rica rica

What is rica rica?

Rica rica is a small, strongly scented shrub from the high Andes. Its dried leaves and flower tops are brewed as a tea. Cooks also use them to flavour meat, stews and drinks.

The plant is Acantholippia deserticola, a member of the verbena family. It grows on dry, salty ground in the Atacama highlands. You will find it in markets in northern Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.

Tradition used it for upset stomach, colds and the sickness that comes with high altitude. There are almost no human studies behind any of that. Long use as a food herb is not proof that it works as a medicine, and it is not proof that it is safe in strong doses.

How does rica rica work?

Nobody has shown how rica rica acts in the human body. Almost all the work so far is in test tubes.

The smell comes from an essential oil. In lab tests, that oil slows the growth of some bacteria and fungi. Whether it does anything useful inside a person is not known.

Extracts also mop up free radicals in test-tube antioxidant assays. This is a chemistry result, not a health result. It does not tell you that drinking the tea protects your cells.

The traditional stomach uses are often explained by the warm, minty oil relaxing the gut. Related verbena-family oils do relax gut muscle in animal tissue studies. That link has not been tested in people drinking rica rica tea.

What forms does rica rica come in?

Most people meet it as loose dried leaf, sold in bags or bunches.

Common forms: - dried herb for tea or infusion - a kitchen seasoning, alone or in Andean spice mixes - a flavouring in local spirits, liqueurs and soft drinks - the steam-distilled essential oil, sold for scent and cosmetics - hydrosol (the scented water left after distilling), used in skin products

The essential oil is a very different product from the tea. It is many times stronger and is not a food.

Where it comes from:

Andean peoples of the Atacama region have used rica rica for a very long time. Ethnobotanical records place it with Aymara and Atacameño communities.

Healers and households brewed the leaves after heavy meals. The tea was also given for coughs, colds and the headache and nausea of high altitude. Some reports mention washes for sore joints and skin.

Today it is a market herb and a point of regional pride. Chilean chefs use it widely as a flavour. That history records what people did, not what the plant was shown to do.

What does rica rica help with?

• Indigestion, bloating and gas: This is the most common traditional use. The tea was drunk after rich or heavy meals. No human trial has tested rica rica for stomach upset. Warm, scented teas of this kind often feel soothing. That comfort may come from the warm drink as much as the herb.
• Nausea: Tradition used the tea for a queasy stomach, often with travel or altitude. There is no human evidence for this use. If nausea is new, severe, or comes with pain or vomiting blood, see a doctor instead.
• Colds and coughs: The steam and the tea were used for blocked noses and chesty coughs. The oil contains 1,8-cineole, which has been studied in other products for airway symptoms. Rica rica itself has not been tested that way in people. Warm steam can loosen mucus on its own.
• Altitude sickness (soroche): Andean hosts often serve rica rica tea to visitors arriving in the highlands. There is no evidence that it prevents or treats altitude sickness. This matters, because severe altitude sickness can kill. Do not use a herb in place of going down the mountain or getting medical help.
• Period cramps: Some regional accounts describe the tea for cramping pain. No studies support this. Proven options for cramps exist, so ask a pharmacist or doctor.
• Use as a food flavouring: This use is real and uncontroversial. The herb gives a mint-and-eucalyptus note to Andean cooking. At food amounts it is treated like any kitchen herb. No health claim is attached to this use.

Which foods are rich in rica rica?

Rica rica is a flavouring herb, not a source of nutrients. In the Andes it seasons meat, stews, sauces and some drinks and spirits. Cooking amounts are small.

What are the side effects of rica rica?

• Heartburn or a burning feeling with strong tea
• Mild stomach upset
• Mouth or throat irritation
• Allergic rash in people sensitive to verbena-family plants
• Skin irritation from the undiluted essential oil
• Poisoning risk if the essential oil is swallowed

Good to know:

At food and tea strength, problems are rare and mild. That is the long market record, not trial data, so rare harms could be missed.

The essential oil is the real hazard here. Concentrated oils with thymol and cineole can burn the mouth and gut and harm the liver when swallowed. Children are at much higher risk than adults.

How much rica rica should you take?

• Recommended daily: Packets of dried rica rica tea usually suggest about 1 to 2 grams of leaf per cup. That is roughly one teaspoon. Labels often cap it at two or three cups a day. That is a label figure, not advice for you. No study has set a safe or useful dose in people. The essential oil is not a dose at all. It is not meant to be swallowed, and no safe oral amount is known.
• Best time of day: Timing does not matter much. Tradition favoured after meals, because the main use was for a full or uneasy stomach. The tea has no caffeine, so it does not keep you awake.
• With or without food: Either is fine. Most people drink it after eating. If strong tea gives you heartburn, drink it with food or make it weaker.
• Time to effect: If a warm herbal tea settles your stomach, you tend to notice within an hour. That may be the warmth and the fluid rather than the plant. It may also do nothing at all. There is no proven effect to wait for.
• How long to take it: No one can give an evidence-based length of use. The studies that would answer that have not been done. In tradition it was used now and then, for a few days around a symptom. Daily use for weeks or months has never been checked for safety.