Sarsaparilla is a blood purifier, it breaks down uric acid and is good for liver problems, rheumatism, skin disorders, hormone excesses, inflammation and gas. A natural steroid sarsaparilla produces testosterone, estrogen, cortisone, and progesterone. Used with ginseng for body builders; good for psoriasis and other eruptive skin disorders; antidote for poisons; diuretic; increases metabolism and perspiration; stimulates breathing when one is congested; aids circulation to rheumatic joints; produces anabolic hormones; helps women produce natural progesterone.

Mexican sarsaparilla was exported to Europe before 1530. In sixteenth-century Europe, sarsaparilla was used to treat syphilis and rheumatism. It was official treatment for syphilis in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia in 1850. Often an ingredient in patent medicines with extravagant claims in late nineteenth-century America, sarsaparilla products were promoted as blood purifiers, tonics, and diuretics, to induce sweating, and for a myriad of other questionable applications. In recent years sarsaparilla has been touted as a male sexual rejuvenator with claims implying it contains testosterone. It has also been used as an anabolic steroid replacement in natural body-building formulas.

Sarsaparilla extract is approved as a food flavoring ingredient in the United States. In Germany, although it has been traditionally used to treat skin diseases including psoriasis, as well as rheumatism and kidney ailments, products may not carry therapeutic claims because their effectiveness has not been demonstrated. After 500 years of use in the West, sarsaparilla still awaits carefully designed studies.