The History of Deer Velvet Deer Velvet's remarkable health promoting and rejuvenating properties have been prized in the Orient for over 2000 years. Today, Western clinical and scientific research of deer velvet is proving the validity of traditional medicine claims. Ongoing research into the benefits of deer velvet is attracting worldwide attention. To date, the research results are showing that this ancient remedy may be one of nature's safest multipurpose sources of energy. Scientific studies with deer velvet have so far concentrated on testing for growth, endurance and stamina, immunology, and anti-inflammatory activity. Because deer velvet is the only living mammalian tissue that grows and is shed each year, it is believed to be a treasure trove of biologically active substances. Extensive research in Russia, China, Korea and New Zealand has shown that deer velvet contains a rich source of essential minerals, vitamins, major amino acids and other nutrients. These include natural steroids, male and female hormones, anti-inflammatory prostaglandins (cell function regulators that tell the body how to respond to inflammation, tissue injury and pain), the protein collagen (well known for promoting healthy skin and hair), and the natural growth hormone IGF-1. For centuries it's been used to control blood pressure, increase hemoglobin levels, increase lung efficiency, improve recuperation, improve muscle tone and glandular functions, sharpen mental alertness, relieve the inflammation of arthritis and heal stomach ulcers. There has been recent interest in this ancient remedy since the results of a unique scientific testing programme carried out in New Zealand by AgResearch. The results of these tests are capturing the attention of scientists' worldwide and exciting clinical researchers with the potential applications for deer velvet in today's mainstream healthcare. Westerners have only recently begun to make use of this ancient remedy. Many people have been unwilling to take deer velvet seriously because of the notion that it is an aphrodisiac. Deer velvet is named after the soft velvet-like covering of deer antlers while they are growing and still in a cartilaginous state, before they harden into bone. Every year the stag's antlers grow with remarkable swiftness and every year, after the roar and mating season, the antlers are cast to begin the cycle again in the spring. On New Zealand deer farms the antlers are removed painlessly under strict New Zealand Deer Industry Velvet Removal Programme standards, before they harden, in order to protect the stags from each other, and to harvest the velvet, which can then be processed in licensed governmentally controlled facilities. To study New Zealand deer velvet in comparison with the Russian and Chinese (traditionally regarded as the gold standard of deer velvet) both young and mature Red Deer, Wapiti and Fallow Deer antlers were analysed in a report published in 1992. The antler was dried and weighed and then each antler was divided into four sections, ash, mineral and lipid (or fat) content was then measured. While the mineral content of the antlers were similar, the lipid content of New Zealand Red Deer was found to be higher than the Russian Maral and Chinese Malu. It is believed that it is in the lipid portion that the valuable active ingredients of velvet are found, thus a higher lipid content the greater the efficacy of the deer velvet.