Glandular therapy has been used as nutritional therapy since approximately 1930 when Dr. Paul Niehands diced parathyroid glands from a young calf and fed them to a patient who had a positive response within minutes.  

What is glandular therapy?

Glandular therapy is in effect consuming glands from an animal or fish. Prior to the modern age, the ingestion of organs was a normal habit which allowed for good health.  The basic premise of using glandular tissues as therapy is " like heals like" a concept which has been in existence for almost as long as historic records have been kept.  

Endocrine glands used nutritionally include the hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, thymus, adrenal, and gonads (ovaries and testes).  Other organs and tissues, though not glands, are commonly referred to as "glandulars" when used as supplements. Thus, raw tissue extracts or concentrates of brain, heart, prostate, liver, spleen, uterus, skin, stomach, duodenum, kidney, lung, mammary, and bone are also included in the ‘glandular' or ‘organotherapy' nutritional category. Glandulars made primarily from nucleoproteins (protomorphogens) are far less likely to be contaminated with poisons or drugs since, unlike whole-cell glandulars, they do not contain the fat or other components where such chemicals accumulate.

Are glandulars effective?

Some of the pioneers in nutrition believed that raw glandular tissues contain intrinsic protein factors which are separate from, but synergistic with the vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, enzymes, co-enzymes, and fatty acids contained therein.  These specific protein factors are organ -- or  tissue -- specific.  This means that the raw cellular material of a bovine kidney, for example, will be picked up from the lymph of the human/pet kidney when ingested.  These tissue-specific particles apparently "target" other cooperative and essential nutrients to the gland or organ for repair and maintenance.

How they work

Each gland, organ and tissue of the body is unique and has a distinctive protein composition. The digestive system helps to break down the glandulars so they are absorbed. There is also evidence that molecules can and do pass from the human gut into the bloodstream and absorbed by the corresponding glands of the patient.  "Glandulars are a very effective tool for rebuilding and improving the function of glands and tissues."  By supplying the specific protein configuration and other raw materials (nutrients known and unknown) needed by a gland, that gland "has a better chance of regulating its hormone output" and thus functioning properly.