JudoJosh
Pro Virili Parte
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Chlorophytum Borivilianum
Despite this being a failrly old, well established & popular compound, recently there has been a few threads and questions popping up around its use. I suspect that it is because of the latest Analyzed Supplements release, ChloroTEST. We are used to seeing chlorophytum being used in formulas and not as a single compound. I think this is the reason for the recent questions and threads about it. Either way, here is a quick breakdown of some potential benefits over chlorophytum supplementation.
Sleep
18 healthy men & women with impaired sleep were given chlorophytum in combination with mucuna pruriens for 28 days. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was given pre and post intervention to asses sleep quality. There was an improvement seen in just about every category of the PSQI questionnaire, some as high as +50%.
Adaptogen
In the traditional Indian system of ayurvedic medicine, chlorophytum is most well known for its adaptogenic properties. The antistress activity of chlorophytum was assessed using a swim endurance stress, anorexic test in rats and despair swim test. The rats were given chlorophytum via Safed Musli for 21 days. The mice which were pretreated with the extract showed significant improvement in the swimming time and thereby showed the antistress activity.
GH
A combination of chlorophytum borivilianum and Velvet bean was given to 15 exercise-trained men. Supplement was given to them at pre, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 minutes post ingestion. A high degree of variability between subjects was seen. When the data was pooled, the GH response over the two hour post ingestion period was significant.
Androgenic Activity
Rats were fed Safed Musli for 30 days and weight gain in the body and reproductive organs were measured along with sexual behavior and penile erection. The rats taking chlorophytum gained body weight along with weight of secondary sexual organs (testis, prostate, and seminal vesicles) were also increased. No significant change was observed in the untreated group. Unfortunately this study did not measure serum androgens but this weight change suggest androgenic activity.
Conclusion
While research is far from conclusive, in summary chlorophytum does appear to have the potential as a sleep aide, adaptogenic compound and improving GH levels and possibly androgenic activity. More human studies and better designed studies are still needed to confirm the potential properties, the anecdotal data combined with research so far does appear promising. For maximum benefits I would suggest stacking chlorophytum borivilianum & mucuna pruriens together.
Refrences
McCarthy CG, Alleman RJ, Bell ZW, Bloomer RJ. A dietary supplement containing chlorophytum borivilianum and velvet bean improves sleep quality in men and women. Integr Med Insights. 2012; 7:7-14. Epub 2012 Jun 19.
S.L. Deore, S.S. Khadabadi Screening of antistress properties of Chlorophytum borivilianum tuber Pharmacologyonline, 1 (2009), pp. 320–328
Alleman RJJ, Canale RE, McCarthy CG, Bloomer RJ. A blend of Chlorophytum borivilianum and Velvet bean increases serum growth hormone in exercise-trained men. Nutrition and Metabolic Insights. 2011;4:55–63
Thakur M, et al. A comparative study on aphrodisiac activity of some ayurvedic herbs in male albino rats. Arch Sex Behav. (2009)
While research is far from conclusive, in summary chlorophytum does appear to have the potential as a sleep aide, adaptogenic compound and improving GH levels and possibly androgenic activity. More human studies and better designed studies are still needed to confirm the potential properties, the anecdotal data combined with research so far does appear promising. For maximum benefits I would suggest stacking chlorophytum borivilianum & mucuna pruriens together.
Refrences
McCarthy CG, Alleman RJ, Bell ZW, Bloomer RJ. A dietary supplement containing chlorophytum borivilianum and velvet bean improves sleep quality in men and women. Integr Med Insights. 2012; 7:7-14. Epub 2012 Jun 19.
S.L. Deore, S.S. Khadabadi Screening of antistress properties of Chlorophytum borivilianum tuber Pharmacologyonline, 1 (2009), pp. 320–328
Alleman RJJ, Canale RE, McCarthy CG, Bloomer RJ. A blend of Chlorophytum borivilianum and Velvet bean increases serum growth hormone in exercise-trained men. Nutrition and Metabolic Insights. 2011;4:55–63
Thakur M, et al. A comparative study on aphrodisiac activity of some ayurvedic herbs in male albino rats. Arch Sex Behav. (2009)
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