Vitex and Hot Flashes

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Butch Owen <butchbsi

Thu, 15 Jan 2004 01:37:33 -0800

Vitex and Hot Flashes ** II

 

> Hi,

> I've just been through this on another list, but.... can people

> please be specific about which plant of the plant their Vitex EO

> comes from when they recommend it? I know it's still fairly

> experimental, but it can come from the berries, leaf or a combination

> of the two. While all of them have a hormonal effect, they are not

> identical by any means in their effect.

 

This post is not for Lowana's benefit as I know she has done a good bit

of the research on Vitex .. along with Barbara Lucks and some other good

folks. Leslie mentioned she had been sniffing Vitex .. many others who

have not posted to the list are also using it. Some use the Leaf Oil,

some use the Fruit Oil (there are really no berries on Chaste Berry) and

some use the Mixed Oil. I have many testimonials from folks who have

had success with each .. the questions get deeper as time passes.

 

Last night I received a post from some of the researchers but my PC

started eating posts from my In Box this morning and I really didn't get

to read the entire post .. I've asked for them to return it. :-(

 

But .. I will mention that Barbara Lucks has done a significant amount

of research on Vitex and its ongoing .. there are others .. many others

involved in this project and its been presented in certain forums. I've

donated Leaf and Fruit EO and Fruit Hydrosol to this research and to

some other folks who are doing their own personal testing.

 

I'll say that even though the jury is still out on SAFETY .. as is the

case with many EO, the conclusions to date are that Vitex is certainly

beneficial for hot flashes .. and for PMS. One of the young ladies

working in my office has had terrible problems all her adult life until

a few months back .. she used to miss work it was so bad. Now she

sniffs the Mixed Vitex and its been a blessing to her.

 

As for the differences in the Leaf or Fruit .. we can see the minor

chemical variances but we can't really interpret much from them.

 

GC/MS results from our latest batch are ..

 

Vitex Fruit % Vitex Leaf %

 

Sabinene 25.50 14.61

1.8 Cineole 22.27 23.16

a-Pinene 16.25 9.06

T-Farnesene 10.68 11.58

T-Caryophyllene 8.46 13.81

Bicyclogermacrene 4.16 4.99

Camphene 3.25 6.36

Myrcene 1.79 1.31

Germacrene-D 1.41 1.05

B-Phellandrene 6.22 .52

 

99.99 86.45

99.99 TOTAL 100.00 TOTAL

 

Specific Grav (25C) 0.907 0.900

Refract Index (25C) 1.4835 1.4779

 

The totals above mean that for the Fruit oil the GC/MS detected 99.99%

and for the Leaf oil 100% was detected by not reported above because the

Leaf oil had far more minor chemical components detected (a total of 25)

where the Fruit oil is stacked heavily on major chemical components.

 

Vitex agnus castus is a Southern climate wild plant .. its found along

the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey and Greece .. there is some growing

in the Balkans but its not the same quality. Vitex has a very low yield

of oil .. both from the Fruit and the Leaf .. we always get less than a

kilogram (2.205 pounds) of essential oil per metric ton (2,205 pounds)

of aromatic material. I have imported the Fruit Hydrosol into the USA

and even though its a low yield oil, we did NOT cohobate the hydrosol.

 

I am 100% convinced that men should NOT sniff Vitex. The name " Chaste "

has meaning. Monks used to use it to eliminate the urge for sex .. and

it is said that men can expect nausea if they sniff it. I can testify

that this is the truth. Was it a programmed response? Maybe!

 

There is a good bit of information out on Vitex .. I claim no ownership

of it though I've collected it. We can't always wait for the scientific

community to pick up the ball and run with it. Unless sponsored and

funded, most researchers will not waste the time and effort .. and it

appears that the multi-buck pharmaceutical companies don't see a need to

research it .. or perhaps they believe they couldn't patent the results

as it is a natural product. Barbara Lucks, Lowana, Marcia, Dr. Chuck

Woodfield and many other good folks have made note of results of the

ongoing research. I salute their efforts and look forward to more

information in the future. :-)

 

> Thanks.

> XXXXXXXXX

 

Y'all keep smiling. Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

> > The very best thing for my hot flashes was sniffing Vitex essential

> > oil 2 times a day for 4 weeks. Leslie