Eleuthero, the thorny root of the North-East

Eleuthero, Ci Wu Jia in Chinese, reads « the thorny Wu Jia »: its stems are covered in fine, downward-pointing thorns, and its palmate leaves most often open into five leaflets, hence the name Wu Jia. The reference growing region of this shrub of the Araliaceae family is north-east China, above all Heilongjiang; it also grows in the Russian Far East and in Korea.

In the West, it is best known as Siberian ginseng, a name coined from Soviet studies of the 1960s. Yet it is not a ginseng: the plant does belong to the ginseng family, but not to the genus Panax. It is a root that supplements without forcing, without the strength or the harshness of the great tonics.

Supplementing the Qi, supporting the Spleen and the Kidney

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the root is warm, with a pungent, bitter and sweet flavour. Sweetness supplements, pungency sets things in motion, bitterness tempers the sweetness and keeps the warmth from becoming heavy. Associated with the Spleen, which according to tradition transforms what we eat into Qi, it supports this transformation without drying. It is also associated with the Kidney, which governs the lower back, the knees and the bones, and whose Qi it supports.

Settling the mind, gently

Through the Heart, where the Shen resides, tradition credits it with calming the mind. The key point is the manner: it does not calm by weighing on the mind, as heavy substances do, but by nourishing what was lacking, through the Spleen, which produces the Blood the Heart needs. According to the traditional reading, this is what makes it a root for slow, regular use.

Key benefits

Supported Qi & Renewed Energy

By supplementing the Qi through the Spleen, eleuthero supports the times when energy runs low.

Vigour & Regularity

Warm and sweet, the root gives the body vigour without forcing, and lends itself to slow, regular use.

Settled Mind & Calm

Through the Heart, it encourages a calm mind by nourishing what it was lacking.