Cascara

Cascara Sagrada (also called Sacred Bark, Bitter Bark, Chittem bark , California Buckthorn and Rhamnus purshiana) is a common ingredient found in natural remedies for losing weight.  A strong stimulant laxative, it needs to be used with a great deal of care because it can leech potassium and sodium from your body.  Of interest, the bark of the tree is removed, cut into small pieces, and dried for one year before being used medicinally.

Spanish priests in California named the tree Cascara is harvested from.  It's name origins may either be from the medicinal properties of the bark or from its resemblance to wood used for the ark of the covenant.

Most Doctors will advice you that Cascara should be taken consecutively for no longer than eight to ten days, so you need to very carefully read labels when considering a natural remedy for losing weight that contains cascara. If pregnant or nursing, you must also use this with extreme caution.

It seems the main raison d'etre of this herbal product is to promote bowel movements, so how does it figure in today's natural remedies for losing weight?  Many of the products being marketed that have Cascara in them are packaged with other products to supposedly give you a lean look, help you become a fat burning furnace and so forth.  This is precisely this thing you need to be careful of when you read labels.

If you find yourself reading a label that has Cascara, psyllium husks and Senna(all bowel movement enhancers), and Valerian (for sleeplessness) and an appetite suppressant, and a whole list of other ingredients, head for your Pharmacist to translate for you.  It may be that using a product like this helps you lose weight because you are continually expelling what you do eat with the aid of bowel stimulators.  Not a healthy way to lose weight.
While Senna, Cascara, and Aloe are authorized for oral use as laxatives, they are also way too often promoted for detoxifying or cleansing regimens. There are serious risks with the chronic use of laxatives or combining multiple laxatives together.  These can include the risk of electrolyte disturbances affecting the heart, as well as functional bowel problems.  Use caution when investigating herbal substances for weight loss.