be taken as tea although bitter, and the powder can be taken as a capsule.

The nuts, either whole or cut retain their caffeine content better than kola nut powder and it is recommended that you grind your Kola before using.

In one Nigerian study, laboratory mice that were fed a diet that included kola nut, showed significant weight loss compared with the control group. The researchers indicated that the chemical constituents of kola may have lipolytic, or fat-burning, properties. Although it does contain the carcinogenic substance N-nitroso, short-term use of kola nut may be beneficial for those struggling to lose weight.

Warning: The kola nut herb has high levels of caffeine. The standard dose has more caffeine than a cup of coffee. It should not be taken by women who are pregnant, nursing or individuals with hypertension or heart disease. Those who have trouble sleeping also should avoid kola nut and other caffeine-rich herbs.

Indigenous to western Africa, the cola nut (Cola nitida, Cola acuminata) was originally
reserved for the gods. During a visit to the earth, however, one of the gods left a piece behind
and humans found it. Because of their stimulating powers, cola nuts were used for magic and as
amulets and aphrodisiacs. Today, they still play a central role in the religious and social life of
many West and Central African cultures. Clusius provided the first description of cola in 1605.
Europe first became aware of the cola nut in the second half of the sixteenth century. The first
cola plantations were established in the West Indies around 1680 (Schröder 1991, 119*).
Nevertheless, the stock plant long remained unknown (Schumann 1900). In 1865, the seeds
were found to contain caffeine (Schneider 1974, 1:346*). Propagation occurs using large,
undamaged seeds from the center of the fruit. To germinate, the seeds are placed in well-
moistened seedbeds or pressed directly into the ground; no other treatment is necessary. The
seeds germinate after three to five weeks. The tree can also be propagated using cuttings taken
from root shoots (Eijnatten 1981). The variety Cola acuminata var. trichandra K. Schum. is
especially suitable for cultivation (Seitz et al. 1992, 941). Cola is now also planted in the region
of Bahia (Brazil) for use in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé cult (Voeks 1989, 126*). Cola trees59
require a moist, warm, tropical climate and thrive especially in rain forests. They prefer alluvial
and humus soils. The cola nut is the dried seed heart that has had its hull, i.e., the seedling or
embryo of the plant, removed. In the pharmaceutical trade, only the seeds of Cola
acuminata and Cola nitida may be referred to as cola nuts (Seitz et al. 1992, 942). The seeds are
freed from the fruit by breaking open the follicles by hand. The white seed hull that they are
attached to can be removed in various ways. The cola nuts may be soaked overnight in water, so
that the swollen hulls can be pulled off the next day, or they may be allowed to dry in large piles
for five to six days. As soon as the hull turns brown, it disintegrates. After this, the nuts need
only be washed. Freshly harvested cola nuts are sometimes placed in a termite mound. The
termites then eat the seed hull cleanly away but do not touch the cola nuts (Schröder 1991,
123*). In West Africa and the Sahel zone, all of life is heavily shaped by the cola nut
(Uchendu 1964), which represents the most important socio-integrative element. Cola nuts
are offered to every guest as a gesture of respect and deference, they are presented to a
lover as a token of one’s feelings, they are exchanged at the end of business negotiations to
seal the contract, and they are offered to the ancestors, orishas, spirits, and gods. The
stimulating nuts are ingested at all social and religious events. They are chewed or given to
others at burials, name-giving ceremonies, baptisms, and sacrifices. In the royal courts
(e.g., in northern Ghana), all political meetings and discussions begin with a communal
chewing of cola. The nuts are placed at forks in the road as protective amulets, they are
given to lepers and beggars as gifts, they are handed to physicians and healers as a
welcoming greeting, and they are given to soothsayers as payment for divinations
(Drucker-Brown 1995).The social meetings at which cola nuts are ceremonially distributed
and communally consumed are strongly reminiscent of the manners in which Catha edulis is
used in Yemen, Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novogranatense in South America, Ilex
cassine and Ilex vomitoria in southeastern North America, Ilex paraguariensis in southern
South America, Piper methysticum in Oceania, Camellia sinensis in Japan, Cannabis sativa in
Morocco, and betel in Southeast Asia (cf. Graebner 1927).Cola nuts have also attained a ritual
significance in Latin America. They are one of the liturgical plants of the Candomblé cult and
are an indispensable element in the initiation of new members into the cult (Voeks 1989,
126*).In the Afro-American Santería cult (cf. madzoka medicine), a sacred liquid known
as omiero is drunk at the initiation of a new cult member (santero). Omiero should consist of60
101 herbs, representing all of the orishas (Yoruba gods). 106 Yet because it is almost impossible
to collect all of these plants, the number of sacred orisha herbs has been reduced to twenty-
one. Omiero is prepared from these twenty-one herbs as well as the following ingredients:
rainwater, seawater, river water, holy water, sacrificial blood, rum, honey, manteca de corojo,
cocoa butter, cascarilla, pepper (Piper spp.), and cola nuts (González-Wippler 1981, 95). Alone,
the presence of the many cola nuts, the rum (see alcohol), and the cocoa butter (see Theobroma
cacao) is enough to ensure that the preparation has stimulant or mild psychoactive effects.
Unfortunately, the botanical identity of the twenty-one orisha herbs is not fully known. They do
include Solanum nigrum (cf. Solanum spp., witches’ ointments), lettuce (Lactuca virosa),
cinnamon, and fern (see Polypodium spp.), all of which could contribute to the drink’s
psychoactivity (González-Wippler 1981, 96). The fruits have many folk medicinal uses,
especially in Africa (Akendengué 1992, 171*). They are used primarily as a tonic and stimulant
and to treat dysentery, fever with vomiting, and exhaustion (Ayensu 1978, 257*). Many African
women chew cola nuts to avoid vomiting while pregnant and to treat or suppress emerging
migraines (Seitz et al. 1992, 944). To a certain extent, cola is also regarded as an aphrodisiac
(Drucker-Brown 1995, 132f.). The composition of the constituents is the same in both species.
The purines caffeine and theo-bromine (cf. Theobroma cacao) occur in all parts of the plant but
are concentrated in the seeds and seedlings. Cola nuts from Cola acuminata contain up to 2.2%
caffeine, and those from Cola nitida up to 3.5% caffeine. Both contain less than 1% theo-
bromine (Brown and Malone 1978, 11*; Seitz et al. 1992, 942). Also present are the
polyphenols leucoanthocyanidin and cathecine and large amounts of starch (Seitz et al. 1992,
940). Caffeine and cathecine are primarily present in the form of a caffeine-cathecine complex
(especially in fresh nuts) that previously was wrongly thought to be a glycoside and named
colanine (Seitz et al. 1992, 941). Cola nuts have pronounced powers to stimulate, to wake up a
person and keep him awake, as well as tonic effects, i.e., they generally invigorate a person and
promote concentration. The effects of freshly chewed nuts are more pronounced, as the
caffeine-cathecine complex they contain is broken down more rapidly. Since this complex
decays as the seeds dry, the alkaloids are not as easily removed from the tissue and hence are
more slowly absorbed. To date, no negative effects of Cola use during pregnancy have been
observed (Seitz et al. 1992, 944).