Football and Deer – What do they have in common?
There has been a lot of talk in the press lately about the new athletic performance enhancement drug that some of the athletes of the NFL have been taken. This is apparently legal because it is all natural, not synthetic. So what is it? Lu rong, a well known Chinese herb made from crushed velvet deer antlers which, in this case, are being shipped over from New Zealand. Now what the NFL didn’t know was that Lu rong has been used in TCM for many years for many reasons, one of which is impotence, or male sexual performance.It is used for several sexual dysfunctions, to improve fertility and for menstrual and menopausal disorders. But it is also very valuable in treating other health concerns having nothing to do directly with reproduction, such as arthritis, immune system function, mental clarity,to name just a few. Lu rong tonifies the kidneys, strengthens yang, sinews and bones, nourishes qi and blood. In Korean medicine it is used at the beginning of winter to ward off infections.
While it is certainly good news that the NFL has discovered the potential benefits of deer antler for its players, it is also somehow sad. Inevitably the use of this herb will become abused, the wrong dosage will be taken, for the wrong reasons, and the NFL drug testers will ban it. The general public and other athletes will still find ways to purchase it and overdose on it. The end result will be similar to that of ma huang (ephedra), another widely used herb in TCM – a State wide ban by The FDA. Acupuncturists and Oriental medical practitioneers who prescribe lu rong will then have to wait for the ban to be lifted. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen.
Here is a great source for Elk Antler Velvet formulas for dogs and cats in the US which I even use for Piglet:
http://www.wapitilabsinc.com/
Here is a great source for Elk Antler Velvet formulas for dogs and cats in the US which I even use for Piglet:
http://www.wapitilabsinc.com/
It is thought that Elk Antler Velvet has very similar properties to the Deer Velvet they use in other areas.
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