Safi: The Blood Purifier

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retrofuturist
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Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Does anyone have any thoughts on the efficacy (or dangers) of this product from either an Ayurvedic or Tibetan Medicine perspective?

Safi: the blood purifier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safi_(medicine)

As far as I can tell from online sources, it seems there is benefit in the tonic, but a risk that it contains potentially high arsenic levels.

Ideally I'm after balanced and well considered views in this topic, rather than just a Eastern vs Western medicine slinging match. At what levels does arsenic become a genuine concern?

Here's the contents....

Image
Image

Thanks.

Maitri,
Retro. :)
Live in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.
Malcolm
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by Malcolm »

It would be fine, but without more info, it is hard to say.The arsenic seems like environmental contamination.
retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,

Does anyone have any thoughts on the efficacy (or dangers) of this product from either an Ayurvedic or Tibetan Medicine perspective?

Safi: the blood purifier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safi_(medicine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

As far as I can tell from online sources, it seems there is benefit in the tonic, but a risk that it contains potentially high arsenic levels.

Ideally I'm after balanced and well considered views in this topic, rather than just a Eastern vs Western medicine slinging match. At what levels does arsenic become a genuine concern?

Here's the contents....

Image
Image

Thanks.

Maitri,
Retro. :)
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adinatha
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by adinatha »

it's basically a laxative.
CAW!
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by pemachophel »

As for the arsenic, how many parts per million?

As someone who owns an herbal medicine manufacturing company, Namdrol is right. The arsenic is probably being picked up by the plants from their environment (along with other heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.). In a modern manufacturing facility, these heavy metals can be removed from the product during manufacture. The US FDA has levels of safe arsenic for food and medicinal products as does the equivalent governing body in the EU. So, if you're worried about the arsenic, you can check the parts per million in the medicine and see if they are below those published standards. If they are higher, it doesn't mean the medicine will necessarily hurt you. However, in that case, you might not want to take too much of it or take it for a long period of time. The company who makes and/or sells this medicine should be able to furnish you lab reports showing the presence of heavy metals, microbial contaminants, and pesticides. If they cannot or will not, they are not working within the framework of most developed countries. In that case, you're flying on a wing and faith. Again, it doesn't mean you shouldn't take the medicine, but you're doing it with incomplete information.

Good luck and best wishes.
Pema Chophel པདྨ་ཆོས་འཕེལ
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retrofuturist
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Thanks for the comments.

As for the arsenic concentration...
The December 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported a study of commercially available Ayurvedic medicinal products sold in the Boston area, which found that 14 of these products contained potentially harmful levels of lead, mercury and/or arsenic. Although none of these products has been authorized for sale in Canada, to date, three of these products are suspected to be available in various parts of Canada.

One product, SAFI, manufactured by Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories in New Delhi/Ghaziabad, India was tested by Health Canada and found to contain arsenic levels in excess of 40 times the maximum allowable concentration for drugs.
Source: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/ad ... 09-eng.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alas, it doesn't give quantities.

According to... http://ibnlive.in.com/news/metal-conten ... 22-17.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... concentration in the blood of Arsenic should be less than 23 mg/l

Maitri,
Retro. :)
Live in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.
pemachophel
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by pemachophel »

My company sells in Canada and therefore we have quite a lot of experience with Health Canada. They are very, very strict. You ought to compare their maximum safe limit for lead against the US FDA's. My guess is that the FDA's allowable level is a little more lenient. In any case, I'm not sure I would take this medicine except on an occasional basis for the remedial relief of acute symptoms.

BTW, there are plenty of other herbal blood purifiers that are safe and effective if that's what you're primarily looking for. If you live in western North America, Oregon graperoot is a single that can be drunk in decoction on a regular basis. According to Tulku Sang-ngak Rinpoche, this plant (or a closely related species) grows in Kham. Besides cooling and purifying the blood, it also benefits the eyes in the practice of togal.

Good luck and best wishes.
Pema Chophel པདྨ་ཆོས་འཕེལ
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retrofuturist
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Yes, it's mainly the blood purifying properties that are of interest.

I've got one bottle of this, and I don't see that one bottle alone causing problems, but will seek out alternatives for next time around.

Thank you.

Maitri,
Retro. :)
Live in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.
platypus
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by platypus »

I'm pretty sure the standard dose of senna is 7.5mg its gonna make you poop, a lot.
Malcolm
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by Malcolm »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,

Yes, it's mainly the blood purifying properties that are of interest.

I've got one bottle of this, and I don't see that one bottle alone causing problems, but will seek out alternatives for next time around.

Thank you.

Maitri,
Retro. :)

Retro:

If you want to purify your blood, than you should take a decotion of Amla/Amalki fruit. You do not need this Safi stuff.

B
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retrofuturist
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Re: Safi: The Blood Purifier

Post by retrofuturist »

Thanks for the recommendation... I will investigate.

:reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllanthus_emblica" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maitri,
Retro. :)
Live in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.
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