Two products share one name. The traditional dried orchid stem, taken in grams as tea or powder, has human support only for more saliva and dry-mouth relief; every other claim rests on animals and cell studies. Energy extracts carry nearly all documented harm, including an undeclared amphetamine-like compound. Modest, expensive, uncertain, with an avoidable contamination problem. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fasting glucose | 75–86 mg/dL | Detects the glucose-lowering direction seen in animals and catches additive lowering with medication |
| HbA1c | Below 5.4% | Confirms whether any glucose change persists over months rather than on one morning |
| Fasting insulin | 2–5 µIU/mL | The insulin-sensitivity claim rests here, and it moves before glucose does |
| Serum uric acid | 3.5–5.5 mg/dL | Direct readout of the one animal effect with a clean human analogue |
| ALT | 10–26 U/L (men), 8–22 U/L (women) | Detects both the claimed liver protection and any harm from contaminated material |
| eGFR | Above 90 mL/min/1.73 m² | Kidney filtration sets the margin for contaminant handling at gram-level daily intakes |
| hs-CRP | Below 0.5 mg/L | Tests the anti-inflammatory claim and the mechanism behind the antibody-blunting signal |
| Unstimulated whole salivary flow | Above 0.25 mL/min | The only endpoint with randomised human support; the primary success measure for dryness |
| Fasting triglycerides | Below 80 mg/dL | Tracks the lipid arm of the metabolic claim |
Cadence: Symptoms at 4 weeks, full panel at 12 weeks, then every 6–12 months on continued use; capillary glucose several times weekly for the first 4 weeks where glucose-lowering therapy is in place