What is shower of gold?
Shower of gold is the fruit of Cassia fistula, a tropical tree with hanging sprays of yellow flowers. The sticky dark pulp inside its long brown pods is the part used. It has been used mainly as a laxative, to move a stuck bowel.
In the Caribbean you may hear it called kas or casse in Haiti, caña fístula in the Dominican Republic, and golden shower in Jamaica. The same tree is grown as an ornamental in gardens and along roads.
The pulp does contain plant compounds of the same family as senna, a known laxative. That makes a laxative effect plausible. But good human trials of the pulp are few and small, so the strength and the safe amount are not well pinned down.
Long and wide traditional use is not proof that a remedy works. It is also not proof that it is safe. Both points are worth holding on to as you read the rest of this page.
How does shower of gold work?
The proposed action is on the bowel wall.
The pulp holds anthraquinones (plant compounds that act on the gut). In animal and test tube work, compounds of this family irritate the lining of the large bowel. They appear to pull water in and speed up the muscle waves that push stool along.
That is the same broad route used by senna, a laxative with much better human data. Whether a home-made pulp drink delivers enough of these compounds to do the job is not well measured.
Other claims rest on weaker ground. Extracts of the leaf, bark and flower have lowered blood sugar and markers of swelling in rodents. In test tubes, extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi.
None of that has been shown to carry over into people. Treat the non-laxative uses as untested.
What forms does shower of gold come in?
The common form is the soft black pulp scraped from inside a ripe pod.
In Caribbean homes the pulp was soaked in water and strained. The liquid was drunk, often sweetened to hide a strong, sour-sweet taste. Some people stirred it into juice or boiled it into a syrup.
Whole pods are still sold in markets and by street vendors in parts of the region.
You may also find it dried, as a powder, or inside South Asian herbal blends sold under the name aragvadha. Leaf teas and bark washes exist as well. These are less studied than the pulp.
Where it comes from:
Caribbean home medicine used the pulp chiefly as a purge, to clear a bowel seen as blocked or sluggish.
The tree is not native to the Caribbean. It came from South Asia and spread through the tropics during the colonial period. It then picked up local names in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
In Ayurveda the pulp has a long record under the name aragvadha. Arab and later European pharmacies stocked it for centuries as "cassia pods".
Older doctors gave it for a costive bowel and sometimes during fevers. Flowers, leaves and bark were used in washes and poultices for skin trouble. These uses were local and varied from place to place.
Who should avoid shower of gold?
- Do not use if you are pregnant. Laxatives of this family are not considered safe in pregnancy.
- Do not use if you are breastfeeding, as the compounds may pass into breast milk.
- Never give it to a child under 12 unless a doctor has told you to.
- Do not use if you have belly pain you cannot explain, especially with fever or vomiting.
- Never use it if you may have a blocked bowel (a blockage that stops stool passing through).
- Do not use if you have appendicitis (an inflamed appendix) or pain low on the right side of your belly.
- Avoid it if you have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (long-term diseases that inflame the bowel).
- Do not use if you have low potassium (hypokalaemia) or are dehydrated.
- Avoid it if you take digoxin (a heart drug), water pills (diuretics) or steroid tablets.
- Do not use if you have kidney disease or heart failure without asking your doctor first.
- Never use it day after day for weeks to keep your bowels going.
- Avoid it if you have a history of an eating disorder and use laxatives to control weight.
When should you see a doctor?
Stop using it and see a doctor if any of these happen.
You get severe belly pain, vomiting, or pain that will not ease.
There is blood in your stool, or your stool turns black and tarry.
Diarrhoea lasts more than two days, or you feel faint, very thirsty or weak.
Your heartbeat feels fast, slow or irregular, or your muscles feel weak. These can be signs of low potassium.
Your constipation has not cleared after a week, or your bowel habit has changed and stayed changed. That needs a proper check, not a stronger laxative.
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