http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallopia_multiflora
We was thinking of growing this plant. intezam has many gray and white hairs -- thats how it rose to our attention... this plant is called Mr. He's black hair (He Shou Wu) aka Fo-Ti . According (to one story), Mr. He did something wrong as an old man, and was locked up in a dry well for many years. He was fed gruel once a day. The only other living organism in the well was a chinese knotweed creepers. Mr. He supplemented his gruel with this plants root and when he was released - he was over 80 y.o. -- everyone was surprised to see Mr. He emerge from the well with his hair turned from fully white to jet-black.
It's a strange (and controversial) plant. It's roots can look pretty awesome:


..shock....


..more..


..this..


...fu** you...


..they all seem to say that...


..who could be meant..


look at this...


..or this...


.. like this...


...and this..


...or this...


...


...more..


..front side..


...back side...


..couple...


..another couple (OMG... look at the details )

Wikipedia says it's a hepatoxin and prolonged use may cause drug induced hepatitis or liver failure. But just look at those roots..... Aren't they telling us something???

So if I eat the root I'll get a back side like that?
That would probably be reason enough...

I tried to grow it this year but the seed didnt go. I got more and plan to try again next year. It takes several years to grow harvestable roots, so be patient.
The hepatotoxic effects are believed to be caused by prolonged use of insufficiently processed (or unprocessed) commercial root preparations. If the roots are cooked in steam for about a day and a half the root is changed to remove its hepatotoxicity and enhance its restorative properties. Processed root is 'color coded' by staining with black soybean soup, thats no assurance that the processing was complete tho. Unprocessed root is also sold as a laxative.
Theyre telling us people will work for their money, and that the chinese are superstitious These vines are grown in boxes with one wall removable. Periodically the wall is removed and the dirt brushed away to find the few roots that can be manipulated to look like people, such roots are coddled and eventually sold to rich people for a hundred times the normal price.

If you search the literature for info dont neglect the name Polygonum multiflorum. Most research was done under that synonym.

so....we just learned that He Shou Wu root (chinese knotweed root) is a selective Mao-B inhibitor. Specially the concentrated extract....



It being hepatoxic in large amounts (unprocessed) it could make sense (in theory) that it be taken with acacia confusa root bark together, which is used as a liver-tonic in trad. Chinese herbal medicine. We always felt there is something moar about this plant...

Since it is a vine...this be called Cathayhuasca (Sinohuasca)??

Yes I grew it.
Actually it escaped cultivation shortly thereafter and ate my 12by12 compost pile.

Some of the literature I read said a few of the cases were due to short term exposure. The political divide between ancient and modern medicine is nauseating. I wish we could work with traditional schools of thought to figure out what went wrong in these cases rather than herb-shaming something we don't understand. I have been wanting to try polygonum cuspidatum for my Lyme but the hepatotoxicity reports of multi forum have scared me off. Do you know anything about this particular one?

It is not listed in the TCM remedies for lyme. Do you have chronic lyme already?

Anyway, it was found that a compound found in p. harmala and malabar nut can eliminate a protozoan parasite (kala azar- a disease spread by sannnnd flies) so it wouldn't surprise we if there is herbs, fungus, root, seed, fruit, medicinal honey, yoga, extract, leaves, bark, fragance, activity or other out there that can completely eliminate some of these parasites, incl. spirochaete from ones' boday (....provided one is not a very fat person - they can lay dormant in the boday's fatty tissue and relapse from there...we think, it's the bacteria's plan B). We'd bet some older animals (deer, hedgehog, boar, birdppl) know (exactly) which herb/other does the job....

I suppose i missed this. Yes i've had Lyme for 3 years. TCM won't have an entry for Lyme because bacterial causes weren't known. Though some have considered it a form of Gu Syndrome. I don't know if symptomatic manifestations (rheumatism and neurological conditions) may be in the indications. The use of japanese knotweed for Lyme diseases is entirely modern based off the work of Stephen Harrod Buhner. I sucked up my fears of hepatoxicity and have been taking it 3-4 months now along side cats claw. It's definitely done a number on my disease state. I'm far from cured but my vasculitis disappeared in about 60 minutes after my first dose and everything else has been in slow retreat.

Yes i certainly wouldn't put it past herbs to kill parasites. In fact, i'm betting the majority of their medicinal action is rooted in this exact nature. Secondary metabolites are largely how they interact with their own microbiomes since they lack the sorts of cellular immunity we have. Their capacity to attack viruses, bacteria, inhibit quorum sensing, stimulate adaptive immunity, inhibit adhesion, inhibit efflux pumps, etc put antibiotics to shame.