Products Featuring This Herb:
Magu’s Treasure

More Information:

Other Common Names
Mother of Pearl

Page Number In Radiant Health
175

Pharmaceutical Latin
Margarita

Pinyin
Zhen Zhu

Treasures
Shen

Treasure Rating
****1/2

Atmospheric Energy
Cold

Taste
salty, sweet

Organ Meridian Systems
Heart and Liver

Part Used and Form
Whole pearl

Primary Functions
Shen stabilizing, generate beautiful skin and clear toxins

Qualities
Pearls have a tremendous reputation in China as both a beauty tonic and as a Shen tonic. Recent Chinese medical texts credit pearl with the ability to relieve uneasiness of the heart and mind, to benefit reproduction, to relieve "wandering arthritis," to relieve internal fever, to clear sputum, to remove visual obstacles and improve eyesight, to promote muscle development and to invigorate blood circulation.

As a beauty tonic, pearl is hard to beat. The components in pearl powder help heal blemishes and maintain the health of the skin by participating in the metabolic activities of the skin. Pearl promotes the regeneration of new cells and makes the skin smooth, fine, elastic and naturally beautiful. High quality pearl powder can promote the activities of the important natural antioxidant enzyme, SOD, and can help prevent the development of melanin, which causes freckles and dark patches on the skin. It can help prevent the skin from becoming old looking, wrinkled and sagging. This is partly due to its stimulation of SOD activity and partly due to other capacities and nutrients. Consistent use of pearl powder can eliminate blemishes such as colored spots and even pimples and boils. Constant use can help assure that the skin will age much more slowly and that it will not be easily harmed by either time or the elements. Pearl is one of the great secrets of the most beautiful women of the Orient.

Pearl is also a powerful Shen stabilizer. It is among the elite substances of this type known. It can relieve uneasiness, nervousness, anxiety and tension. Pearl promotes sound sleep, prevents nerve-disorders and nerve weakness, and is commonly used to prevent or overcome fatigue. Consistent use helps a person maintain their energy and vitality. It is an ideal Shen tonic and is the main ingredient in the finest Shen tonic formulations.

Hydrolyzed pearl powder, which is pearl that has been broken down for easy and complete absorption, has been shown in China to help the growth of children's teeth and bones and to improve children's intelligence. Hydrolyzed pearl has also been shown to be beneficial for habitual constipation, acting quickly, gently and effectively. Studies indicate that hydrolyzed pearl can lower blood pressure, increase endurance, and can prevent osteoporosis and various cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies indicate that hydrolyzed pearl is effective in healing inflammation of the uterus.

Pearl is extremely safe. Safety studies on hydrolyzed pearl have shown it to be absolutely harmless. It can be taken by anybody for the course of a lifetime without side effects.

Scientific Data
To many people's surprise, pearl is not just a mineral. It contains dozens of amino acid (eight of the amino acids are "essential," in other words, cannot be produced in the body but are required for health), and dozens of minerals, including: calcium, magnesium zinc, iron, strontium, copper, selenium, silicon, titanium, etc. Pearl contains calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium phosphate, ferric oxide, silica.

Various components in pearl participate in DNA and RNA metabolic activities, and thus can promote and accelerate cell renewal.

Mucopolysaccharides in Margarita have been shown to prevent wrinkling and to increase libido and sexual potency in humans.

Preparation and Utilization
Pearl can be fed to the skin both through external application and by taking it as a supplement. Many women are familiar with pearl creams, but few are aware that pearl is even better utilized bay consuming it and letting it nourish the skin through the blood stream. The best pearl creams now use hydrolyzed, dissolvable pearl since it is easily absorbed into the skin. Use according to instructions.

If you buy high grade natural pearls and have them ground into a fine powder, consuming between two to five grams a month is sufficient to improve the beauty of the skin and to adjust Shen. Simply place a little of the pearl powder on your tongue and swallow with a drink. If you buy hydrolyzed pearl powder, consuming between 500 mg. (1/2 gram) and 1 gram per day is usually sufficient to achieve the best results. Be consistent and the results will amaze you.

Varieties and Grading
Basically there are two types of pearls: natural and cultivated. Natural pearls are much more expensive and are considered to be superior to cultivated pearls for both external, cosmetic use, and for internal, nutritional use. The natural pearls used in herbalism are very small. The smaller the pearl, the more potent and effective the pearl is as an herb. Some pearls are not much larger than a grain of salt. These very small pearls, which are softer, can be easily crushed and ground into very fine powder which can be absorbed with relatively high efficiency by the digestive tract. Larger pearls tend to be much harder to grind into fine powder and are thus harder to digest. Small natural pearls are quite expensive, costing between $100 and $1000 an ounce at Chinese herb shops in Hong Kong. They are rare and are very hard to find in mainland China. They are generally sold to overseas Chinese who can afford them.

Cultivated pearls are not considered to be of the same herbal quality as natural pearls. They tend to be large and difficult to grind into fine powder. However, over the last decade a new technology has been developed in China whereby the cultivated pearls are "hydrolyzed." Through modern advanced biochemical technology, pearl can now be made virtually totally water soluble. The result is pure instant pearl powder. The solubility rate of this hydrolyzed pearl is 98%, and of this, studies have shown that 95% is absorbed into the blood stream through the digestive tract. This absorbability is approximately four times the bioavailability of normal ground pearl, and double that of the finest ground natural pearl. This increased bioavailability and the enormous reduction in cost makes the hydrolyzed pearl an extraordinary value for all but the richest of herbal consumers---and even for the rich and famous, a blend of hydrolyzed pearl and premium natural is probably best.

Natural pearls have more magnesium carbonate than cultured pearls, and cultured pearls have more calcium carbonate than natural pearls.

In buying supplements with pearl powder, be sure that you are buying a brand that you can trust.

If you are buying your own pearls to grind, do not use cultivated pearls unless they are hydrolyzed (dissolvable). Do not buy dissolvable, hydrolyzed pearl powder from a dealer that you do not know and trust. Some pearl powders on the market are not real pearl, or contain pearl mixed with adulterants. Some of these counterfeits come in lovely boxes, but they are worthless. Good pearl powder costs a little more than the cheaper brands, but is well worth the added expense. My advice in buy pearls: buy high quality natural pearls or buy the most expensive hydrolyzed pearl you can find.

Contraindications
None. Safety studies have shown pearl powder to be extremely safe at all reasonable doses.

History
Pearls have been used in Chinese herbalism for more than three thousand years. They were described in detail in the Ben Cao Gong Mu and are currently listed in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China." Pearl was made especially famous as a beauty tonic by the Dowager Empress Xi who consumed pearl every day to maintain her stunning beauty. She has been regarded as one of the great beauties in the history of China, which is saying a lot. She maintained her beauty until she was very old and always looked younger than her years.