Brief Introduction
In ancient China, edible ants were called “Xuan ju”, its name which is received in ancient times means “black horse.” and were widely used in Chinese medicines, Imperial records indicate that numerous emperors and other noblemen have consumed ant tonics to promote sexuality and to increase longevity. During Zhou dynasty (11th century BC-256 BC), larvae of the ants were tribute food to be eaten by the emperors and the nobles. Edible ants are still used as an ordinary food in some ethnic districts of Yunang, Guangxi and Guizhou in China. People in some ethnic districts of Mexico and Africa also have the habit of eating edible ants.

Several varieties of ants are used in Chinese tonic herbalism, all with virtually the same attributes. These different varieties come from different regions in China. Both black ants/ Polyrhachis vicina Roger (primarily from southern and central China) and red ants/ Tetramorium sp. (primarily from northeastern China) are used. Ants from high, pristine mountain ranges such as the Yunnan in Himalayas mountains in southern China and Tibet, or the ChangbaiMountains in northeastern China are considered the finest and most potent. Most of the tonic ants are large ants.

Chinese black ant, Polyrhachis vicina Roger belongs to Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta in zootaxy, and is widely distributed in subtropical southeast China, India, Malaysia, Srilanka and Bangladesh. It has been used as a nutritional ingredient and processed into various tonics or health foods. Its products available in Chinese market include powder products, drinks such as wines and capsules. More than 30 ant-containing health products have been approved by the State Food and D-rug Administration or State Health Ministry of China since 1996. Some ant products have been exported to Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. Ants are rich in nutrients, and have several healthcare functions, e.g. regulating immune system, relaxing fatigue, anti-aging and promoting male sexual performance.

Polyrhachis Vicina Roger is a safe, natural and nutritive diet supplement utilised for centuries by Chinese herbal practitioners and nobles. And Polyrhachis Vicina Roger has been authorized as a nutritional supplement the China Ministry of Public Health. BBC stories reported “scientific research in China has shown that a selected species of Chinese ant, the Polyrhachis Vicina Roger, increases longevity in rats.” According to The Food Insects News Letter, the nutrient elements in Polyrhachis Vicina Roger are fundamentals in holistic medication. Studies have established that Polyrhachis Vicina Roger has more than 8 types of free amino acids, which are necessary to the maintenance of a strong, adaptable body. Polyrhachis Vicina Roger is a highly effective nutritive supplement that contains the indispensable vitamins B1, B2, B12, and D and crucial minerals like calcium, iron and zinc. And as much as 67% of the dry weight of Polyrhachis Vicina Roger is protein.

Similar to black ant/Polyrhachis Vicina Roger , a type of wild red ants/ Tetramorium sp. from Changbai Mountain in Northeast China which has been used to treat rheumatism with a great effect in local areas for hundreds of years. With a longer winter but quite short summer, people in this areas suffer from rheumatism pain very much and red ants has been their first choice to treat rheumatism since ancient times based on TCM records.

Domestic and overseas pharmacological and immune function experiments on red ants show that red ants have significant effects of anti-inflammatory, relieving asthma, sedation, protecting liver and analgesia. Especially it’s effective for rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, maldevelopment caused by zinc deficiency, premature aging of middle-aged and elder people. It has an adaptogen bi-directional regulation on body’s immune function and can effectively inhibit fungi and staphylococcus aureus. In TCM records, red ants can enhance physical health especially for bones, improve sexual performance and immune function, as well as being good for rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism, sciatic nerve pain, cancer, chronic hepatitis, tuberculosis, impotence, premature ejaculation, nocturnal emission, gray hair, neurosis and iron deficiency anemia.

Chemical Composition
Chemical components of both red ants and black ants include28 kinds amino acids(including 8 kinds of basic amino acids necessary for human body), vitamins B1, B2, B12, C, D and E, more than 20 kinds minerals in significant amounts as calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, selenium and especially zinc which is 10-20 times higher than any creature in the earth(120-198 mg/kg), trace amounts of steroids and hormones, and the presence of known, favourable bioactive compounds including superoxide dismutase (SOD), a powerful anti-oxidant compound, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), noted for its role in intracellular energy transfer. Demonstrated anti-inflammatory and d-rug effects have been associated with 2 novel and promising bicyclic polyketide lactones isolated from black ant, Polyrhacitide A and Polyrhacitide B. In 2009, a German research team achieved laboratory synthesis of these latterly discovered Polyrhacitides, which should permit further pharmacological study. 

They are basically a multi-spinous ant, growing wild in the remote mountainous areas of specific portions of Asia. Mountain Ants in the Asian area are thought to be the best in the world. Standard Chinese medicine has considered red and black ant to be the same league as many other superior tonics, for example Reishi mushrooms, Ginseng, Deer Antler, Astragalus for example. It is regarded as the Herb of Kings in the Chinese Medicinal Classic called Ben Cao Gang Mu(Compendium of Materia Medica) which was written by Legendary Herbalist Li Shi Zhenin Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1518-1593). 

This is because the fact that ants assists in promoting, maintaining as well as prolonging life; it helps in replenishing Qi, it nourishes blood and improves circulation and it also increases vitality. It also helps in regulating yin and yang, has anti-aging benefits, and boosts the immunocompetence and bipolar immune regulation as well. Ants have wonderful benefits for sexual functions as well; it helps in increasing fertility and potency, it assists in reinforcing musculoskeletal system, induces sound sleep, clams tension and promotes correct digestion as well as assimilation. 

The significant advantage of ants is that it helps in heightening the amount of RNA and DNA present inside the human cells. This may slow down the process of ageing and can aid regeneration of cells and rejuvenation of the tissues as well. The unique ATP present in ants, which is the cellular power source, actually provides energy to human body. These ants contain large amounts of zinc that has got a very robust influence on the sexuality as well. Ants help in fortifying the feeble immunological response and also changed the overactive immune mechanism. 

Ants also have been shown to have liver protective activity by lowering the activity of SGPT. It may also, to a degree, stop liver cells from turning into fat. They have been proven to be very helpful in the treating of both acute and protracted hepatitis B. Current research signifies that hepatitis B, both chronic and acute, is due to immune deficiency and that the hepatitis virus is itself opportunity seizing. Therefore, fortifying the immune reaction in total is critical and invaluable in treating hepatitis B. Ant serves this role awfully effectively due to its twin role as an immune tonic and a liver protector. 

Researches on Black Ant and Its Benefits
Deninition of Jing
Ant has been used for centuries as a tonic herb to improve the jing energy in the body. Jing is traditional concept defined in TCM that which is the material basis for our life, which can be transmuted and transformed into a new life through the process of procreation. Jing is the most highly refined substance in our body, thus is forms the basis for all of our tissues, especially the male and female sexual fluids, as well as the sperm and ova. We can see that jing represents the reserve or stored energy of the body which is divided into two aspects, pre-natal and post-natal. The pre-natal is what we have genetically and hereditarily inherited from our parents and our families’ genetic heritage. The Post-natal is that which we accumulate in our life time through our diet and lifestyle. So from this we can see a one part of our jing energy is inherited and the other is generated in our own lifetime. 

It is our ability to generate, conserve, and preserve this jing energy that determines our freedom from degenerative disease as well as our potential lifespan. From this we can say that jing has a huge influence over the quality and quantity of our lifespan. Jing energy can be reflected in the luster and texture of the skin, hair, nails, and tongue and other parts of our body. Most importantly jing energy can be observed in our fertility, sexual prowess, creativity, drive, courage, will, inspiration, and athletic power. Jing also plays a huge role in the strength of the skeletal system, as well as the production of bone marrow and stem cells.

Jing energy is gradually consumed by the process of living itself, and also by stress, excessive behavior, and overwork. However, with proper exercise, diet, and taking tonic herbs we can replenish and conserve this energy.

Ant Nourishes Both Yin and Yang Jing
Ant nourishes all three treasures as Jing, Chi, and Shen which are important basis in TCM. This alone makes it a significant tonic TCM medicine, but even more impressive is the fact that it nourishes both the yin and yang aspects of the jing energy. 

Yin jing is a deeply nourishing energy and is regarded as thefoundation of rejuvenation and longevity. Many regard the accumulation as more or less building reserves of energy that are stored in the body for future use, thus providing long term regenerative and youth preserving qualities. Yin tonic herbs tend to nourish endocrine hormones, which are noticeably depleted as we age as well as when we undergo extreme stress, whether that stress be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. The process of living and aging depletes this yin energy and it can also be depleted by stress, overwork, exhaustion, childbearing, excessive or chronic d-rug or medicine use, disease, excessive emotionalism and sexual excess. Deficient Yin Jing can manifest as dark rings under the eyes, backaches, weak kidney and reproductive functions, low resistance to infection, weak digestion, as well as other signs of rapid aging. 

Yang Jing is deeply empowering and inspiring. This energy helps us to stoke the fire of life and invigorate dormant vitality. This energy can manifest as great sexual prowess, creativity, will power and athletic power. Thus we can see that one of the results of building this energy is a renewed youthfulness. 

Polyrachis Ant As A Rich Zinc Supplement 
One really important thing to take note of is the zinc content of Polyrachis Ant which contains the highest zinc content among all known living organisms like 120-198 mg/kg. Zinc is critical element involved in many essential processes in the body and is largely deficient in our food supply. On top of that most zinc supplements are the market are not bio-available, which means they are essentially a waste of money since our bodies can not absorb and utilize this key mineral. 

The digestion and utilization of vitamins and minerals is not the simplistic process which we may easily assume that it is. These nutrients generally require other nutrients, co-factors, and enzymes to be present for their proper digestion and utilization. This is why taking isolated nutrients is not always the best idea and why authorities are now agreeing that getting these things from food and natural whole food supplements is the best way to go because all of these supportive nutrients and co-factors are present to make sure the specific nutrient is properly assimilated. 

On top of being poorly digested and utilized, most vitamin and mineral supplements are actually petroleum derived and merely a cheap by product of the petroleum industry. Here in is where the toxicity factor comes into play because not only are these nutrients derived from petroleum, not only are they devoid of the necessary co-factors, they are also usually in forms which the body does not recognize and thus can not properly metabolize. This lack of metabolism can easily lead to a build up of toxic elements in the liver and lymphatic system, thus creating a burden on the body while stripping the body of even more nutrients in the process. Hopefully you can see how this sets up a negative feedback loop where in we take in false nutrients that the body does not recognize and thus can not metabolize and from there the body has to pull from its nutrient and mineral reserves to buffer and guard against the newly ingested toxin. 

So from these two examples we can see the importance of getting as many of our important minerals from their whole food and natural supplement form. Eating a balanced and whole food diet is obviously a great choice, but it may not be enough to fill a deficiency or get us to a comfortable place due to the depleted state of our soils and the toxicity found in our environments. This is why Ant is so significant in supplementing zinc. 

Zinc is Critical For Male Sexual Health 
Zinc is perhaps the most important single nutrient for a man’s sexuality. It is crucial for the production of s-perm and seminal fluid. Clinical studies show that men who supplement zinc experience a dramatic increase in testosterone levels. Zinc is one of the most common mineral deficiencies in western countries, and even a mild zinc deficiency lowers s-ex drive, limits muscle gain potential, causes weight gain and hurts energy levels. 

Zinc rich foods are significantly important because it is the number one mineral for raising testosterone levels, significantly improving insulin sensitivity and guards against diabetes, protecting against prostate problems, acting as a powerful aromatase inhibitor, playing a crucialrole in the immune system and helping to train harder without overtraining, balancing copper in the body leading to greater energy levels and clearer thought processes and improving sex drive&semen volume for a generally better sex.

On top of all of this, numerous aspects of cellular metabolism are zinc-dependent. Zinc plays an important role for the immune system, neurological nervous system, and reproductive system. Zinc participates in the synthesis of nucleic acids and protein, while also playing a role in cell signaling which has been found to influence hormone release and nerve impulse transmission.