DRAYTON VALLEY, Alta. – Holly Bamber says she feels like a new woman when she takes two antler velvet and ginseng capsules each day.
While the Sangudo, Alta. elk breeder can’t explain exactly what the herbal medicine does, she is convinced it reenergizes her on those droopy days when she feels tired and run down.
She and her husband Don raise 450 elk bulls in central Alberta.
They harvest the antlers every year, grind them into powder and mix in dried ginseng powder.
The capsules are about the same size as a cold capsule and are filled with a tawny brown powder.
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About 30 pounds of dry ginseng and 30 pounds of antler yield about 100,000 capsules, said Bamber who was selling her family’s Royal Elk products at the recent Elk Expo in Drayton Valley.
As far as western medicine is concerned, testimonials like Bamber’s are not good enough. Western scientists want proof that antler velvet has human health benefits when scientifically examined.
More than 2,000 years of documented use in China isn’t fully accepted here, said Jeong Sim, of the University of Alberta’s faculty of agriculture.
Best known for developing designer eggs that lower blood serum cholesterol, Sim has been examining the therapeutic use of elk velvet. He believes it works.
Chinese herbal medicine claims the velvet stimulates metabolism, accelerates healing and improves the immune system. This is especially helpful for people who have inflammatory diseases like arthritis, said Sim.
Under the microscope, the antlers are seen to carry a large amount of protein, lipids, calcium, potassium and collagen. When harvested at the velvet stage, each portion of the antler shows different properties with the most protein at the growing tips, said Sim.
Research on lab rats showed they grew faster and healthier after receiving antler powder.
Researchers also noted the iron content in the animals’ blood was boosted.
“This is very much an indicator of your well being,” Sim said.
Researchers know a high hemoglobin count is beneficial but they aren’t quite sure why antlers helped.
New Zealand studies were also successful on lab rats but scientists said more research is needed because they don’t know what the therapeutic effect is for humans.
Elk antlers are harvested green, when they are covered with a downy coat of hair in June. The powder is derived from the semi-hard inner core of the elk antler that is ground up and sold in capsules.
