AKA: Leuzea carthamoides, Rhaponticum carthamoides, Leuzea root

The Leuzea plant is a rare endemic plant from the composite family. It is a herbal perennial that is big, reacing to the height of 130 cm. It is found growing in the wild in small portion of southern Siberia, thriving on mountain slopes. Access to wild Leuzea is strictly controlled by the Russian Government since the plant grows at a slow pace. 

Uses

• Replenishes strength and energy stores
• Restores sexual potency in men
• Increases mental awareness
• Increases lean muscle mass
• Helps decrease fatty tissue

History

It is also called Maral Root, because local hunters would witness the Maral deer stags digging the root up and eating it during mating season. The male deer would use the plant to help restore it strength as it fought other stags for the right to mate. Soon local healers began to use Maral Root as way to help men recover from fatigue and to increase their virility.

During the Second World War, Soviet scientists conducted numerous studies on Maral root in order to determine if it would be beneficial to the performance of the country's soldiers. They found that the men who ingested the plant displayed increased work capacity and endurance and were able to operate under increased mental and physical fatigue.

Today Maral Root is prized by athletes and body builders for its seeming ability to act as an anabolic agent mimicking the effects of steroids without the side effects. Athletes from Eastern Europe and Russia regularly use it in conjunction with Siberian ginseng in order to further improve in all different levels of their sport and to increase lean muscle mass.

What  is in Maral root?

The plant contains a number of antioxidant flavonoids along with natural sterols including a substance known as 20-Hydroxyecdysone which is thought to be responsible for the anabolic activity the plant displays.  Scientific tests on the 20-Hydroxyecdysone show that the natural sterol has the ability to increase protein production on a cellular level especially' when combined with intense physical activity. The plant is also laden with tannins, glycosides, lignins, alkaloids, various vitamins, and organic acids.

Benefits and Uses  

Maral root, or Rhaponticum, (Rhaponticum carthamoides) very effectively helps with chronic alcoholism, impotency, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. 

• Maral root contributes to an increase of muscle mass, 
• reinforces contractions of the heart muscles,
• improves blood circulation in muscles and brain,
• increases resistance to oxygen starvation,
• elevates the ability and mobility of spermatozoids in vitro,
• prevents development of experimental hyper and hypoglycemia, leukocytosis, leucopoenia, erythrocytosis and erythropenit,
• improves transmition of impulse interneuronal synapse depressed by the drug sodium barbital,
• neutralizes the suppressive effect on the brain by sodium barbital,
• restores the capacity to focus, concentrate and perform mental work in men while mentally fatigued,
• increases the resistance to the common cold,
• protects nuclear chromatin in chromosome component in liver cells against free radical oxidation induced by tetrachloromethane,
• restores phospholipids og liver mitochondria pathologically changed by insulin insufficiency.

Leuzea’s root clinical studies from Russia

Leuzea’s root, known to the western world as  Maral root was first studied by Soviet scientists during the Second World War. Russian scientists were looking at anything that might have the potential to provide their soldier more strength and endurance as they slogged their way into Berlin.

The ethanol extract of the dried root was found to contain tannins, phytoecdsones, flavonoids, glycosides, lignins, alkaloids, vitamins, organic acid along with some other compounds that could not be identified. They conducted numerous clinical trials (on people as while as laboratory animals) and concluded that an extract of Leuzea’s root displayed many properties capable of helping a person stay active and alert as well as the ability to restore energy and even increase muscle mass.

They found that Maral Root could:

* Help increase the rate in which the cells restore their energy (ATP)
* Help build muscle mass
* Help improve the contraction of the heart muscles and improve circulation to the muscle and brain.
* Help counteract oxygen starvation
* Help with fertilization
* Help with focus, concentration allowing people to perform while mentally fatigued
* Help with resistance to the common cold.

The Soviets also found that the extract t helped people to counteract the brain numbing effects of sodium barbital. Further tests revealed that Leuzea extract helped people keep their concentration during stressful situations allowing people to stay focused and attentive when they performed jobs that were unusually stressful (i.e. Air traffic controller). The extract was also found to be beneficial as a sleep aid, preventing sleep disorders brought on by stress without the negative side effects of sleeping pills. It was also found to help with the intitial stages of impotence and diabetes.

Ecdysterone

One of the most interesting constituents that scientists found in Leuzea extract was a polyhydrodated sterol that belongs to the ecdysone group known as ecdysterone. This sterol is usually found in insects and crustaceans and is utilized to regulate protein synthesis. Early studies of the extract dismissed ecdysterone because of this, but later scientists discovered that this sterol possessed anabolic activity meaning that it helped increase muscle mass in much the same way that steroids do but without destroying the function of androgen.  Ecdysterone also displayed the ability to activate the synthesis of certain enzymes (glutamate decarboxylase, acetylcholine esterase) in the brain  as well as enzymes in the cells which are involved in the generation of energy. It was also found to help protect the liver cells from free radical oxidation and DNA and cellular membranes from H2O2.

Scientists believe that the ecdysterone has  the ability to mimic the actions of the human steroid hormones, except for the fact that they have much less of a chance to get picked up by hormone receptors. This means if the human body has an ample supply of human steroid hormones, ecdysterone cannot compete with them. However, if there happen to be a deficiency in these hormones, which can occur during times of physical and mental stress, then ecdysterone  can bind with the receptors and provide much needed energy and attention.

coming soon....