About Herbs

Bottom Line: There is limited evidence on Damiana's stimulant effects. It has not been shown to treat cancer in humans.

Damiana is a wild shrub found in Mexico, Central America and parts of South America. It is used as a diuretic, laxative, stimulant, aphrodisiac, and also to treat diabetes and venereal diseases. Animal data show that Damiana can reduce anxiety and affect sexual behavior but there is no human data. Patients with diabetes should avoid Damiana because it may increase effects of drugs that reduce blood sugar.

Weight loss
A small study in healthy volunteers showed that oral intake of tablets containing Damiana, Yerba Mate, and Guarana resulted in weight loss.

Damiana is a wild shrub prevalent in regions of South America. It is used in traditional medicine as a diuretic, laxative, stimulant, aphrodisiac and for treating diabetes and venereal diseases. Studies done in mice have shown that Damiana acts as an anxiolytic ⁽¹⁾, stimulates sexual behavior ⁽³⁾, and has hypoglycemic activity ^{(7) (9)}. It is used in the botanical formulation ArginMax ⁽⁴⁾, which is being marketed for treatment of sexual dysfunction in women. There are conflicting data on the estrogenic activity of damiana ^{(8) (12)}.
Oral intake of capsules containing a mixture of Damiana, Yerba Mate, and Guarana led to weight loss in healthy volunteers ⁽⁵⁾.
Diabetics should use Damiana with caution as it may potentiate the effects of hypoglycemic drugs. Damiana has not been studied in cancer patients.

Damiana extract and two of its compounds, pinocembrin and acacetin, could significantly suppress aromatase activity. Other compounds including pigenin 7-glucoside, Z-echinacin and pinocembrin showed estrogenic activity ⁽¹²⁾.

Sensitivity to Damiana

Damiana has been used in combination with other herbs in small studies for sexual dysfunction and for weight loss. Clinical trials have not been conducted to evaluate its safety and efficacy.

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3. Arletti R, et al. Stimulating property of Turnera diffusa and Pfaffia paniculata extracts on the sexual-behavior of male rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1999;143(1): 15-9.
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8. Zava DT, Dollbaum CM, and Blein M. Estrogen and Progestin bioactivity of foods, herbs, and spices. P.S.E.B.M. 1998; 217: 369-378.
9. Alarcon-Aguilara FJ, et al. Study of the anti-hyperglycemic effect of plants used as antidiabetics. J Ethnopharmacol. 1998; 61(2):101-10.
10. Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/ (Accessed July 22, 2008).
11. PDR for Herbal Medicines. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, 1998.
12. Zhao J, Dasmahapatra AK, Khan SI, Khan IA. Anti-aromatase activity of the constituents from damiana (Turnera diffusa). J Ethnopharmacol. 2008;120(3):387-93.