Cistanche tubulosa extract is manufactured in a specially constructed GMP-compliant plant in the oasis region of Hotan in China's Takla-Makan desert. Cistanche tubulosa features in the daily diet of the local population there who enjoy one of the longest life expectancies in the world. Many of them attribute their longevity to regular consumption of Cistanche tubulosa.
The active principles of Cistanche tubulosa extract, echinacoside and acteoside, are phenylethanoid glycosides. Acteoside, a polyphenol, is a powerful antioxidant that is 15 times more active than resveratrol.

Research conducted jointly by a Japanese company, a pharmaceutical laboratory in Shanghai and the University of Beijing, showed that Cistanche tubulosa extract helps prevent ageing of the brain and skin, increases sexual vigour and accelerates fat metabolism.

The studies suggest, in particular, that Cistanche tubulosa extract or Cistanche salsa, a plant from the same family:

- improves brain function :
- when given to mice, it improves:
- their learning and memory function,
- their ability to remember and extract memorised information ;
in rats, it improves brain function by restoring neurons damaged by apoptosis ;
- in cell cultures, echinacoside - one of its active principles - protects damaged fibroblasts by controlling levels of reactive oxygen species ;
- in rats, it improves brain function by increasing the number of neurotransmitters in the brain ;
- prevents myocardial infarction and stroke in rats by controlling platelet aggregation and inhibiting the formation of clots in the vein by-pass ;
- in a phase III study, a dose of 600mg, given three times a day over three months, was shown to be as effective against vascular dementia as the drug hydergine, which improves brain metabolism and peripheral blood circulation and accelerates blood supply and oxygen to the brain, while improving metabolism in brain cells.
- has an anti-ageing effect by :
- inhibiting activity of reactive oxygen species ;
- increasing activity of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase and preventing lipid peroxidation ;
- in a model of ageing mice, echinacoside was shown to combat oxidation, restrict liver MDA content, a marker of oxidative stress, and reduce monoamine-oxidase activity in the brain ;
- has a dose-dependent, anti-fatigue effect, demonstrated by increases in:
- the survival time of mice under anaerobic conditions or following administration of the toxin sodium nitrite,
- the tolerance of mice in a forced swimming test ;
- has an aphrodisiac effect in stressed mice ;
- echinacoside and acteoside improve sexual ability ;
- in cell cultures and in mice, it increases gene expression of enzymes involved in male hormone production.

Take one to two capsules a day.