VDA Pure

The Benefits | What's In Velvet Deer Antler | Why VDA Pure | The Science | FAQ | Label Facts

VDAPure beneficial effects based 
on the literature of its components:

• Improvement in general health. 
• Improvement in sexual health. 
• Improvement in flexibility and joint mobility. 
• Development of the skeletal system. 
• Increase in muscular development & strength. 
• Increase in muscle recovery. 
• Increase in energy levels and endurance. 
• Prevention and reduction of inflammation. 
• Increase in blood supply and circulation. 
• Reduction of blood pressure. 
• Stimulation of the immune system function. 
• Improvement in mental health. 
• Anti aging effects.

 

 

Natures Most Complex 
Body Balancer

VDA Pure acts as a natural adaptogen, helping to restore homeostasis to the body.

The Benefits

Traditional medicine has used Velvet Deer Antler to improve mental alertness and memory, boost immune system function, increase wound healing and recovery time, slow aging, balance iron levels, improve libido in both sexes, and restore joint health and several other key benefits. For detailed benefits by ingredient please go to the ‘What’s in VDA Pure” page on this website.

While all the complex molecules found in Velvet Deer Antler contribute to its benefits it is believed the growth factors synergistically work with those ingredients and adds the following benefits.

Here we will discuss the benefits of the Growth Factors found in Velvet Deer Antler.

Deer velvet contains male and female hormones, including Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) - a hormone that's produced in the liver as a response HGH stimulation. HGH stands for (Human Growth Hormone) an amino acid produced in the pituitary gland of the brain. HGH plays an important role in human development by affecting skeletal growth.

HGH levels are high during childhood, and peak at adolescence. During puberty, HGH levels determine height and bone size. After puberty, HGH levels start to decline, and by age 61 decrease to approximately 20% of what they were at age 21. HGH is continually produced throughout the human lifecycle, and continues to regulate the body's metabolism. HGH is carried into the liver and partially converted into IGF-1.

Deer Velvet contains both IGF-1 and IGF-2. IGF 1 and IGF-2 are substances capable of stimulating cellular growth and regulating a variety of cellular processes. IGF-1 promotes tissue growth, organ health, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and has been shown to stimulate muscle growth, regenerate nerve tissue and encourage the absorption of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine Sulphate. IGF-2 promotes tissue growth and supports the development and function of the organs such as the brain, liver and kidney.  

From Velvet Deer Antler: The Ultimate Antiaging Supplement, Dr. Alex Duarte, O.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Duarte states the following:

IGF-1 Can Improve Immune Response and Vice Versa

IGF-1 Improves Heart Function

IGF-1 has the Ability To Help Stimulate Damaged Nerves

IGF-1 May Promote Healthy, Flexible Joints

IGF-1 Helps Promote A Healthy Prostate

IGF-1 Helps Promote Sexual Performance and Function by Raising Libido

IGF-1 Supports Healthy Weight Loss Regimens

IGF-1 Promotes Healthy Skin and Helps Reduce the Appearance of Wrinkles

The decline of growth hormone with age is directly associated with certain aging signs like wrinkling of the skin, graying of the hair, decreased energy and sexual function, increased body fat, heart disease, weak and brittle bones, and much more. The good news is that both growth hormone and IGF-1 can reverse these physical signs and restore energy levels, bone strength, hair color, more youthful appearing skin, and for most people reading this report, an increased, youthful muscle mass simultaneously significantly reducing body fat.

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What's In Velvet Deer Antler

There are hundreds of active ingredients contained in Deer Velvet that include a variety of Proteins, Lipids, Minerals, Trace Elements, Growth Factors, Growth Hormones and Glycosaminoglycans.  

Velvet Deer Antler is composed of the following:

Growth Factors
Insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1, 2) - precursors for the growth hormone production, promotes muscle growth, tissue growth and organ health. 
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) - protein that stimulates cell growth to produce collagen, for cell renewal and wound healing. 
Collagen - a structural protein present in bone, tendons, ligaments, other connective tissue and articular cartilage.

Amino Acids
Amino acids are precursors for all protein production, aids tissue growth, muscle recovery and repair.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAG’s)
Glucosamine sulphate - builds, maintains and repairs joint structures including bone, cartilage, ligaments, joint fluids and tendons.
Chondroitin sulphate - helps protect and rebuild degenerating cartilage, gives cartilage elasticity, an anti-inflammatory agent.
Hyaluronic acid - a substance that binds cartilage cells together and lubricates joints.

Lipids
Phospholipids - builds cell components and enhances cellular activities, repairs structural damage caused by free radicals, pathogens and toxins.
Glycosphingolipids - compounds involved with growth and metabolism of cells and with memory and learning.
Prostaglandins - regulates contraction and relaxation of muscles, regulates inflammatory mediation.

Minerals
Calcium - builds and maintains bones, teeth and nerves, important for muscle contraction, nerve transmission, blood pressure and blood clotting.
Phosphorus - a key component of metabolic reactions, provides structure for bones and teeth, important for function of heart and kidney.
Potassium - essential for electrolyte balance and also muscle and nerve function.
Sodium - allows the body to maintain normal fluid balance and electrolytes.
Magnesium - helps cells restore and release energy for regular muscle and nerve function.

Trace Elements
Selenium - powerful antioxidant that reduces infections, protects blood cells, the heart, liver and lungs.
Sulphur - element of insulin and various amino acids, protects body against toxins.
Zinc - a component of more than 90 enzymes necessary for healthy skin, growth and the healing of wounds.
Copper - essential for formation of red blood cells, energy making, bone and connective tissues.
Iron - essential in the blood cells transporting oxygen through the body.
Cobalt - Used for anemia and stimulating new red blood cells. Required in the synthesis of vitamin B12.

Other Compounds
Monoamine- oxidase inhibitors - an enzyme that inhibits the oxidation of neurotransmitters, improves mood and feeling of well-being.
Erythropoietin - a hormone produced by specialized kidney cells to stimulate red blood cell production.

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Why VDA Pure?

Why is VDA Pure better than other brands? The reason VDA Pure is superior to other brands is because VDA Pure uses a patented fermentation process that breaks down protein molecules so the product is absorbed at a higher rate. The patented Bio Active Processing (USA Patented 6482443) AKA “NZ bio•active” converts high molecular weight proteins into low molecular weight proteins and polypeptides so the velvet is greatly improved for the uptake rate in the body. This patented process yields what is termed NZ bio•active Deer Velvet.

VDA Pure has been tested against other brands where their active ingredient levels were between 18-23% and VDA Pure tested at 72-75% because of this process. Because other manufacturers do not go through this process consumers will not get the same benefits when ingested.

VDA Pure is harvested from animals whose feed contains no GMO’s or hormones.

New Zealand is a BSE and Chronic Wasting Disease FREE country and these rules are strictly enforced.

Our New Zealand farmers harvest the deer velvet humanely under strict animal welfare and hygiene standards. A veterinarian is present at the time of all extractions.

The Velveting Code of Practice

Whenever the subject of deer velvet arises there is often concern raised about the treatment of the deer. The idea of breeding stags for their antlers is a new and uncertain subject, at least in the Western world. In Asian countries such as China, velvet antler has been harvested for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and deer farming is regarded as a traditional way of life. In New Zealand the highest standards have been set for the welfare of the animals, not just on the velveting issue, but on their overall care and management.

To ensure the humane treatment of deer, veterinarians have been appointed to supervise the velveting, with support from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. Under an agreed Code of Practice farmers undergo a training program where they are assessed as being competent to velvet their own stags under the supervision of a vet. Veterinarians are legally responsible for the use of prescription drugs to provide adequate analgesia and may only prescribe them to deer farmers who have passed the necessary certification.

The velveting itself is a quick procedure and the stags are immediately released to graze, in fact it is one of the few human interventions in their otherwise comfortable life. In the wild a mature stag has a very short life expectancy, living with the ever-present threat of the hunter in all but the most remote regions, and driven by a constant search for food. On the farm deer are valuable animals and are treated with care, kept healthy and well fed through even the lean winter months. Quite apart from the value of the harvested velvet, from the earliest days of deer farming it was the practice of farmers to remove the stags’ growing antlers because as dangerous as they are in the wild, even the young spikes are a lethal weapon in a herd of young stags. The timing of velvet harvesting is crucial to the high quality of the velvet and most top grade velvet is harvested within 50-55 days after casting last season’s antlers. If the velvet is left too long it becomes over-calcified which reduces its medicinal properties.

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The SCIENCE

While velvet antler has been extensively researched and used clinically in Russia since the 1930s, recent interest in this ancient remedy has been aroused by the results of a unique scientific testing program carried out in New Zealand. These results are capturing the attention of scientists in the West, and exciting clinical researchers with the potential applications of velvet antler in the area of mainstream medicine.

To date, these ground-breaking tests have shown deer velvet antler to:

• Contain marked anabolic or growth stimulating properties.
• Stimulate the immune system, the body’s main line of defense against infection and disease.
• Contain anti-inflammatory agents, which may assist in reducing the pain and inflammation of a variety of degenerative diseases.
• Increase muscular strength and endurance.

Since 1991, New Zealand scientists have been carrying out a unique investigation into the composition and medical properties of velvet at AgResearch Invermay, near Dunedin in the South Island. The research was commissioned by Velvet Antler Research New Zealand (VARNZ), a joint venture between AgResearch and the New Zealand Game Industry Board (NZGIB) in association with the Universities of Canterbury and Otago.

Today clinical and scientific research using the extract of velvet antler is proving the validity of claims made by traditional medicine. The ground breaking work carried out by AgResearch into the benefits of velvet is attracting more attention from around the world and the research results are showing this ancient remedy to be one of nature’s safest multipurpose energy tonics. Evidence of the medical benefits of velvet antler is growing, according to Dr Jimmy Suttie, leader of the scientific team which is coming up with some exciting discoveries, and world expert on deer velvet research. The trials so far have concentrated on testing extracts of velvet antler on growth, endurance and stamina, immunology, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity. Results from these trials have shown that treating human white blood cells with extracts of velvet antler stimulated the immune system, as measured by increased production of white blood cells. This response – immunopotentiation in scientific terms – is the body’s defense mechanism, as increased numbers of white blood cells are produced to fight infection. Treatment with velvet, from varying parts of the antler, consistently produced a powerful response. Velvet antler has also demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory and growth stimulating properties. Research is presently being carried out in Korea using velvet antler in conjunction with cancer therapies and while a great deal of work remains to be done, the results of these tests carry major implications for Western medicine with the very real probability of velvet being prescribed in mainstream therapies, both as a preventative and to support some remedial cancer treatments.

To study New Zealand velvet in comparison with the Russian and Chinese–traditionally regarded as the world’s best–both young and mature red deer, wapiti and fallow deer antlers were analyzed. After being dried and weighed each antler was divided into four sections and the ash, mineral and lipid (or fat) content was measured. While the mineral content of the antlers were similar, the lipid content of New Zealand red and fallow velvet was found to be higher than the Russian maral and Chinese malu. It is in the lipid, or fat, that the valuable active ingredients of velvet are found, and a higher lipid content signifies correspondingly higher potency. During the analysis, many of the major minerals needed to maintain healthy bodies were found to be present including calcium, phosphorus, sulphur, magnesium, potassium, sodium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, selenium and cobalt. As would be expected, the calcium levels were found to be lowest in the tip, and increased towards the base as the calcification increased. On the other hand, the lipid content was highest in the tip, the most valuable section on the antler, and decreased in the lower portions.

There were also marked differences noted depending on the stage of antler growth, with the older antlers showing an increased content of ash, calcium and phosphorus, and decreased amounts of lipid, sulphur, sodium, potassium and selenium.

Also found in velvet in varying quantities are: amino acids, polyamines, androgens, estrogens, ectosaponins, mucopolysaccharides, glucosamines, hematopoitin, glucosminoglycans, N-Acetyl-glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate A, chondrocytes, chondroblasts, fibroblasts, osetocytes, anti-inflammatory prosaglandins, IGF-1 and IGF-2, erythropoietin (a glycoprotein produced in the kidney that stimulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow), and gangliosides (believed to be involved with cell metabolism and growth). Found mainly in the central nervous system but also in other tissues, gangliosides consist of fatty acids, sphingomyelins are “involved in complex bioregulatory pathways”. They are believed to be biologically active and are possibly very important for the quality of the velvet. Once again the highest levels are found in the antler tips and the lowest in the base as the antler became more mineralised. Also analyzed were the concentrations of free amino acids, the basic building blocks of protein that are essential for healthy cell growth. While all twenty-two amino acids are manufactured by plants though the process of photosynthesis, humans and animals are able to synthesize all but a few amino acids, called ‘essential’ because they must be supplied ready-made through the food we eat. Tests show that velvet antler is composed primarily of protein, with collagen as the major protein consisting of glycine, alanine, praline and hydroxyproline. Amino acids found in other velvet proteins include: tryptophan lysine, threonine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, histidine, arginine, spartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, cysteine, methionine, and tyrosine.

Russian Studies

The extensive body of scientific literature from Russia, as well as Korea and China, proves and supports the traditional use of velvet antler.

In particular Russian studies using pantocrine, an alcohol/water extract, have shown that velvet antler has hypotensive, erythropoietic, anti-stress, stimulating, anti-inflammatory, gonadotrophic, growth and metabolic effects.

Pantocrin’s use as a tonic in case of mental and physical strain, hypertension, neuroses, sexual weakness and anemia is endorsed by the Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation.

Anti-inflammatory Studies

Velvet antler has been shown in research studies to have marked anti-inflammatory activity, although at this stage it is not known exactly why. It has been suggested that the high concentrations of hormone-like substances in deer velvet are responsible for the rapid tissue repair after injury, or even the cartilaginous concentration of the antler itself. When velvet antler is harvested it is still largely cartilage, containing such compounds as collagen and glycosaminoglycans, including chondroitin sulfate A, B and C.

Research microbiologist Dr Alex Duarte, has spent many years researching the powerful healing properties of cartilage and in his book The Benefits of Velvet Antler he refers to studies that have been carried out using cartilage in the treatment of serious degenerative diseases. In particular he refers to Dr John F. Prudden and other researchers who over thirty-five years ago discovered such elements in cartilage as N-Acetyl-Glucosamine, glycosaminoglycans and synoviocytes, all of which have been associated with accelerated healing. He describes glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) as being the “regulator of new cartilage production and turnover” and being “a very powerful regulator of synoviocytes, which regulate the integrity of the joint fluid.”

Anti-Aging Effects

The elderly in Asia take velvet during the cold winter months, when the body is most vulnerable to infection and disease. It is traditionally said to benefit a wide variety of mental and physical health processes that are involved with aging, including strengthening the mind and increasing the quality and length of life. Its positive influence is so marked that Brekhman distinguishes pantocrin from all other adaptogens because its effect are “manifest with particular distinction in elderly and old people.” The revitalizing effects of velvet antler have long been known in Oriental medicine and well documented in Russian clinical trials where both pantocrin and rantarin are used to treat the elderly. “In Russia where eleutherococcus and particularly pantocrine/rantarin are given to the elderly, many trials have been reported,” writes Fulder. “In one study using elderly patients with some degree of atherosclerosis, rantarin was found to improve sleep, memory, mood and drive, and to alleviate headaches.”More recent research carried out by Chinese scientist Wang Benxiang and associates suggests that velvet preparations showed anti-aging effects by reducing signs of senility in mice, very possibly due to its hormonal effects.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q: Does the manufacturing process harm the deer?

A: No - the deer antlers are humanely harvested and the deer go back to romping in the field shortly after the process is complete. To ensure the humane treatment of deer, veterinarians have been appointed to supervise the velveting, with support from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. Under an agreed Code of Practice our farmers undergo a training program where they are assessed as being competent to velvet their own stags under the supervision of a vet. Veterinarians are legally responsible for the use of prescription drugs to provide adequate analgesia and may only prescribe them to deer farmers who have passed the necessary certification.

Q: Why is VDA Pure better than other brands?

A: The way the antlers are processed breaks down the constituents into a highly absorbable form. This
is a proprietary process that our competitors do not use. Therefore, the antler is utilized better by the body
and becomes more effective for a given dose. Our PATENTED bio-active processing “NZ bio•active” allows optimal absorption.

Q: What is in Velvet Deer Antler that offers the health benefits?

A: There are hundreds of active ingredients contained in Deer Velvet that include a variety of Growth Hormones, Growth Factors, Proteins, Lipids, Minerals, Trace Elements and Glycosaminoglycans. 

Q: Can less growth hormone in my body make me look and feel old?

A: Yes. The decline of growth hormone with age is directly associated with certain aging signs like wrinkling of the skin, graying of the hair, decreased energy and sexual function, increased body fat, heart disease, weak and brittle bones, and much more. The good news is that both growth hormone and IGF-1 can reverse these physical signs and restore energy levels, bone strength, hair color, more youthful appearing skin, and for most people reading this report, an increased, youthful muscle mass simultaneously significantly reducing body fat.

Q: Is there scientific proof about the benefits of Velvet Deer Antler?

A: While velvet antler has been extensively researched and used clinically in Russia since the 1930s, recent interest in this ancient remedy has been aroused by the results of a unique scientific testing program carried out in New Zealand. These results are capturing the attention of scientists in the West, and exciting clinical researchers with the potential applications of velvet antler in the area of mainstream medicine.
To date, these ground-breaking tests have shown deer velvet antler to:
• Contain marked anabolic or growth stimulating properties.
• Stimulate the immune system, the body’s main line of defense against infection and disease.
• Contain anti-inflammatory agents, which may assist in reducing the pain and inflammation of a variety of    degenerative diseases. 
• Increase muscular strength and endurance.

Q: Can the deer velvet help women who are not menopausal?

A: Although research studies with deer antler in relation to sexual function are quite limited but it has been found that younger women taking the velvet have had diminished symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome. They also experienced increased sexual interest and more energy.

Q: Can the deer velvet help with sexual issues for males?

A: Once again, research studies with deer antler in relation to sexual function are quite limited but a Russian study with pantocrin, an extract from deer antler velvet, showed the extract to stimulate sexual behavior in rodents more than ginseng. There has been a plethora of anecdotal evidence and reports spanning back many years that supports the successful treatment of sexual issues for men. For more than a thousand years, it has been used in China and Korea to treat problems with erection. They believed then that the velvet antler from a male deer can strengthen a person's overall body functions.

Q: Why is velvet antler so good for joint repair and osteoarthritis?

A: The deer velvet his high in glucosamine and chondroitin which helps to protect cartilage and acts as an
anti-inflammatory. But, the velvet also has hyaluronic acid with is a component of the synovial fluid that
lubricates the joints. It also contains collagen, a structural protein and the glycosphingolipids essential proteins.

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LABEL FACTS

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