Which would you rather have? More beautiful skin, more energy, better cognitive abilities or (drum roll please) a stronger libido?
If you answered all of the above, Cistanche is the herb for you.
I’ve been wanting to do a post on Cistanche for a while now. Cistanche is considered a Jing-enhancing substance within Traditional Chinese Medicine. To enhance Jing means to delay aging, improve fertility, enhance cognition, boost the immune system and optimize hormones – you can read more about Jing here. It’s considered a Yang Jing herb, which means it’s energizing and increases drive and motivation.
Studies are starting to back up the traditional claims of Cistanche being a Jing-enhancing herb. Cistanche is hepatoprotective, analgesic and anti-inflammatory, and possesses anti-fatigue effects.
This study found that Cistanche increased sperm count and sperm motility by up to 2.7-fold and 1.4-fold, respectively. “The serum level of progesterone and testosterone in rats was also increased by CTE administration (p < 0.05)… Our results suggest that the increase in sex hormone levels could be mediated by the induction of testicular steroidogenic enzymes.” This is great news for men whose hormone levels are dropping or for those who are looking to have children.
Cistanche may even promote the growth of hair and prevent baldness.
Then there’s the study Cistanches Herba enhances learning and memory by inducing nerve growth factor. It concludes that cistanche “also stimulated NGF secretion in the cortex and hippocampus of the mouse brain at 5 and 20mg/kg/day (3 days, p.o.). Furthermore, CHE increased neuronal cell differentiation, neurite length, and synapse formation in the mouse hippocampus. CHE significantly enhanced learning and memory.. These results suggest that CHE is useful for improving memory function via its action in upregulating NGF.” This translates to a boost in memory and enhanced learning, and I’m not sure I know anyone who wouldn’t want to be smarter and quicker on their feet.
In this study they concluded that “Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results showed that serum containing Herba Cistanches or Herba Epimedii increased the expression of nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in injured MES23.5 cells… These findings indicate that Chinese medicines used to tonify the kidney can protect nerve cells by regulating the expression of apoptosis-related factors and neuro-trophic factors in MES23.5 cells.” Again, it’s like steroids for your brain.
What’s interesting is that in the above mentioned study, cistanche and epimedium, two Jing-boosting herbs, increased neurotrophic factors to a substantial degree, even more so than selegiline, a pharmaceutical marketed for cognitive decline. These two herbs are used traditionally for this exact purpose. You can buy quality epimedium here. Fair warning – it’s a very potent aphrodisiac.
This single herb not only delays fatigue and enhances fertility but also enhances memory, learning and improves cognitive function, giving it nootropic properties.
Finally, two companies joined forces with Peking University to study Cistanche, with many interesting results. They found that cistanche increases the body’s production of SOD (one of our most powerful endogenous antioxidants), inhibits hylauronidase and elastase thereby improving the plumpness and appearance of the skin, prevents photo-aging of the skin, increases amounts of neurotransmitters, improves learning and memory, is an aphrodisiac and more.
I can only agree with the above statements in terms of Cistanche’s subjective effects. It’s awesome that I only need one herb to improve mental performance, improve skin quality, increase energy and improve my mood. I don’t mind the uptick in libido either.
I’ve been using Jing Herbs’ Cistanche to good effect in my daily “Jing Drink”, though I’ll probably be trying Dragon Herb’s Desert Cistanche Drops soon.