Would you drink tea made from ants to improve your health?
Before you decide, let us learn about these hard working insects.
Polyrhachis vicina is a traditional health food tonic used in China. Wild ants are collected from the mountains, ideally from nests around the base of old ginseng plants. Nowadays, due to the demand of polyrachis ants and the rarity of wild ginseng, there are many cultivated ant farms that supply the market.
Chinese mountain ants are a powerful adaptogen (helps the body adapt to stress), strength builder and a general tonic for vitality and life force. They are used to increase sexual vigor and improve overall health.
Though not as popular as other tonics such as ginseng or deer antler velvet, their powerful nutrient profile and medicinal benefits puts them at the top along with these other world class tonics.
The Nutrients
Over half the dry weight of these ants is protein and contains essential and non-essential amino acids.
Polyrhachis ants contain high levels of:
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Potassium
- Phosphorous
- Zinc
- Manganese
- Iron
Other minerals are present in smaller amounts with a total of over 20 minerals detected.
Polyrachis ants also contain bio-available ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is used extensively by living organisms. ATP is basically a unit of energy used inside the cells, so consuming polyrachis ants provides energy that the body can use almost immediately for many processes including the production of RNA and DNA.
The enzyme SOD (superoxide dismutase), a powerful antioxidant, is also present in polyrachis ant.
A unique combination of aldehydes and ecdysterone (a natural steroid) present in polyrhachis vicina provide the consumer of the ant with the strength of the ant.
The Taste
I'm not going to lie, Chinese mountain ants basically taste like dirt. The powder is gritty and hard to choke down the first time. The good news is that the more you take it, the better it tastes. I don't know why, it just keeps tasting better. It never tastes good though, unless you mix it with sometime sweet like sugar, lots of sugar.
A lot of people are hesitant to consume healthy things because of the taste. When you weigh in the health benefits of something that tastes a little too wholesome (like brown bread), a few seconds of discomfort can be overlooked.
Most polyrhachis ant on the market is in powder form or extract of powder. Dragon Herbs, which carries only the highest grade Chinese herbs, has formulated an ant tincture called Changbai Mountain Ant Drops which has a very good taste. It contains a mixture of other herbs including ginseng and schizandra.
There are a lot of different grades of Chinese mountain ant. I've tried a few different brands and my top choices are the previously mentioned tincture from Dragon Herbs and a 20:1 extract powder from Jing Herbs.
Experience
When I drink ant tea, I feel relaxed and energized for many hours. I find they are beneficial to take before or after workouts, adding considerable endurance and relief from muscle pain. Additionally, I notice a large increase in the size of my libido after consuming polyrhachis vicina.