As the traditions of Oriental medicine become more accessible to the western world, many potent new herbal tonics and formulae are appearing on the market, while new to us in the west, many of these herbs have a history of continuous use that dates back thousands of years. They are still in use today for one reason only-because they work.

Among the thousands of herbs in the Chinese pharmacopoeia that treat specific diseases there are only a select few that are regarded as pure tonics. They are the royal herbs, the precious substances that are held to nourish both body and spirit, so valued by the ancient Taoists. Among these ginseng has established its reputation in the west, but ranking alongside ginseng as one of the most valuable of all medicines, and rapidly proving its reputation as an extraordinary tonic, is deer antler velvet.

The first recorded use of velvet as a medicine in ancient times dates back over two thousand years to a Han tomb in Hunan Province where a silk scroll wax recovered listing over fifty different diseases for which antler velvet was prescribed. Several hundred years later, in the 16^th century medical classic Pen Ts’ao Kang Mu, the master herbalist Li Shizen devotes several pages to deer products including velvet which was prepared into powders, pills, extracts, tinctures and ointments. This highly authoritative materia medica is the standard text of Chinese herbalists to this day.

Deer velvet is named after the soft velvet-like covering of deer antlers while they are growing and still in a cartilaginous state, before they harden into bone. Every year the stag’s antlers grow with remarkable swiftness and every year, after the roar and mating season, the antlers are cast to begin the cycle again in the spring. On New Zealand deer farms the antlers are removed painlessly under veterinary supervision before they harden, in order to protect the stags from each other, and also to harvest the velvet that is then processed in government licensed facilities. Most of it ends up in Asian herb markets, particularly in Korea where it is one of the most highly regarded medicines prescribed daily by thousands of pharmacists and doctors.

Although widely acclaimed as an aphrodisiac due to its powerful gonadotropic and tonic effects on the body, this is only one of the wide ranging benefits associated with the use of velvet, for centuries it’s been used to control blood pressure, increase hemoglobin levels, increase lung efficiency, improve recuperation, improve muscle tone and glandular functions, sharpen mental alertness, relive the inflammation of arthritis and heal stomach ulcers.

It is the prime remedy for promoting endurance, stamina and strength, for combating the symptoms of stress and fatigue and for revitalizing the entire system.

Foremost Korean physician Dr Peter Yoon, prescribes it today for anaemia, diabetes, to strengthen liver and kidney functions, to strengthen the immune system, for endocrine problems, improving the memory, arteriosclerosis and stress related problems. It is also clinically used for sterility, prostation, tinnitus, dizziness and blood discharged. But most importantly, it is used as a tonic to promote growth, appetite and as a restorative. It is held to restore energy, to nourish the blood and improve mental power.

It is a remedy for the whole family from babies, who are often taken to the doctor soon after their first birthday for their first prescription of velvet, to the elderly where it helps to strengthen their bones and stave off the chills of winter. Men take it for sexual disorders such as impotence, premature ejaculation and watery semen. Women are prescribed it for infertility, menstrual and menopausal problems. “Also,” says Dr Yoon, “When a pregnant woman takes velvet powder during childbirth, it is very helpful for an easy delivery.”