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               Improved; Emboldened; Strengthened; Balanced We launched our Endocrine Strengthening Formula back in the fall of 2010—over five years ago. Rapidly it became a customer favorite for a balanced, yet potent formula for raising testosterone levels. First this formula was available as a 1:2 extraction ratio, and then we quadrupled the strength with a 2:1 extraction ratio. The formula has always contained professional grade hydro-e …

Kava: Empathogen; Aphrodisiac Kava Kava is a vital, robust evergreen shrub. It grows thick, stout rhizomes and fleshy stems, which upon sit rounded, heart shaped leaves and small, delicate, spiked flowers. In Latin, Kava Kava is called Piper methysticum, translating to the intoxicating pepper. This intoxicating pepper is native to the Pacific Islands, where the indigenous prepared and consumed a medicinal drink made from those aforementioned thick, stout rhizomes. While most p …

Nourishing and Tonifying the Twelve Rivers Medicinal mushrooms, also known as medicinal fungi, are one of the most important categories of natural medicine, and allopathic medicine is just beginning to recognize their potential. Fungi share more DNA with humans than plants do, and it's no surprise that the mysterious world of mushrooms holds such wisdom and potential for wellness. Indigenous cultures have long known about and utilized the healing properties of mushrooms, and now post-industr …

Sleep Cannot be Substituted Our collective relationship with sleep is rather amusing. On one hand, we have access to this free, effortless, and abundant resource that has been empirically proven to be incredibly beneficial for our health. Yet, on the other hand, we seem to have an ongoing obsession with trying to minimize or eliminate it.Sleep Is Imperative As a society, we maintain a complex and mostly negative relationship with sleep. Products like Five Hour Energy  ra …

Spiced Chai with Cupid's ElixirI love tea, especially a big mug full of spicy hot chai tea during the dead of winter in the middle of February. This time of year is perfect for creating a batch of spicy, warming goodness to melt the snow and ignite the heart for Valentine’s Day—whether shared with a lover, friends, or simply by yourself with a good book or movie. Chai tea is easy to make and can be prepared with many spices you already have in your cupboard, or are available in bulk at your loca …

Coffee: A Health Food or a Health Risk? Over the past year, I've noticed a growing trend of embracing coffee as a health food. Some even promote coffee alongside medicinal herbs. While this initially seemed frustrating and concerning, the use of coffee as a therapeutic substance has become so pervasive that it must be addressed. Don’t buy—literally and figuratively—into the coffee hype. For a detailed exploration of the harmful effects of coffee from a Classical Chinese Medicine perspective, s …

Stress: It Doesn't Just Feel Like It’s Killing You How Stress Shortens Telomeres Length and Leads to Early Aging I have written extensively here at our blog about both the importance of reducing stress in achieving a vibrant, healthy, and long life, and also about the complicated role that telomeres have on the human lifespan. In fact, I recently sent out to our Facebook followers a link to an article recently published by Stanford University, where researchers were able to …

The Micro and Macro, the Self and the Universe Everyone is talking about the "New Year" and a "new you." How about the old you? How about reconnecting with who we really are? Foraging a Deeper Connection

What have we done to our Oceans? And what were we thinking? It’s mind-boggling how our survival hinges on water, yet we squander it, dump our waste into it, and treat the oceans as the world's largest toilet and grocery store. A psychoanalyst would likely find our relationship with water highly dysfunctional. Our survival depends—completely and absolutely—on healthy oceans, including the air we breathe.Think about it: the oceans cover over 70% of the Earth's surface and are home to an incre …

The Gut → Brain Health Connection One of the most interesting and telling things about the blood brain barrier is the vast similarity between the cells which make up the blood brain barrier and the cells which line the small intestine, forming a barrier between what is essentially outside the body and what is inside the body. In looking at the histology (the study of cells) of the body, it is no surprise at all that the foods we eat and the health of our gut will have a direct impac …