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You’ve seen it in the herbal shop. Those thin, round slices packed in a clear case with a deer on the label. Maybe you just walked past it. Here’s what it actually is, and why people have sworn by it for literally thousands of years. What is it?Velvet deer antler is harvested from a deer’s antlers while they’re still soft and growing before they harden into bone. During that early growth phase, the antler is basically cartilage packed with collagen, minerals, and growth factors. That soft, fuzzy tissue covering it? That’s the “velvet.” It comes in thinly sliced and dried, or powdered, form. Fun fact: Deer antlers are the only mammalian bone tissue that fully regenerates every single year. What’s harvested is that early-stage tissue at its most bioactive.  It’s been 2000 years.The earliest record of velvet antler as medicine comes from silk scrolls found in a Han Dynasty tomb in China, dating back roughly 2,000 years. Later, the legendary herbalist Li Shi-Zhen included it in his Grand Materia Medica (1596) alongside ginseng — two of the most prized tonics in all of Chinese medicine. It’s been a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ever since, used across China, Korea, and Japan. Today, the main species farmed for it are sika deer and red deer, with New Zealand now being the world’s largest producer. What does TCM say it does?In TCM, its called 鹿茸 (lù róng) and it’s considered a warming Yang tonic, basically a deep restorative for when your body is depleted. Think: chronic fatigue, cold all the time, weak back and knees, low libido, poor recovery. It’s prescribed to replenish what TCM calls jing (精) — your core life energy. It’s used for bone health, blood nourishment, joint support, reproductive health, and general vitality. Think of it less like a targeted drug and more like a whole-body recharge. How it’s harvestedVelvet is cut from live deer about 50–60 days into the antler’s growth, before it calcifies. In New Zealand (the global standard-bearer), it must be done by a licensed vet under local anesthesia. The whole thing takes about 30 seconds, and the deer walk away unbothered. After harvest, it’s frozen immediately, then either freeze dried (which preserves the most active compounds) or traditionally dried and sliced. The tip slices (“wax slices”) are considered the highest quality. The sport controversy (the IGF-1 thing)Velvet antler contains IGF-1, a hormone your body naturally produces to build muscle, repair tissue, and grow bone. Deer antlers are basically nature’s IGF-1 factory, which got athletes very interested. It peaked in 2013 when NFL linebacker Ray Lewis was linked to a deer antler spray before the Super Bowl, sparking a doping controversy since IGF-1 is banned by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency. The twist? When labs tested the product, they found no deer-derived IGF-1 at all, just synthetic stuff added by shady manufacturers. WADA eventually lifted the ban, concluding natural IGF-1 levels in real velvet supplements are too low to matter.  Does it actually work?Velvet antler contains collagen, chondroitin, hyaluronic acid, and a broad range of amino acids and minerals that survive digestion and have real mechanisms for supporting joints and connective tissue. The 2,000-year TCM track record is on solid ground.  Want to try the real thing?If all of this has you curious but the idea of sourcing and cooking the deer antler feels like a lot, we get it. It’s why we’re letting you know about Herbal Goat Meat Broth Special. Ask us about velvet deer antler (녹용), the ingredient that makes this product different from anything else on the menu. It’s not listed in our Shop for a reason. This is a small-batch product that we treat exclusively. Must call us to order this one.