Bamboo silica is also known as tabasheer or Tian Zhu Huang in Chinese (literally "Heavenly Bamboo Yellow"). Besides, it is commonly referred to as the "calculus in the body of bamboo plants". When used as Chinese herbal medicine, it clears heat, sweep phlegm, cool heart, and calm the frightened. Hence, clinically it treats fever, coma and delirium, convulsions, Epilepsy, rheumatism, limb numbness, whooping cough, excessive vaginal discharge, stomach trouble, Acne, and so on. Now modern medicine has found that it is one of the richest natural sources of organic silica, which is responsible for the health of nails, tendons, skin, hair, bones, and ligaments in human body. So, is bamboo silica safe and really good for hair growth?

Medicinally it refers to the dried siliceous resin found in the nodes of some species in the family Poaceae, mainly from Bambusa textilis McClure and Schizostachyum chinense Rendle. Other common names of it include bamboo sap, tabashir, Siliceous Secretions of Bamboo, banslochan, Concretio Silicea Bambusae, Tabasheer, bamboo manna, bamboo tears, bamboo powder, Tabashir silica, karpoor vans (bamboo camphor), Tvaksheera (bark milk in Sanskrit), vans-sharkar (bamboo sugar), and the like. In China it is mainly produced in provinces of Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guangxi. It is generally harvested in autumn and winter by cutting the stems open. Medicinally it is generally used raw.

Bamboo Silica

BAMBOO SILICA BENEFITS 
Does bamboo silica really work? When it comes to the sources of naturally occurring, organic silica, horsetail grass and bamboo are the most known two. From the eyes of Chinese, bamboo shoots are more than just a food since eating them has a long history there. In fact they have become a delicious dish on the table since the Shang Dynasty, about thousands of years ago. Now modern scientific findings seem provide a proven reason – the amount of silica contained in bamboo are about 10 times of that of horsetail herb. If you are familiar with horsetail grass, you will know that quite well what means behind that figure. No wonder Enerex Bamboo Silica, a pure silica supplement extracted from its shoots, is so popular these days for hair growth, healthy joint, and skin health.

As a matter of fact, another 2 commonly used Chinese herbs, Zhu Ru (Bamboo Shavings) and Zhu Li (Succus Bambusae), are associated with tabasheer. Here are their functions in common. All of the three are of cold nature and treat phlegm-heat induced cough and asthma by clearing heat and dissipating phlegm. In addition, both Succus Bambusae and tabasheer can be used in the treatment of fever or phlegm-heat induced infantile convulsions, epilepsy, stroke, coma, gurgling with sputum in throat since it possesses the calming properties. So, what is the difference between them? First and foremost, tabasheer has preferable calming power, which makes it do a better job in treating convulsions in children and coma due to high heat; besides, since Succus Bambusae is of cold, slippery nature and with better ability of clearing heat and eliminating phlegm, it is mostly used in the adult's epilepsy, stroke, and lung-heat induced stubborn sticky phlegm that is hard to cough up; last but not least, it is good at clearing heart heat to relieve restlessness. As a result, it is used more in the treatment of irritability and insomnia caused by phlegm heat disturbing the heart.