Chinese Herbalism: A Natural Alternative to Hormone Replacement Therapy

Let’s talk about hormone balance again. This time from the male perspective.

Like the last time, we’re going to talk about one particular study for one herb. The herb in question is Cistanche, or ròu cōng róng.

In the west, the herb has a reputation for increasing testosterone or male performance. In the east, it’s known as a warm kidney yang tonic.

Cistanche and Testosterone

The study in question was looking for biochemical targets for echinacoside, which is one of the main ingredients in this herb, and its effect on oligospermia, or low sperm count.

They found that a echinacoside decreased expression of androgen receptors in the hypothalamus.

Now, how is decreasing expression going to lead to higher functionality down the line?

How Your Hormones Maintain Balance

Let’s introduce the very important concept of your endocrine system – your hormone’s checks and balances with itself. It is called the hypothalamic pituitary axis. All of the end product hormones will go back up to the hypothalamus and negatively inhibit the precursors of their eventual creation. This feedback loop creates a complex web of checks and balances.

How Chinese Herbs Naturally Regulate Hormones

Most of Chinese herbs are inducers of inducers. (Or in this case, inhibitors of inhibitors.) In other words, these medicinal herbs work on your biochemistry in a way similar to how the hypothalamic pituitary axis works.

This is unlike modern Western hormone replacement therapy – which simply gives you a dose of hormones (in this case testosterone) and overrides your body’s natural regulation.

Cons of Hormone Replacement Therapy

Western hormone therapy essentially takes control away from your body, telling it, for example, how much testosterone to have rather than letting the body decide for itself. Also, dumping large amounts of one hormone into your body can throw off others in ways you didn’t expect.

Chinese Herbs To Balance Hormones

That’s where Chinese herbalism has an advantage: it supports rather than overrides your body’s system for maintaining internal hormone balance.

Though the ancient Chinese herbalist didn’t necessarily know what was going on in terms of the biochemistry, I think we can agree that they did understand the effects.

And Chinese herbalists also take advantage of the concept of formulas – which is not just using one herb, but instead using many picked for how they work together.

Eastern medicine’s way of understanding things is to make sure everything is in balance.

If you would like to know more about how Chinese herbs can affect your hormone balance, give us a call today.

Supporting Articles:

Echinacoside Increases Sperm Quantity in Rats by Targeting the Hypothalamic Androgen Receptor , Scientific Reports, March 01, 2018

Who is Dr. Perez?

Dr. Dan Perez is both a Western-trained physician and a graduate of the AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine. Based in Austin, Texas, AOMA is recognized as one of the leading schools in Chinese Medicine. Being both an expert in Western medicine and Chinese medicine, Dr. Perez offers his patients natural, minimally invasive and integrative medical options for treating a variety of chronic medical conditions.