The Science Behind Ferrox

Not Gonna Give You the Whole Recipe, But...

Alright, this may not be KFC, but I’m not about to dish out my proverbial 11 herbs and spices (more like 20—but who’s counting). Still, I’ll give you a rundown of some of the common heavy hitters found in Dit Da Jows, and why they matter for sports recovery and injury healing.

Bit of a forewarning: we’re about to get a little nerdy.

🥊 San Qi

AKA: Panax Notoginseng

“Notoginsenoside FT1,” a unique saponin found in San Qi, promotes angiogenesis, wound healing, thrombosis, and vasodilation. It shortens bleeding time and boosts blood flow to injured tissues — all essential in healing trauma and bruising.
– Wenbiao Li et al., Journal of Ginseng Research (2025) [1]

We use the root in Ferrox, which is where FT1 is most concentrated.
San Qi has been used for centuries in TCM to:

Stop bleeding, resolve blood stasis, reduce swelling, and alleviate pain.

Science and tradition don’t always agree. In this case? They're shaking hands.

🩸 Dragon’s Blood

AKA: Xue Jie / Daemonorops draco / Sanguis Draconis

Yeah, it sounds like something a Taoist wizard keeps next to his ginseng and tiger bone — but it’s actually a resin from the Calamus plant family that’s been used for thousands of years.

A 2014 study found that Sanguis Draconis attenuates high glucose-induced oxidative stress and vascular inflammation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). It does this by suppressing the ERK/NF-κB/PARP-1/Bax signaling cascade, followed by downregulation of VCAM-1 and E-selectin.
– Chang Y. et al., Scientific World Journal (2014) [2]

Another study found it stimulates osteoblast differentiation and mineralization in MC3T3-E1 cells by promoting ALP activity and activating BMP signaling cascade.
– Wang W. et al., Osteoarthritis and Cartilage (2015) [3]— all crucial to bone healing, especially when we look at Ferrox in the context of real world usage.

 

In TCM, Dragon’s Blood is said to:

Invigorate the blood, dispel blood stasis, and alleviate pain.

🔥 Frankincense & Myrrh

AKA: Ru Xiang & Mo Yao

These two often roll together in trauma formulas — and for good reason.

A 2015 study comparing rats treated with Frankincense, Myrrh, or Indomethacin (a standard NSAID used for rheumatoid arthritis) showed that the combined extract of Myrrh (90.48 mg/kg·d) and Frankincense (56.12 mg/kg·d) had anti-inflammatory effects remarkably similar to IMT (10 mg/kg·d). In other words: on par with pharmaceutical-grade inflammation relief.
– Su S. et al., Scientific Reports (2015) [4]

TCM says:

  • Frankincense: invigorates blood, relieves pain, moves Qi

  • Myrrh: removes blood stasis, relieves pain, promotes tissue regeneration

Western science is now catching up to what martial artists and trauma doctors in China already knew.

Final Thoughts

We’ll stop here so your brain doesn’t swell like your busted ankle. Hopefully this gives you a clear picture of how Ferrox bridges ancient blood-moving wisdom and modern research-backed efficacy.

If you’re the type who likes reading PubMed with your coffee, check out the studies below.

🔬 Citations:

    1. A narrative review of Panax notoginseng: Unique saponins and their pharmacological activities
    Authors:
    Wenbiao Li, Hailian Shi, Xiaojun Wu
    Journal: Journal of Ginseng Research
    Volume: 49, Issue 2
    Year: 2025
    Pages: 118–133
    ISSN: 1226-8453
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jgr.2024.12.005

    2. Sanguis draconis, a dragon's blood resin, attenuates high glucose-induced oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction in human umbilical vein endothelial cells
    Authors:
    Chang Y, Chang TC, Lee JJ, Chang NC, Huang YK, Choy CS, Jayakumar T.
    Journal: Scientific World Journal
    Published: June 2, 2014 (Epub)
    Volume: 2014; Article ID 423259
    DOI: 10.1155/2014/423259
    PMID: 24987732
    PMCID: PMC4060585

    3. Sanguis draconis resin stimulates the osteogenesis in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells in vitro
    Authors: Wang, W.; Yuan, P.; Guo, X.
    Published: April 1, 2015
    Journal: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Volume 23, Pages A163–A164
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2015.02.926
    Publisher: Elsevier
    ISSN: 1063-4584

    4. Frankincense and myrrh suppress inflammation via regulation of the metabolic profiling and the MAPK signaling pathway
    Authors:
    Su S, Duan J, Chen T, Huang X, Shang E, Yu L, Wei K, Zhu Y, Guo J, Guo S, Liu P, Qian D, Tang Y
    Journal: Scientific Reports
    Published: September 2, 2015
    Volume: 5, Article number: 13668
    DOI: 10.1038/srep13668
    Erratum: Scientific Reports, October 29, 2015; 5:15597. 10.1038/srep15597
    PMID: 26329643
    PMCID: PMC4556964

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