The Coca Plant - Sacred to the Incas

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The sacredness of the coca plant stems from the Inca mythology, when Tayta Inti, father sun, saw that the people of the world were living no better than animals he sent his son, Manco Capac and his daughter, Mama Ocllo, to guide and teach the people. As part of the teachings Manco Capac, the first Inca, taught the people the many uses of the coca plant. For this reason the people of Andes believe that the plant is sacred. It is believed that the first to use the coca plant were the Aymara people from the Lake Titicaca region, the area from which Manco Capac first appeared and then spread to the Quechua people found the other regions of the Andes. Coca was used throughout the Incan Empire, which stretched from present day Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and parts of Argentina and Brazil, although it is only in present day Peru and Bolivia that use of coca remains strong.

The people have always known of the great nutritional value that is within each coca leaf, although they may not have been able to give you a list of the all vitamins and minerals that are found in the coca leaves. They did know that it helped them to live at high altitudes with ease and that when they chewed the leaves it increased their energy enabling them to till their gardens and follow their herds of llama and alpacas up and down the mountain paths. In addition to this it also staid their appetite and thirst helping them to live and work at altitudes from 2,000 to over 3,000 meters above sea level. These people were also aware of the many curative properties of the coca leaf and use them as salves, compresses, and poultices.

You can buy Coca leaves in many places throughout Peru. I've taken them to help with nausea and to help adjusting to the altitude. It is much more effective when you chew on the leaves with a little bit of the lemon paste mixed in to help alkalize the leaf.