What Is Slippery Elm?

Slippery elm is the name of two trees in North America (Ulmus fulva and Ulmus rubra), but in alternative medicine, it refers to the inner bark of the tree. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, Native Americans have been using the tree's inner bark for centuries. It is used mainly for throat remedies, but it is also used for other minor medical complaints.

Uses

• According to Earl Mindell's Herb Bible, slippery elm is used to soothe sore throats, coughs, minor burns, minor wounds, boils, some itchy skin complaints, upset stomachs, heartburn, pain from Crohn's disease and gastric ulcers. It can also help to soothe away pain that comes from a painful bout of vomiting.

Ingredients

• The active ingredient in any slippery elm product is dried and powdered slippery elm inner bark. When mixed with water, the powder turns into thick mucilage, which is similar to mucus in the digestive system. The gel-like substance helps to coat and soothe. Unless it is just a dried powder, slippery elm products may contain a variety of other ingredients to make it taste better or to keep a pill shape.

Types

• Slippery elm can be found in a wide variety of products, including capsules, tinctures, herbal tea bags, ointments and lozenges. Getting just the powder is also available from health food stores and herbalists. The powder can then be added to home preparations of creams, teas or a thick syrup.

Precautions

• It is always best to check with a doctor before taking any kind of herb. But according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, slippery elm is not known to definitely interact badly with any prescription medication and is not known to have any serious side effects. The only side effect seems to be that it can lessen the body's ability to absorb other kinds of medications, including other herbs.

Fun Fact

• The demand for slippery elm powder is so high that trees are now becoming rare. In order to get the inner bark, it needs to be stripped away from the tree, therefore killing it. No other part of the tree can be used for herbal medicine. According to a 2007 estimate from the USDA Forest Service, hundreds of trees are illegally harvested every year from public parks and private properties.