Deer Antler Velvet? page 2

[skink531]

To be honest, when I first opened that video Tarek put up I thought it was going to be a joke, but it was actually pretty interesting. I'm not ready to jump on board with it just yet, but it's worth further looking into. As far as it looking like BS at first glance, maybe it is I don't yet. But keep in mind, there are a lot of people who are saying the same thing about the whole paleo/primal thing.

[Twibble]

Some people could experience side effects from it, if they tend to run hot, temp-wise. It's a very "yang"/hot herb (great for us cold folks!) but not something that should be overused.

Hmmm...My hands warmed up when I stopped eating wheat. I've been asked what I'd have to stop eating to make my feet warm up.

Intriguing.

[dwkdnvr]

This is interesting. Over Xmas my wife's sister-in-law invited over a rather interesting guy that went on all night on various research topics he does. Of course he's got it all solved - cancer, aging, health etc. Anyway, 'growth factors' from deer antlers was one of the items he touched on. The idea is that the antlers are pretty much the single fastest-growing phenemenon in the animal kingdom; as such, they must contain some powerful growth-promoting compounds. He indicated that the 'good stuff' is all concentrated in the tips (since that's where the growth occurs), but that most conventional sources use the entire antler.
Now, I'm not 100% sure that this is the same as the 'velvet' that you get commercially. I got the impression that it was actually more like the 'marrow' of the antler tips rather than the velvet, but to be honest I wasn't exactly rivited to what he was saying.

Struck me as one of those that was grounded in just enough fact to be plausible, but could just as easily be bogus as have any real effect.

[DarthFriendly]

It's a chinese medicinal herb, you should really only take it if it's been prescribed to you by someone trained, and certified in chinese medical herbalism. People in the west see "herbalism" and think that it means that they should play around with it, but it's actually pretty serious, and takes alot of training to know how to do properly. Honestly most people won't benefit from this particular herb as much as they would an herbal formula tailor made for their constitution according the TCM (traditional chinese medicine) which isn't some hippie crap you can get down at whole foods, or off the internet. Of course westerners don't wanna hear that, but I ain't bullshitting you on this.

[hazyjane]

It's a chinese medicinal herb, you should really only take it if it's been prescribed to you by someone trained, and certified in chinese medical herbalism. People in the west see "herbalism" and think that it means that they should play around with it, but it's actually pretty serious, and takes alot of training to know how to do properly. Honestly most people won't benefit from this particular herb as much as they would an herbal formula tailor made for their constitution according the TCM (traditional chinese medicine) which isn't some hippie crap you can get down at whole foods, or off the internet. Of course westerners don't wanna hear that, but I ain't bullshitting you on this.

+1.
Darth really is right. TCM is very intricate and although there are tonic formulas that most people can safely take, herbs can cause an imbalance to worsen if you don't know what you're doing.
Example: I can't take antler velvet right now at all- it's way too hot for me because I'm currently "kidney yin deficient" (meaning lacking cool yin energy) and if I were to take a hot kidney yang tonic like antler velvet, it would imbalance me further and I'd end up with night time hot flashes, red eyes, bad dreams (all from too much heat making its way through my kidneys, then liver, then heart). Not fun.
When I took it years ago, I wasn't yin deficient- I was yang deficient, and so it benefited me at that time.

[hazyjane]

PS- if you want those kind of benefits without risking imbalance or having to bother learning TCM theory, tongue/pulse diagnosis, learn qigong (esp. medical qigong!)

[king]

Deer antler can be had for like $30 a bottle. I keep reading about all these folks paying $70 or $100.

Check it out, you can get it on amazon cheaper than that: Amazon.com: Deer Antler Velvet Spray, Highest Quality, for Joint and Muscle Pain Relief, 2 oz bottle: Health & Personal Care

Deer Antler Velvet Spray, Highest Quality, for Joint and Muscle Pain Relief, 2 oz bottle

Deer antler velvet is a classic Chinese medicine ingredient. For a good description of its benefits, read this:
Amazon.com: Deer Antler Velvet Spray, Highest Quality, for Joint and Muscle Pain Relief, 2 oz bottle: Health & Personal Care

PS- any time you see the "kidneys" talked about in Chinese medicine, it indicates an effect on the hormonal and endocrine systems (which is why libido is one of the things antler velvet is used to treat).

I did use antler velvet years ago (Planetary Formulas brand) for about 3 months, to heal my gut lining. It's very good for this. An unexpected side effect was much better muscle tone. My arms looked buff and I wasn't working out! So, it would seem that some of the claims do bear out
Some people could experience side effects from it, if they tend to run hot, temp-wise. It's a very "yang"/hot herb (great for us cold folks!) but not something that should be overused.

[Stephanie]

My hubby uses it and loves it. He likes the pine pollen too. Something about taking them together. Deer velvet has a very very long history.

[pogo0685]

Not quite the same but I feed this to my elderly dog. She had a torn acl I think it was in he knee and the vet told me she would need surgery. Well I don't have $3,000+ dollars so I ordered some from Bonus Velvet Antler and within 4 days she could go up and down stairs again. It was amazing. Reading all of this I am thinking about getting my DH some.

[lorichka6]

My local CrossFit was pushing this a while ago. I actually submitted it to a question for Mark for the daily questions. He never answered At the time since it was a CrossFit initiative I dismissed it because everything related to xfit just seems to be a money making scheme ($30 Rogue wrist wraps...) but maybe there is something to this?