Anyways, back to Fo Ti -- it's also known as Chinese Knotweed (heh heh) or he shou wu (何首乌), named after the first man known to have ingested it. Who lived to be 132 years old. (And also had his his gray hair turn back to black, apparently.) I looked further into this alleged "elixir of life" and discovered that it is known for benefits other then the aforementioned.."vitality". The stuff is even better then I originally thought. [from Drug Digest]
- In animal studies, unprocessed fo-ti has showed some ability to improve memory, affect immune function, and protect the liver from toxins. All these effects are probably due to antioxidant properties of unprocessed fo-ti.
- ...processed fo-ti contains protein-sugar complexes known as lectins. Because they attach to specific arrangements of carbohydrates on cells in the body, lectins act like antibodies, but they do not cause allergy symptoms like most antibodies do. The lectins in processed fo-ti may affect fat levels in the blood, helping to prevent or delay heart disease by blocking the formation of plaques in blood vessels. Plaques are accumulations of fat and other cells that restrict the size of blood vessels and limit the flexibility of their walls. In animal studies, processed fo-ti also reduced the amount of fat that deposited in the liver. It may also protect the liver from damage by toxins such as dry cleaning fluid. Processed fo-ti may also have immune system effects.
- However, both unprocessed fo-ti and processed fo-ti have some similar effects. Both have been shown in animal and human studies to lower blood levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise the levels of “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Antioxidant effects are believed to be involved, in addition to lectin’s activity. Although early results look promising, more studies are needed to prove the cholesterol-lowering effects of fo-ti.
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