Strophanthus

I’m really blown away by this vine that grows in mostly Cameroon and Madagascar after learning about it from Dr Tom Cowan.
The seeds of the Strophanthus Gratus vine were originally used as a cardiac glycoside in the 1940s. Widely used in Germany, Switzerland, France and Brazil for angina, early heart failure, and acute cardiac emergencies, it went out of favor because synthetic drugs came along and Doctors wanted to move onto these cool new drugs. Plus the dogma of the day was turning more towards the ‘blockage’ theory of what caused heart attacks and because strophanthus didn’t unblock arteries, it was discarded as useless. But up until the 1970’s, Doctors in Europe were still using a ‘Strophanthin- quick -test” in their offices with patients with suspected cardiac disease. So fast acting was Ouabain, the active ingredient, that they would give the patient 2 or 3 tablets of strophanthus to chew and if within 5-10 minutes the patient felt better, they knew the patient had cardiac issues.

Ouabain which is pronounced ‘waa-ba-ein’ is only found in the seeds of Strophanthus Gratus vine and not the other varieties of Strophanthus. Rightly so, the plant is called “a gift from paradise” because of the many things that it can do.
It tones and supports the parasympathetic nervous system. It prevents and treats heart attacks because it addresses root causes like metabolic acidosis by converting lactic acid (a toxin buildup in heart tissue) into pyruvate (a nutrient fuel), It also halts heart tissue necrosis and cramps. It was used prophylactically in Germany for decades with reduced morbidity. Doctors also noticed that their patients who were taking strophanthus were somehow less likely to get cancer.
It reduces angina and chest pain and improves the overall function of the heart. Now who wouldn’t want that considering heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the USA.

It enhances microcirculation and blood flow. Lowers blood pressure and treats arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation. It makes you feel better, have more energy but yet stay relaxed because of it’s actions on the parasympathetic nervous system.


We can say that ouabain works for for a whole list of issues because we can see these things improve when you take it. Homeopathy shows the same, there is a list of things that strophanthus is used for such as cardiovascular support, restoration of tone, dropsy, anxiety, and stress.

But what is it actually doing? How is actually having an effect on all of these health issues.

This is what continues to blow my mind. According to Dr Gilbert Ling and Dr Tom Cowan, Strophanthus and it’s active ingredient ouabain don’t really fix any of those things. Instead, Ouabain influences the gel like structure of the cytoplasm making it into a more perfect gel. The gel like structure, which is in the cytoplasm of all of our cells, has a kind of mesh structure that allows potassium to slide into a cell and keeps sodium out. Keeping the potassium inside the cell and the sodium outside the cell creates the Charge that creates the electrical activity. It charges the battery of what we call Life. When your cells are not holding onto their charge, if you’re not able to form this perfect gel, you’re not able to concentrate potassium and sodium where they belong. Essentially, you’re a dead battery. You can think of any of the health issues mentioned above and you can see how the real cause is diminished charge in the cells. Cells clump together and form cancers. Cells aren’t able to help you think straight and you get neurogenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Or your nerves can’t function properly. The list goes on.

When one uses strophanthus the body fixes itself because Ouabain fixes the gel like structure of all our cells. How it does this, we’re not quite sure. But it brings back the charge to the cell and once the cell is fully charged, it can begin to heal itself. This is the miracle of ouabain and this is why it’s called ‘the gift from paradise’. It brings life back to dying cells.

I wish we had a number for it but we don’t. We do have a number for lactic acid elimination which I mentioned recently in the private facebook group for BBN. As mentioned above, lactic acid is what builds up in the heart and may be the cause of heart attacks.

Thankfully, Strophanthus seed extract is available here: https://drtomcowan.com/bbnmembers
Dr Cowan has graciously given us a 10% discount on all his products including Strophanthus.
The discount code is: BBN10
With our discount the liquid extract is $98 a bottle and what’s great is it’s a 4 ounce bottle! At a maintenance dose of 2-4 drops 3x a day a bottle should last you almost 2 years! 120ml or 4 ounces is about 6485 drops divided by 9 equals 1.97 years! I think that’s an amazing bargain to keep you charged up!

As always, thank you for reading my blog posts. I really appreciate it!
Love and hugs,
~Christine
Learn more about Strophanthus here: A Look at Strophanthus from a New Biology Perspective - 9/24/25 – Dr. Tom Cowan

One more thing…….
Ouabain is one of the few substances that Dr Gilbert Ling classified as a true “Cardinal Adsorbent”. A cardinal adsorbent can rapidly shift the entire cell from a low energy, swollen, sodium-rich state to a high energy, structured, potassium rich state.
Other cardinal adsorbents are low-dose thyroid hormone (T3), low-dose progesterone, and certain sugars in very specific conditions.

Strophanthus/Ouabain “recharges” the structured water and the protein matrix inside cells.

When a cell is stressed, inflamed or dying, it slips into a low energy state. A cardinal adsorbent like ouabain can reverse that process in minutes- which is why tiny doses under the tongue have been used to stop an angina attack. It really is a Gift from Paradise. Hugs!

Disclaimer: This is not medical advise. Please seek the advise of your healthcare practitioner before starting any new supplement.