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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sigismund on December 23, 2007, at 14:01:59
There seem to have only been 2 ever posts on this.
People concerned with adrenal function might find it interesting.
Cured rehmannia is certainly very nice to eat (though naturally I felt it gave me insomnia).
Anyway, you might be interested in this......"Uncured rehmannia inhibited the metabolism of cortisol by hepatocytes in vitro. Simultaneous administration of exogenous adrenocortical hormones resulted in cortisol levels remaining close to normal. The authors believe the mechanism to be a competitive effect at the hepatocellular receptor which affected the uptake of corticosteroid hormone, thereby slowing the catabolism of cortisol.
Oral administration of uncured rehmannia (3g/kg) for 2 weeks to rabbits chronically treated with dexamethasone significantly raised serum corticsterone levels (p<0.001) Continuation of the treatment resulted in further increases. Rehmannia treatment also prevented and reversed morphological changes in the pituitary and adrenal cortex, appearing to antagonise the suppressive effect of glucocorticoids on the HPA axis."
There have been big threads on the HPA axis on the Main Board. Resetting it, I think.
(When people speak of adrenal exhaustion, are they talking about this sort of thing?)
Any comments welcome.
Posted by Kath on December 23, 2007, at 20:26:28
In reply to Rehmannia, posted by Sigismund on December 23, 2007, at 14:01:59
Holy Croker Siggie - My mind, in its current state can't follow all those big words or concepts!
What the heck IS it anyhow - cured OR uncured???
hugs, Kath
Posted by Sigismund on December 23, 2007, at 21:16:57
In reply to Re: Rehmannia » Sigismund, posted by Kath on December 23, 2007, at 20:26:28
Hi Kath
To cure it they cook it in wine, dry it out and do it again. It's delicious. Very chewy. It has that lovely, reassuring, vaguely medicinal taste that some Chinese herbs have.
See what you think of this....
Uncured rehmannia is descibed as sweet, slightly bitter and cold; cured rehmannia is sweet and slightly warm. The former clears 'heat' and cools the 'blood', nourishes 'yin' and 'blood' and generates 'fluids', cools the upward blazing of 'heart fire' and is used for 'wasting' and 'thirsting' syndrome.(I'm using inverted commas instead of italics.)
I note that 'heart fire' causes mouth sores, insomnia, low grade fevers and constipation. That must be one reason I thought it might be good for me.
Hugs to you too.
Posted by Kath on December 24, 2007, at 19:01:43
In reply to Re: Rehmannia - cured and uncured » Kath, posted by Sigismund on December 23, 2007, at 21:16:57
Sounds pretty powerful!
Where did you find out about it?
Wasn't it Larry who went to a really good Chinese medicine practitioner in Toronto?
Best of Holiday wishes to you.
much love, Kath
Posted by clipper40 on December 26, 2007, at 1:39:23
In reply to Re: Rehmannia - cured and uncured » Kath, posted by Sigismund on December 23, 2007, at 21:16:57
I'm with Kath. Too many big words and I had never heard of it either. Sounds like it would be good for adrenal fatigue because it slows the catabolism of cortisol, which would keep it around in our systems longer. That's what licorice does, I believe, and it's considered a great herb for adrenal fatigue.
Can't say if it would be good for you but it may be worth a try...
Thanks for the info!
Posted by Sigismund on December 26, 2007, at 2:10:08
In reply to Re: Rehmannia - cured and uncured » Sigismund, posted by clipper40 on December 26, 2007, at 1:39:23
It's one of the main herbs in TCM.
Used for autoimmune diseases, but also in less specific ways...the general tonic thingo.
Found in lots of combinations.
Posted by clipper40 on December 26, 2007, at 17:39:48
In reply to Re: Rehmannia - cured and uncured, posted by Sigismund on December 26, 2007, at 2:10:08
You know a lot about herbs!
I didn't even know about The Chinese Medicine Sampler until I just looked it up.
Thanks again!
Posted by bleauberry on December 26, 2007, at 18:11:08
In reply to Rehmannia, posted by Sigismund on December 23, 2007, at 14:01:59
I've never even heard of this, but yes it sounds like it has good potential for hypocortisolism (adrenal fatigue). Anything that helps boost low cortisol is beneficial to the entire body, including immmune system, digestion, other glands, and mood.
Posted by Sigismund on December 26, 2007, at 23:04:44
In reply to Re: Rehmannia » Sigismund, posted by bleauberry on December 26, 2007, at 18:11:08
I need to be eductated about this.
My cortisol was low, when it was measured.
But then cortisol is a stress hormone we are meant to be lowering, or something like that?
Posted by Sigismund on December 27, 2007, at 4:39:01
In reply to Re: Rehmannia » bleauberry, posted by Sigismund on December 26, 2007, at 23:04:44
Eductated?
Excuse me.
Posted by clipper40 on December 28, 2007, at 2:41:32
In reply to Re: Rehmannia » Sigismund, posted by Sigismund on December 27, 2007, at 4:39:01
No problem, we can "eductate" you. :-) (I didn't even notice the misspelling until you pointed it out.)
Too much cortisol production is not good. That happens from too much stress of any sort (even medications that are noradrenergic are a stresser on the adrenals) However, after a long period of too much cortisol production, the adrenal gland basically becomes exhausted. It's at this stage that it produces too little cortisol. (This is an oversimplification because there are different times of day that it produces different amounts. You can have cortisol production be ok or even too high at one stage of the daily cycle and then have it be too low at another stage.)
When you have too little cortisol, you experience the fatigue. One of the major symptoms is that you don't feel like you've fully woken up until many hours after you've gotten out of bed. I feel like I'm drugged until late afternoon or early evening - foggy brain, no energy at all. Lowered cortisol is also not good for your immune system or digestion etc. If your digestion is impaired, because of not enough enzymes due to low cortisol, then you don't appropriately retain and utilize nutrients or medications. So this has all kinds of other implications.
Cortisol has a lot of good functions besides the stress reaction so just lowering it isn't the necessarily the proper solution. Bottom line is that to have a healthy functioning system, you need to have cortisol at the right levels (not too high or too low) during all times of the day and night.
This is the end of the thread.
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