David Seidler, the man who wrote the screenplay for ‘The King’s Speech’, healed his bladder cancer in two weeks using the power of his mind. He visualized a healthy bladder for hours a day. Two weeks later—no trace of cancer. Read the amazing story right here!
You read it on Tonicquest!!
Lucid Dreaming — The Possibilities
Many people are unaware that it’s possible to ‘wake up’ within a dream and become fully conscious that one is really asleep. While in the dream and conscious, you can have varying degrees of control over the dream. With practice you can fully control the dream in all aspects. For example, suppose you wanted to fly up into the clouds or practice a skill. You can be anything you want to be.
I believe it’s possible to change our physical bodies via a lucid dream. While I don’t have any double blind studies available to prove my belief, my thought process is as follows: If it’s possible to affect positive change in our bodies through mental imagery and other visualization techniques, imagine how powerful it is to actually be what you want for awhile. For example, instead of seeing yourself whole in your mind’s eye, imagine the power of actually being whole in your dream. The mind can’t tell the difference between a dream and a physical experience. If you sit on a chair in a dream, it feels exactly like it does in waking life. If you bump against a wall in the dream, you’ll feel it. Except in the dream, you can walk through it.
The examination of what is possible in the dream world is an interesting exploration of what could be possible in the real world.
The most common technique for lucid dreaming is to get into the habit of questioning yourself periodically if your are dreaming or awake. Eventually you’ll dream this question and realize you’re really asleep.
Many people are waking up at 3 am after a few hours of sleep and taking a supplement like galantamine with choline to induce extremely vivid dreams.
These highly vivid dreams increase the odds of becoming aware you’re dreaming.
Look for any supplement or food that increases acetylcholine in your brain, and you’ll find a potential dream enhancer.
DailyNudge is a great site to send yourself a daily reminder to ask yourself if you’re awake or dreaming. It’s free.
It would be great to hear about your dream explorations here..
Dream On!
Probiotics — For Life!
No tonic blog would be complete without a mention of probiotics. Almost every culture has a fermented food product that is considered a staple. These fermented foods mean bacteria in the gut that are producing vitamins and protecting us from bad bacteria. These “good” bacteria in our gut also provide protection against viruses. Korea has kimchee, japan has natto and miso, china has a variety of fermented bean and soy products. Europe and middle east have yogurt, kefir and sauerkraut. If you look closely at any culture, it will have a ‘culture’ that confers health benefits.
Probiotics are becoming trendy and there is a lot of hype. I’m not sure exactly why we need to take supplements that survive the stomach acid if people have been eating foods for years without this problem. Nevertheless, the proponents of supplements say that you should look for a guarantee of potency through the expiration date and not the time of manufacture. You also want to get as many cultures as possible. Look for a good balance of names with “L” for the small intestines and “B” for the large intestines. You need to get both for optimum results.
An interesting side effect? Extremely vivid and intense dreams. Many have reported this side effect. I think that since we have ‘brains in our guts’ this side effect is interesting and should be studied.
Brain Boosters
I’ve been taking phosphatidylserine from Vitamin Shoppe and I have to say this is an interesting supplement. My thinking has been clearer and my memory seems a lot better.
Vitamin Shoppe says: “Used to support memory and cognitive function in individuals with mild to moderate faulty memory due to age. Has been reported to maintain the structure and functioning of brain cells, as well as to improve memory, learning, concentration, word recall, and mood in middle-aged and elderly persons with dementia or decreased cognitive function due to advanced age.”
K2 and D3 – Two Supplements You Need To Watch
Vitamin K and D are arguably the most important supplements you could take. As we age, our soft tissue can harden and become almost bone like. This process is called calcification. Calcification of the arteries is a big problem. Many of our glands calcify over time and are unable to function normally. Fortunately, there is good news..Vitamin K2! Vitamin K2 will reduce calcification of the soft tissue. It works by transferring calcium from our soft tissue to the bones where it belongs. So, you get stronger bones and young arteries and glands! Read this article for some background information.
Vitamin D3 is said to be the single most important vitamin you can take. Especially if your diet is not so great and you don’t get enough sun shine. Vitamin D3 will increase your ability to produce Nitric Oxide, improve your bone health–in fact, D3 helps just about anything you can think of.
Add K and D to your regimen and enjoy youthful tissues.
What’s up with Aspirin?
There’s little known research that indicates aspirin works by increasing Nitric Oxide in our blood vessels. Wow! That’s big news..think about what that means..not only can it potentiate drugs like Viagra or Cialis, but it could probably also help fight off infections by increasing this bacteria killer. Nitric oxide kills tuberculosis, for example, and people are often recommended eating peanuts to help stave off this disease. For example, click here to read an article on this topic. Maybe you should pop a few aspirin to help fight infections!
Here’s a cool article from a blog on sexual health matters that discusses aspirin, nitric oxide and foods that contain natural aspirin: Menz News Blog.
And you can read the scientific study on how aspirin increases nitric oxide:
Link to article.
Let’s hear how you’re doing!
Chinatown Herbal Shops…buyer beware!
Recently I posted about a great Chinese Tonic Patent Medicine I found called Gejie Bushing Wan.
However, you have to be aware of a big problem if you’re not careful in Chinatown. I’m finding more and more instances of knock offs and counterfeits. If you don’t check your ingredients, you’ll learn the hard way. For example, the Gejie Bushing Wan I mentioned above was about 6 bucks and had a plethora of tonic herb ingredients. I found a two dollar version that looked exactly the same, why would I think the ingredients were different? Of course, the cheaper version was missing all the active herbal ingredients.
Be careful with Shou Wu Chih too. I get a lot of hits for Shou Wu Chih on this site, so there’s alot of interest on it. However, read the ingredients!! There’s a knock off version out there that doesn’t have the full ingredients.
Someone joked that “made in China” is becoming the ultimate warning label. I hope this will not become a truth, however, I’m going to have to stop recommending Chinese herbs if problems continue with counterfeits, fakes, contamination and other problems stemming from greed and carelessness. What makes this tragic is that people turn to Chinese tonic herbs to improve their health and well being.
Of Geckos and Contaminants
Good news and bad news. First the bad news. Be very careful taking chinese patent medicines from the herbal shops. Many of these supposedly “safe” herbals are contaminated with prescription drugs and worse — toxic metals like Mercury and Arsenic.
Read this good article that mentions many popular medicines and what problems were found: Patent Medicines and Contamination .
Now with that out of the way, I did find a cool one that is on the good list. It’s a “kidney nourishing” tonic made from gecko and other nitric oxide potentiating herbs. It’s called Gejie Bu Shing Wan and looks like this:
Here’s what a gecko looks like if you got it in your herbal prescription from an herbalist:
Typically you would boil one of these with your other tonic herbs in a tea or a soup. Bon Appetit!
Zinc — Deep Sleep and Long Dreams
Want to have some long and intense dreams? Take this stuff:
Optizinc.
This supplement is crazy.
First of all, I can’t say enough good things about Zinc. This mineral is a must have in every person’s tonic arsenal. I’ll write more about great skin, energy, male performance and recovery in future posts. But for now, take 1 or 2 tablets before sleep and you will not only sleep deeply, but will have the most vivid and long dreams you’ve ever had. I feel like I’m dreaming for hours. You’ll awake refreshed..not like you’ve been tossing and turning all night either.
I’ve taken other forms of zinc, and they are all good. Especially the liquid ones. However, optizinc (which is a supposedly highly absorbable version of zinc) is the one that affects me the most in the sleeping and dreaming department.
It’s simply AMAZING!
Resveratrol — Say Yes to more testosterone
So Resveratrol has gotten a lot of good press in recent years. If you’ve been buried under a rock or just came out of a coma and don’t know what it is, it’s a substance found in red wine and peanuts that supposedly can switch on your longevity genes and counteract the bad effects of a high fat high calorie diet. You heard of calorie restriction? This stuff is suppose to mimic all the good effects without the dieting.
Read this because I don’t feel like rehashing the same information over and over. Suffice to say, this stuff has great potential. Unfortunately, it’s crazy expensive too.
I found a good source of a highly pure powder at this place: purebulk.com.
You’ll find 50% and 98% pure powders. The 50% powders are cheaper but taste pretty bad and are brown in color. The 98% pure powders are expensive, but are white in color and the taste is mild.
I can’t say it’s tasteless, but you can swig it down with some Orange Juice or water.
I have to say I feel pretty good on this stuff. I’ve been taking about 300 mg of it 2 times a day. I think it’s an obvious choice for a tonic because it can not only slow down aging, but it helps increase testosterone levels by blocking estrogen production. It also helps keep your arteries flexible and clear by enhancing nitric oxide production.
I’d like to find some better deals for this stuff. Please let me know if you know a good source for 98% resveratrol and I’ll post it here.
Shark Liver Update! Watch that cholesterol.
So, I had been taking Shark Liver Oil religiously since October. You can read about it here:
My Shark Oil Post.
After a routine physical last week, boy was I in for a surprise. I was expecting my usual great lipid profile. My cholesterol has been around 200 for the last few years, but with good HDL, low Triglycerides and very low of the bad LDL. However, this time, my LDL almost doubled from last year. The only supplements that were significantly different from other years was the Shark Liver Oil and tocotrienols. The tocotrienols, btw, I feel has contributed to significantly thicker and shinier hair (but more on that in another post). I really don’t think the tocotrienols have contributed to this problem. However, the shark liver oil is not looking too good. Check this study out:
Shark Liver Raises Cholesterol in Hamsters.
Aaargh!! this is horrible. It states: “supplementations of Squalene (SQ) and Shark Liver Oil (SLO) in diets caused significant accumulation of SQ in the liver and adipose tissue. The present results suggest that SQ and SLO are hypercholesterolemic at least in hamsters. Caution has to be taken when SQ or SLO are routinely consumed as health supplements.”
Watch out with this one. To be fair, my HDL was still high and my triglycerides were still low. I’ll test again in 6 months and report on what I find out. For now, I think Shark Liver Oil is not on the recommended list. Until we know more about cholesterol levels and the ratios of the different types of cholesterol and inflammation, be careful.
Shark Liver Oil H1N1 fighter?
I discovered Shark Liver Oil recently. It’s been around for centuries. Apparently, fisherman in the cold deep waters off northern Europe have recommended it for wound healing, colds and flu, and as a general tonic. Whenever I hear about something being good for colds and flu and wound healing or general tonic, I start thinking Nitric Oxide related.
I did find an interesting study indicating that Shark Liver Oil may increase Nitric Oxide levels here. The article states shark liver oil may be helpful for boosting the immune system.
If you’re a pig, your sperm will improve. This study indicates that Shark Liver Oil improved sperm motility and velocity:Click here to see study.
Cod liver oil is something I’ll write about in the future. Cod liver oil is a great source of Vitamin D, that many consider the single most important vitamin supplement you could take. Well, shark liver has that too. Cod Liver Oil is a purported Testosterone Booster, however Shark Liver Oil is not as well known. I’ve discovered that no one seems to know what this is. You can certainly find it online, but good luck finding it in conventional health food stores or your local chinatown herb shop. I found mine in a chinese herb shop. The owner smiled when I bought it and said it was an excellent choice and to make sure I drank a lot of water with it. I’m surprised I found it in that store, since no one spoke English.
There’s a bit of hub bub on the net about this Oil boosting the immune system and fighting cancer. Cancer is not something to talk about lightly. I’m limiting my discussion to verifiable tonics. As a tonic, this has some interesting potential. Faster sperm? More nitric oxide? Sounds like a plan!
Fenugreek–Interim Results
I’m a little disappointed with Fenugreek. I have three forms of it:
- Crushed Seed
- Powdered Seed
- Testofen Extract
For the first few days of taking the crushed seed, I felt a distinct energy boost. I also felt there was a nitric oxide enhancing mechanism, but could not really find strong evidence on the net. Eagerly, I tried the Testofen Extract because it was getting rave reviews over at Bulk Nutrition. However, I have to give this one a thumbs down, I’m not noticing anything sustainable. I must have had a placebo type reaction for the first two days because I was singing it’s praises! The powdered seed just made me feel really tired. I’m not interested in experimenting anymore with it.
Verdict: If you’re interested in trying Fenugreek, I would recommend the crushed seed. There’s something to it that is sustainable over more than a few days, but don’t expect any big miracles. I’m not sure I can really consider this one a tonic.
Fenugreek — Most underrated testosterone booster?
I’m taking a closer look at Fenugreek. There are a few concentrated extracts marketed under the name ‘testofen‘ or ‘fenotest‘. But you can buy the pure seeds economically. I found crushed fenugreek seeds for $2.99 for 4 ounces at Kalustyans in NYC during a recent trip. Why am I interested in Fenugreek? Check out what people are saying over at Bulk Nutrition about this herb. It seems to be a bonafide testosterone booster. I believe there is a powerful nitric oxide enhancing effect with this product. It’s hard to believe no one really knows about this. Companies market proprietary products to boost nitric oxide and testosterone to maximize profit margins, so there won’t be big money marketing this cheap herb.
Comparisons to viagra, testosterone boosting, and fat burning are making rounds in the web, however, i haven’t easily come across any supporting real scientific studies. There were some studies that showed an insulin sensitizing effect, which is good for type 2 diabetics and people with insulin resistance. If anyone has anything to share please do so.
I’m highly recommending this one for further study.
Sept 15 update — Shou Wu Chih and Tocotrienols
Just an update. I’ve been drinking Shou Wu Chih fairly regularly every night. Nothing special to report yet except perhaps more energy and better sleep. I received my tocotrienols the other day. It has an unusual taste and the container it comes in is pretty darn small!! But it says 60 servings…let’s see.
Tocotrienols — Testosterone Booster
I just ordered this:
Toco-8.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, in addition to all the great things it does for our arteries and hair, it also reportedly boosts testosterone. I decided to plunk down the $29 bucks to give this a try. I should have it in a few days. It’s a powder and I heard it tastes delicious.
Admittedly, I should have done a little more research into exactly how it might work for testosterone production and I wanted to look at the studies a little more closely as well. Pub Med didn’t turn up anything obvious, so I’m a little skeptical. Stay posted and please comment with your thoughts and experiences!
Tocotrienols–Better Hair Stronger Arteries!
There’s a new buzz around Vitamin E. For many years there seemed to be positive health benefits for Vitamin E such as improved circulation, lower cholesterol, strong antioxidant, male virility and anti-imflammatory. However, the research just didn’t quite prove it. Over time we learned that there wasn’t just Vitamin E, there were different types of Vitamin E like Gamma, Delta, etc. A Greek alphabet’s worth of granularity! Well, it gets worse! Now we have tocotrienols.
The good news is, these tocotrienols promise to finally vindicate Vitamin E!
Did you know that tocotrienols might grow hair on bald heads?
Check this out!
Vitamin E grows hair.
I believe Tocotrienols increase Nitric Oxide which accounts for the hair growth and the positive effect on our arteries. It may even really boost Testosterone!
Click here to read about tocotrienols and LH for Virility.
So what are you waiting for? Get this now!
GPLC — The Next Hottest Supplement
Ok, I call this one first. GPLC or glycine propionyl l-carnitine will be the next hottest supplement. However, be prepared to pay some money for this one. Apparently, Sigma-tau, the company that produces this has an exclusive global patent. That means prices for the supplement are pretty consistent and it’s hard to find bargains on the net. If anyone can find a bulk powder cheap, please let me know.
Now why is this one good? Rumor has it that it is the only supplement that actually has a good scientific study proving it raises nitric oxide levels. Read my nitric oxide blog entry to learn why this is important.
There are a whole bunch of products coming out for bodybuilders and those with heart disease and other nitric oxide deficient conditions (diabetes, ED, PAD, hairloss.). Check out http://www.glycocarn.com/
and check it frequently for new products.
Read this when you have some time: http://www.glycocarn.com/whitepapers/pat-jacobs-whitepaper.pdf
I’m slightly skeptical because of the strong marketing effort, but I’ll certainly be testing this one out. I can say after only 1 week, I feel GREAT on this. I’m going to skip weekends so I don’t build up a tolerance.
Let me know what you think about this one.
Horny Goat Weed?
Despite it’s unfortunate name (who wants to bring this stuff to the counter), Horny Goat Weed or Epimedium, is an amazing chinese herb. Bodybuilders take it for increased testosterone (weak anecdotal evidence) and for the ‘pump’ (very strong evidence). It’s also thrown into herbal preparations for PDE-5 inhibition effects (very strong scientific evidence).
I like to check http://www.pubmed.com for scientific experiments related to the herbs and supplements I’ll be discussing here.
It’s very cheap as a raw herb you can purchase in any chinese herbal shop or over the net. It’s basically dried leaves packed tightly into little bricks that resemble a pack of dollar bills.
Scientists have found that it has strong Estrogenic qualities. What?? Yes, despite all the hype around male performance, it has been shown effective for woman going through menopause and for the prevention of Osteoporosis! Check out pubmed for the studies.
One substance that has been isolated from epimedium is a chemical called icariin. Again, check pubmed for this one. It’s PDE-5 inhibition rivals viagra. In fact, one study mentioned how they were working on derivatives of icariin to produce even more effective inhibition. Do your research! Check pubmed, don’t just believe me.
Despite all the clinical evidence pointing to epimedium being estrogenic, this herb has a strong reputation for being a testosterone booster. I think it’s probably due to it’s PDE-5 inhibition that get misinterpreted as libido enhancing. Another possibility is that the body absorbs these natural weaker estrogens instead of the dangerous estrogens purported to be in our drinking water, detergents and certain food additives. So it could have a protective effect against those dangerous substances. I haven’t studied the estrogen story in depth, but there seems to be strong suggestions that our environment is polluted with toxic estrogens.
Nitric Oxide – The Great Unifier
I consider Nitric Oxide the great unifier. If you do research on just about any tonic or elixir, I bet you will find a nitric oxide connection. Korean Ginseng? Enhances Nitric Oxide. Jiaogulan Tea? Nitric Oxide. Honey? Yep, Nitric Oxide. Acupuncture? Nitric Oxide. Vitamin C? I could go on, but you get the point. There are a ton of books and internet articles on Nitric Oxide. I don’t want to repeat that information here or begin a biology/chemistry lesson.
We will be talking about it alot on this quest. This is a good book for information on nitric oxide:
I’ll mention a few things that I think are important. First, if anyone says they understand Nitric Oxide, I think they are lying. It’s been studied alot, however, it seems like people are still figuring this thing out. To get through alot of the information, you need a PhD in biochemistry. That’s why the book above is a good introduction. It was written by one of the guys who put alot of the pieces together and is viewed as one of the discoverers of it–and won a nobel prize for it.
What I do know about it, is that it is involved in helping arteries expand, which in turn improves blood flow and reduces blood pressure. However, that’s extremely simplistic. To make it more complicated there are several forms of it. Scientists are constantly finding new ways it is used in our bodies and the role it plays in disease and health. It has roles in inflammation modulation, blood flow, hair growth, diabetes, hormone release, brain health and even erectile function :O to name just a few things.
Alot of chronic diseases thought to be normal aging are probably caused by our inability to produce enough nitric oxide. Many prescription drugs, like viagra for example, increase nitric oxide by blocking the enzymes that help break it down in the body. There other techniques to increase nitric oxide production by ingesting the substances that produce it. For example, the amino acid arginine or nitrates from vegetables (yes, nitrates may not be so bad after all). You can teach your body to produce more by exercise.
Another interesting aspect of Nitric Oxide is that it is a toxic gas that kills viruses and bacteria. In fact, there were some studies that showed producing enough of it killed tuberculosis and scientists were recommending eating peanuts (high in arginine and probably nitrates) to help ward it off.
As with everything, too much is probably bad and there is some evidence that overproduction probably causes alot of damage in our bodies. That’s why you will see nitric oxide products with liberal doses of antioxidants included.
Bodybuilders have caught on to this and you will find a wealth of products claiming to boost nitric oxide. These products help the muscles swell up with blood. If you examine the ingredients, you will find a basic formula: amino acids that provide the ‘food’ for nitric oxide and herbs/chemicals that slow or prevent it’s breakdown or speed up it’s production. Read the labels on these products for clues on the next big elixir to try.
I’ll be writing more on this in future posts…