Thunder God Vine|Tripterygium Wilfordi

For years Thunder God Vine also known in Chinese as Lei Gong Teng has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and Cancer in Traditional Chinese Medicine but now a new study by scientists at Harvard University shows it has the potential to reduce obesity.

Despite all modern advances in medicine, an effective drug treatment of obesity has not been found yet. Discovery of leptin two decades ago created hopes for treatment of obesity. However, development of leptin resistance has been a big obstacle, mitigating a leptin-centric treatment of obesity.

There are two molecular compounds in the ROOT of Thunder God Vine they are Celastrol and Triptolide, by using in silico drug-screening methods, they discovered that Celastrol, a pentacyclic triterpene extracted from the roots of Tripterygium Wilfordi (thunder god vine) plant, is a powerful anti-obesity agent.

Celastrol suppresses food intake, blocks reduction of energy expenditure, and leads to up to 45% weight loss in hyperleptinemic diet-induced obese (DIO) mice by increasing leptin sensitivity, but it is ineffective in leptin-deficient (ob/ob) and leptin receptor-deficient (db/db) mouse models.

These results indicate that Celastrol is a leptin sensitizer and a promising agent for the pharmacological treatment of obesity and should be something to keep your eye on in the future.

Thunder God Vine And TCM

In Traditional Chinese Medicine Thunder God Vine was decocted in water for approx 60 minutes and taken twice daily for its anti cancer characteristics and for rheumatoid arthritis.

Soaking the herb in alcohol would offer a stronger extraction but would take at least 4 weeks before it would be beneficial to consume. There are companies in China who use a solvent extraction and are able to extract 98% Celastrol with this method.

This extract is in a red colored powder form for encapsulation.I have a feeling this is what we will be seeing hitting the market shortly with all the publicity Thunder God Vine is receiving.

For more information on using herbs for weight loss read click here.