What is Velvet?

Velvet or velvet antler is harvested annually from naturally farmed elk livestock. Male elk grow and naturally shed a set of antler every year. When elk antlers are "in velvet" it is the most "nutrient abundant" phase of the antlers incredibly prolific growth cycle. It is at this time every spring, that breeders of elk collect the velvet antler under hygienic supervision. This process is not harmful to the elk and the velvet antler is an annually renewable resource. Once the antler is removed, it is processed, analyzed at the laboratory, encapsulated and ultimately packaged for the consumer as a nutritional supplement.

Here are some of the crucial ingredients of velvet antler:

• Proteins, Collagen and Lipids Collagen - substance of the fibers of skin, tendon, bone cartilage and all other connective tissue
• Growth Hormones and Growth Factors, including:
  • Glucosamine Sulfate - absence results in early aging.
  • Chondrointin Sulfate - building block of cartilage; helps to rebuild degenerating cartilage; found in most animal connective tissues and in high conentrations in velvet antler.
  • Hyaluronic Acid - fluid found in joints and connective tissues; provides cushion.
  • Erythropoeitin - controls blood oxygen-levels.
  • Phospholipids - the major structural lipids of most of our cellular membranes; provides anti-aging benefits.
  • Prostaglandins - naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agents.
• Proteoglycans - important for elasticity of joints; basic structural building block of joint cartilage.
• Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) - lubricates joints and provides important regualtory roles.
• Nucleotides (Ribonucleic and Deoxyribonucleic) - Anti-aging effects.
• Gangliosides - promotes memory and learning function.
• Minerals and Trace Elements - calcium, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sulfur, and zinc.
• Also identified: an unknown 68-amino acid peptide having anti-inflammatory effect, plus a unique growth factor speculated to promote bone healing.

Effects of Velvet Antler

While there is no evidence to date showing that velvet antler actually cures cancer, experiments carried out in Russia have shown extracts to increase the survival rate and, in some instances, to inhibit the spread of tumour cells in rats and mice.

To determine whether the extracts of New Zealand velvet antler are effective in anti-cancer treatments, AgResearch has been running clinical trials in Korea and according to Dr Suttie the first series of experiments have shown positive results.

A major problem with the drugs used in chemotherapy is the damage they cause to the body while destroying the cancer cells. However, it was discovered during experiments that the aqueous extracts of velvet antler increased the effectiveness of the anti-cancer drugswhile at the same time reducing their side effects. They were clearly potent at reducing the damaging side effects of the anti-cancer drug, in particular by reducing damage to the kidneys.

As former New Zealand GIB chief executive Rick Christie said, "We're not saying that deer velvet is a cure for cancer, Aids or any other complaint. But the science strongly indicates that deer velvet may be effective in supporting other treatments."

Recovery of weight was greatest in the mice treated with the aqueous extract of velvet antler, which normalized or parthly normalized spleen, kidney and liver weight.

As an immune enhancer for patients with AIDS, velvet is mentioned in Jade Remedies. It is also listed as an ingredient in a formula for people with HIV which is under study at the Institute for Traditional Medicine in Long Beach, California. It is hoped that the formula will help the bone marrow and increase white blood cells, red cells, and T-helper counts.

There is also evidence that velvet antler reduces cholesterol levels, as demonstrated by Soshnianina (1974), whose experments showed a reduction of liver, spleen and brain cholesterol in guinea pigs under the influences of velvet extract. In contrast kidney cholesterol was increased leading the author to conclude that the extract was causing the cholesterol to be filtered from the blood thus increasing kidney levels but lowering levels elsewhere in the body.

Pantocrin is also used for treating epilepsy and, according to Fulder, it has been widely recommended in Russia for treating this condition. It was reported by Brekhman that the depressive states and psychoses associated with epilepsy "could be arrested by pantocrin considerably sooner than by other methods of treatment."

Other conditions reported to be alleviated or cured by velvet extract include skin disease such as eczema and psoriasis, infected and slow healing wounds - as it promotes the granulation of tissue - as well as bone fractures.

Considering velvet antler's long history of use in Chinese medicing as an ingredient of formulas prescribed for a wide range of human ailments, together with the extensive Russian literature available on pantocrin's clinical testing and the ongoing research being carried out in the West, particularly in the area of growth hormone therapy, it will be highly interesting to see how the role of this extraordinary supplement evolves in Western medicine and natural health care.

Although many of velvet antler's secrets have yielded to the scrutiny of scientists, there are components as yet unidentified and unknown. As Dr. Suttie says: "We may find velvet contains only the raw material for a therapeutic activity. But, it is also possible that subtle combinations of active ingredients create synergistic activity that makes velvet a healing medicine"