Schizandra Fruit – Anti-aging elixir

Schizandra (Schisandra chinensis) is a small fruit that grows on vines in the remote pristine mountains in northern China (Changbai Mountain, Manchuria), Korea, Siberia, Russia and Scandinavia. This bright red fruit is a famous tonic historically used as a longevity herb and as a superior adaptogenic herb. Schizandra is one of the most important supertonic herbs and is widely used in Asia and more recently in the West. It is a wonderful adaptogenic herb historically consumed by Taoists and Chinese royalty, ultimately for similar reasons – to increase their “inner power” and to preserve their youth. It is one of the few herbs that contain all “three treasures” –Jing, Qi and Shen – in abundance. All Taoists throughout Chinese history have consumed Schizandra. Schizandra is considered to be a youth preserving and deeply empowering herb. It is called the “quintessence of Chinese tonic herbs.”

Our Schizandra is collected in the wild from the pristine forest of Changbai Mountain in Manchuria, hundreds of miles away from any source of pollution. The Schizandra naturally ripens in the old forest before being collected, fully ripe and at the height of flavor and efficacy. This is the best Schizandra in the world.

Until now however, it has been an inconvenient herb to consume. In spite of the fact that Schizandra has a naturally wonderful, unique flavor it has only been sold in capsules and in combination with other herbs like Ginseng. Dragon Herbs FITT™ sticks have changed this. Now everyone can enjoy the amazing flavor, aroma and benefits of Schizandra, just as it tastes freshly picked from a wild mountain vine.

Dragon Herbs Schizandra granules are quite unique – there is nothing like it on the market in America today. Schizandra is a superior tonic herb that has many significant health benefits. Schizandra is renowned as a youth preserving herb and is considered to be a superb beauty tonic. It has been used for centuries by Asian royalty to make the skin soft, moist and radiant. It is also considered to be a powerful tonic to the brain and mind, and is believed in China to improve memory and concentration. It has been demonstrated that human intellectual activity can be enhanced and work efficiency increased by consuming Schizandra. It is used in Scandinavian countries to improve mental and physical energy. Russian researchers have shown it to be a powerful adaptogenic agent, helping the body and mind cope with stress without harming the body.

Schizandra is said to be an excellent sexual tonic when consumed regularly. It is reputed to help produce abundant sexual fluids, increase sexual endurance and to strengthen the whole body. It was used by female Chinese royalty for that purpose and has been a staple in the Taoist sexual formulations for both men and women for over 2,000 years.

The fruit, which is the part used, is rich in very potent antioxidant compounds. These antioxidants protect and detoxify the body. The most studied is Schisandrin B which has many biologically important health benefits. It is highly protective to the liver, and also helps protect the heart, brain and kidneys. Schizandrin B, has significant anti-inflammatory action. Inflammation is now believed to be a central cause of aging. It also helps protect the thymus gland.

As a liver tonic, Schizandra is extremely effective at purifying the blood and helping to eliminate toxins from the body without causing any side effects. Schizandra contains dozens of lignins that help remove toxins from the liver and then from the body. It aids in both phase I and phase II toxin removal from the body, and is thus a quintessential body purifying agent because it rids the body of dangerous toxins without causing any side effects.

Schizandra is renowned as a beauty tonic. It has been used for centuries to make the skin soft, moist and radiant, and to slow down aging of the skin. For this reason, it was served for generations as the main ingredient in a tonic tea at the Qing Dynasty Imperial Palace. Schizandra protects against UVB induced skin damage.

Taoists use Schizandra as a spiritual cleansing and tonifying herb. Many masters recommend consuming freshly collected, dried raw Schizandra for 100 days as a way to change the energy in the organs and meridians. With FITT™, this is easy. The fresh Schizandra fruit has been extracted without cooking.

Consuming one stick a day for 100 days can have a life changing effect. This is the loose granules.  2g of granules are equal to what was in one stick.

Most botanicals are woody and fibrous. The woody fiber (cell walls) generally makes most botanicals difficult to digest. Thousands of years ago, humans discovered that cooking, making teas, decoctions and soups with water and/or alcohol improved the potency and efficacy of the foods, beverages, tonics and medicines they consumed.

When a botanical is boiled in water or extracted in alcohol or other solvent, the constituents of the botanical are released from the fiber that contains them and are dissolved into the liquid medium. The resulting “tea,” or paste is highly assimilable. Also, it is much easier to consume because the material has been “reduced” to a much smaller volume and yet the potency is higher. Without the extraction, the body would have to do a digestive “extraction” of the materials bound to the fiber, adding much stress to our GI tract. Since we do not have the digestive tract of a ruminate, this “extraction” method is not very effective, nor is it efficient.

Of course, the technology back then was primitive, relying on simple stove boiling to break down cell walls. Amazingly, extraction technology has not changed much even during the industrial-scientific era - it is just performed on a much larger scale. We still rely on the application of heat to a tank of solvents such as water or alcohol for several hours until the constituents of the raw herbs have been released into the hot solvents.

However, the traditional heated extraction has its downsides besides its benefits.

• It is not suitable for extracting heat sensitive substances such as protein, amino acids, essential oils and enzymes.
• Starch and saccharides of low molecular weight can gelatinize and become cohesive under heat, preventing the effective release and extraction of active ingredients.
• Substances with no or few pharmacological effects can be released simultaneously.
• The heated process accelerates the oxidation process.
• It can result in polymerization and decomposition of active constituents.

Because FITT™ technology is effective, easy, ecological and economical, we fondly named these instant granules eeTee™.

FITT, the technology of the next generation

Now for the first time, a cutting edge extraction technology is available for commercial extraction of botanicals. Dragon Herbs’ new Fingerprint Identical Transfer Technology™ (FITT™) is a patented green extraction technology of the 21st century. It is the most advanced commercial extraction technology in the world.

How does the FITT™ process work?

FITT™ is a proprietary process that utilizes mechanical forces to break the raw materials down to micron level. The materials are “shaken” loose at tremendous speed, resulting in instantaneous extraction of both water-soluble and alcohol-soluble components from the raw material into the solvent. The entire process is performed at a low to moderate temperature that never exceeds 40°C (104° F), thus eliminating the drawbacks of a heated extraction.