Columnists
May 29, 1998

Velvet antler not for softies.

BY MARILYN LINTON

Toronto Sun Velvet or Viagra? This newsy angle got a lot of attention for an Alberta company that makes nutritional supplements out of the velvet of elk's antlers. Steve Kurylo, the Edmonton entrepreneur who owns InnerSense International, also owns 100 head of elk.
These gentle Bambi-like creatures, which are related to the deer family, may hold the key to longevity, enhanced libido and an improved feeling of, well, get up and go, Kurylo says.

Ancient Chinese medicine, going back to the Han dynasty, refers to velvet antlers as a tonic that helps to restore balance to the system. (Read, a fantastic sex life.) Sounds kinky?

Here's the story:

The male elk's antlers grow out every year and, like a snake's skin, are shed when they've matured. The antlers drop off -- or are rubbed off by the animal in combat -- then little antlers made from cartilage sprout and the whole process starts again.

The new antlers that are regenerated are covered with a fuzz not unlike that of a peach. It's this stage, the fuzzy antler stage, that's referred to as the velvet antler stage. Are you with me? Kurylo's elk farm specializes in cutting off the velvet antlers of the elks, drying them out, pulverizing them, then putting them in capsules and selling them. He makes 200,000 capsules a week; each capsule is worth about 75c.

Of course, whether or not a certain bark or herb or root has any real effect on the body has had little relation to pure science. For example, the herb St. John's Wort has been used for centuries to treat depression and echanacea has been touted as a way of preventing colds, but until recently neither had been tested in any meaningful scientific way. Ditto with velvet antler and libido, though, like other remedies, having no scientific basis doesn't prevent it from selling like hotcakes.

Enter Dr. Brian Fisher, a University of Alberta professor of sports injuries, who has hooked up with Dr. Dave Wiles, fitness director for the Edmonton police force, to do the first scientific study ever on velvet antler. Fisher's story is an interesting one.   "I work with athletes on a daily basis and a lot of guys are looking for something to make them bigger, faster, stronger," he says. Over the years, athletes have come to him with reports on or requests for virtually every substance that was considered legal. "I've looked at everything from creatine to arginine to aloe vera. At the gym the guys say something works, but when you do a real study there's no significant difference in a lot of these things," he says.

Vellvet antler was one of the substances he had heard about as increasing an athlete's endurance and building muscle mass and strength. When he looked at its makeup he discovered a sophisticated structure made up of 17 amino acids, nine of which are essential to the body. "It's also got essential fatty acids and trace minerals," Fisher says. "And I thought, 'Mother Nature has done a great job in packaging this for us."

Fisher says he's always looking for ways to enhance the performance of athletes naturally. "But I've been looking a long time and have found nothing yet." Is velvet antler the answer? That's where Wiles of the police force came in. He was interested in something that would help enhance the stamina of police on the job, particularly during the night shift. But he wanted something that would be natural and that would not keep the guys (and gals) up after their shift was over. Believe me, sexual performance wasn't the issue: These guys are in their twenties and their testosterone is pumped.

Fisher liked the idea of getting some of the police involved in a study because, in his experience, students who would become involved in any substance study would take the product and bolt. So his study, which will take 10 weeks beginning now, is a partnership with the cops. It's a double blinded study involving 35 people. That means no one knows who's getting the real velvet antler, except one person. There's also a control group of people who get neither the velvet antler nor a placebo -- just strength training.

Ten weeks should be enough time to see something, Fisher says. He will measure for insulin-like growth factor, a hormone that makes you bigger and stronger muscle-wise. But he will also measure for testosterone. If velvet antler is truly an aphrodisiac, it should change testosterone levels, he says. If velvet antler turns out to be more hype than hope, so be it. But if this legal substance turns out to build skeletal muscle, Fisher -- and a lot of athletes -- will be elated.  Athletes who've used steroids are now showing up with liver tumors, he says.
"If this works we can tell athletes they don't need the anabolic steroids. This isn't as quick -- but neither will it be as dirty," Fisher says.