Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.’s response The prickly pear cactus, often referred to as nopal, opuntia, and other names, is marketed as a remedy for hangovers, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. It is also praised for having anti-inflammatory and antiviral qualities.
- Treatment for urinary tract infections with an infusion of pads
- Raw nopalitos include mucilage (pulp), which lowers the rate of sugar absorption and significantly lessens the symptoms of insulin shock.
- Adult pads as a wound poultice and antiseptic
- mature pads for burn treatment
- Tea prepared from pads to treat scar tissue from tuberculosis
- Mucilage from mature pads has antibacterial qualities because it kills bacteria in cultures.
- Boils are treated with a hot prickly pear pad treatment.
- As a hemostat, split pads are used to halt bleeding.
- Treatment for a swollen prostate using infusion of pads
Insoluble calcium oxalate and soluble mucilage are both abundant in pads. They drastically decrease cholesterol and prevent glycemia due to their hypoglycemic action. Simple carbohydrates are not absorbed as well when exposed to soluble fibers, especially viscous mucilage. In addition, amylose, which breaks down into simple sugars more slowly than amylopectin, the starch found in bread and potatoes, is abundant in pads. However, mature pads have insoluble calcium oxalate crystals that could be harmful to your health. Nopales are beneficial in “preventing diet-related cardiovascular disease and adult onset diabetes” as well as “preserving the male prostate gland,” according to Laredo herbalist Tony Ramirez. (2011) Fowler
Temalpakh, 1972: Cahuilla Indian Plant Knowledge and Use. Press of Malki Museum.
1983 Experiencing America’s Unknown Interior by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. New Mexico University Press [Reprint of Crowell-Collier Publishing’s 1961 edition].
1981 Choke Canyon Reservoir and Surrounding Area Historic Indian Groups. Volume 1 of the Choke Canyon Series. Archeological Research Center San Antonio’s branch of the University of Texas. Texas’ San Antonio.
1968 A wooden pestle and mortar from Texas’s Val Verde County. Texas Archeological Society Bulletin 39:1–8.