Schizandra: The Magical Five Flavor Berry

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Schizandra shrub is native to China and Russia and produces red berries that have been used medicinally for thousands of years. Schizandra is known as wu wei zu in Chinese which literally translates to ‘five flavor fruit.’ If you ever have a chance to taste a schizandra berry I highly recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity. As you chew the berry, you will slowly experience five different flavors – salty, sweet, pungent, sour and bitter. It really is a one-of-a-kind experience.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), schizandra is commonly used for coughs, infections, inflammation, hepatitis, insomnia and skin disorders. In the naturopathic community, schizandra is touted primarily for its adaptogenic and hepatoprotective effects. There is a paucity of clinical trials supporting the use of schizandra as an adaptogen. I have personally used schizandra for its supposed anxiolytic (stress reducing) effects and feel comfortable saying that it is worthy of being classified as an adaptogen based on my own experience.

In these days of evidence based medicine though, definitive conclusions based on solid research are preferred over anecdotal evidence. Fortunately, a recent study at Jinan University in China compared the anxiolytic effects of schizandra to both diazepam (Valium) and placebo. Restraint-stressed mice were used as the study population for this experiment. I am not a huge fan of animal studies so I want to make it clear that for this study, the ‘procedures for animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals as adopted and promulgated by the United States National Institutes of Health.’ The experiment involved fifty mice which were evenly divided into five groups. The five groups included: normal control, stress model, diazepam (0.65mg/kg), low dose schizandra group (100 mg/kg) and a high dose schizandra group (200mg/kg). After the stress experiment, HPLC was used to determine the concentrations of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and corticosterone levels in the five groups. Stress in both mice and humans causes levels of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine to increase. Plasma corticosterone levels also rise during acute stress. Interestingly, administration of the high dose of schizandra during the stress experiment significantly reduced the levels of all of the neurotransmitters and plasma corticosterone. The low dose of schizandra reduced norepinephrine, serotonin and corticosterone but not dopamine levels. The results of the study led the investigators to conclude that the actions of schizandra lignan extract are similar to those of classic anxiolytics such as diazepam.

In my opinion, there are several reasons why a schizandra lignan extract should be used in lieu of pharmaceuticals like diazepam since, as suggested by this small study, it is as effective. Diazepam requires detoxification by the liver while schizandra is known to be hepatoprotective. These days, our livers need as much support as they can get! Also, patients on diazepam have been known to develop an addiction or tolerance to diazepam while schizandra is very well tolerated based on my own anecdotal experiences. Hopefully clinical trials that look at the efficacy of schizandra as an anxiolytic in a human population will be designed soon!

Laura Firetag ND Student Bastyr University

Chen, W.-W., et al., Pharmacological studies on the anxiolytic effect of standardized Schisandra lignans extract on restraint-stressed mice. Phytomedicine (2011), doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2011.06.004.

Labels: adaptogens, berries, natrual remedies, research, schizandra, sensoril

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Schizandra: The Magical Five Flavor Berry

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