Goldenseal - History and Folklore
The Cherokee used goldenseal to treat cancer and indigestion, to improve appetite, and as a topical treatment for skin disorders. The Iroquois used goldenseal for whooping cough, fever, heart disease, and as an eyewash. In addition, they used goldenseal as an aid for stomach and bowel ailments, an emetic, and an antidiarrheal agent. Because the goldenseal plant is native only to the eastern U.S., it has never been used in traditional Indian or Chinese medicine.
Early settlers used goldenseal for its antiseptic properties to support wound healing. The nineteenth-century herbalists prescribed it for constipation, alcoholism, swollen heads, labor induction, peptic ulcers, tumors, diphtheria, goiter, and hemorrhage.
One reason for the recent popularity of goldenseal may be a 1900 novel (Lloyd, 1900) in which goldenseal is consumed in an attempt to mask the presence of illicit drugs in the urine. There is no evidence that goldenseal can camouflage drugs in urine. Should any such use have been successful, it was most likely due to the dilution from large amounts of fluid (Cone et al, 1998) rather than the specific effect of goldenseal (Wu et al, 1995). Because of this widespread, but inaccurate, legend, some commercial medical laboratories screen for goldenseal to identify individuals who may try to conceal other substances.
