Lately we’ve had a lot of people asking about Schisandra so we thought we’d tell you a bit more about it & the many benefits for you and your family:
Schisandra chinensis commonly known as “Chinese Magnolia Vine”, from the Schisandraceae family. Traditionally the fruit/berry is used in medicinal healing. It is a decidious woody climbing vine about 8 metres long and produces red spherical fruit. The fruit have a salthy taste, the skin and pulp are sweet and sour, the kernals are pungent and bitter. Hence the name “Five flavours Fruit”.
It’s main actions are:
• hepatoprotective (protective of the liver)
• adaptogenic (help the body to adapt to stress or change from any source)
• nervine (calm the nerves)
• antitussive (relieves/reduces coughing)
• antioxidant (inhibits oxidation within the body)
• anti-cancer (increases SOD levels)
• anti-HIV
Therapeutically it’s used to help:
• acute or chronic liver diseases including hepatitis, chemical liver damage, poor liver function.
• to improve the detoxifying capacity of the liver.
• to improve mental, physical and sensory performance and resistance to the effects of stress.
Traditionally in Chinese medicine Schisandra has been used to tonify the kidneys, relieve chronic cough, asthma, spermatorrhoea, leukorrhoea, enuresis, protracted diarrhoea, spontaneous or night sweating, shortness of breath, feeble pulse, palpitations, amnesia, and insomnia.
In a controlled trial 68% of patients who received Schisandra showed normalised serum GPT levels after 4 weeks compared to only 44% of patients treated with a liver extract and vitamin E control over 8 weeks. It also relieved other symptoms more effectively i.e. sleeplessness, fatigue, abdominal tension and diarrhoea.
Hikino H, Kiso Y. In:Wagner H, Kikino H, Farnsworth NR (eds.). Economic and Medicinal Plant Research, Volume 2. London:Academic Press, 1988: pp 39-72
In Russia Schisandra was evaluated and shown to increase endurance, increase physical efficiency and decrease sickness in factory workers and children. It’s believed to do this by increasing production of nitric oxide within our body.
Bekhman I, Dardymov IV. Annual Review of Pharmacology 1969;9:419-430
Fulder S. The Root of Being:Ginseng and the Pharmacology of Harmony.London:Hutchinson, 1980: pp 135, 136, 189, 209, 236, 237
It also was shown to improve concentration, fine co-ordination, sensitivity and endurance. Improve vision and hearing, enlarge the visual field, and improve adaptation to the dark.
Chang HM, But PP. Pharmacology and Applications of Chinese Materia Medica, Volume I. Singapore:World Scientific Publishing, 1987:pp 199-209
Uncontrolled trials indicated that Schisandra enhances mental and physical efficiency and has benefits for patients with hallucinations, paranoia and neurosis.
Chang HM, But PP (ed5). Pharmacology and Applications of Chinese Materia Medica. World Scientific, Singapore; 1987
An observational study reported in 1949 that Schisandra improved general physical and mental well being in 4 out of 8 patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Psychiatric patients and alcoholics receiving sedative and antidepressant drugs experienced “fewer drug side effects” when concurrently treated with Schisandra. Studies in China indicate that Schisandra “lowered elevated liver enzymes” in patients with viral and chemically induced hepatitis.
Major studies on Schisandra have been carried out in Russia, dating from the 1940’s, and as a result it has been in the official medicine of the USSR since the early 1960’s. In one of their studies involving 289 patients suffering from different forms of chronic sinusitis 72% of the 89 treated with Schisandra & the antibiotic levamisole attained a full recovery, whereas only 46% of the group treated only with the antibiotic levamisole attained full recovery that’s a whole 26% more with the addition of Schisandra to their treatment.
We have available for you our pre-mixed blends with Schisandra:
