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!
Copper Cups!
Here’s an idea for you. Try drinking water from a copper cup. You can find an example here at: Copper Cup example.
I became intrigued with the idea a few days ago after having modicum success experimenting with copper bracelets for muscle and joint pain. There’s a slew of anecdotal evidence linking copper intake via jewelry worn next to the skin and via supplements. In Ayurvedic medicine, one is advised to store water in a copper cup overnight and drink it in the morning.
Copper has been touted for great skin, restoration of hair color and to balance excessive zinc intake.
I’ve tried it now for a couple days and have noticed increased flexibility and reduced muscle pains. Very interesting! Try it and let us know what you think of this simple practice.
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.
Nitric Oxide From Vegetables
Looking to boost your nitric oxide levels? Then eat your vegetables, especially root and green leafy vegetables. We always knew eating vegetables was good for you, but now studies are showing why. Roots and Green Leaves are high in nitrates. These dietary nitrates will increase your nitric oxide levels. If you suffer from stomach ulcers, heart disease, baldness, erectile dysfunction, high blood pressure, certain immune disorders, slow healing or are interested in boosting your athletic performance, then you want to pay close attention! Beet Juice is one of the easiest ways to boost your nitrate intake–and it tastes great.
I googled around found this juice online. You can read about it on this blog:
Biotta Juice Blog.
Try making your own juice with beets, carrots and spinach.
Here’s an article on how it increases athletic performance:
Athletic Performance Boost from Vegetables.
Now it makes sense to eat and drink your veggies everyday!
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!
Pumpkin Seed Powder — What?
I found an interesting tonic in a local supermarket. It was a bag of pumpkin seed powder. Since it was only about $1.20, I decided to throw it in the basket and try it out. To my surprise, it tasted delicious. It’s a taste that’s hard to describe, obviously nutty like peanut butter, but oddly foreign. It’s dark green in color too. Weird but good.
I always knew pumpkin seeds had the reputation for boosting testosterone and libido (commonly thought to be because of it’s high zinc content) but I was surprised to find that there is much research regarding pumpkin seeds and urinary incontinence and for a healthy prostrate. The bladder control is due to pumpkin seed being able to boost nitric oxide levels. Read this:
rabbits and pumpkin seeds.
Try this stuff out and let me know what you think!
Beef Tendon Recipe..it’s slow good!
Decided you want to try eating beef tendon regularly?
Don’t have access to an authentic chinese restaurant?
Can’t figure out how to make it?
I stumbled on a way to make it better than I’ve tasted in any Chinese restaurant in NYC. All you need is a slow cooker, a can of chicken broth (no msg), seasoning and time.
I use Swanson Chicken broth because it has no MSG and no added fat:
Open the can and put it in the slow cooker. Add 2 large beef tendons.
Season with powdered garlic,onion, etc. I used Oscar’s Oxtail Seasoning:
If you want to step it up a notch, add polygonum multiflorum, the main ingredient in Shou Wu Chih and some Goji Berry.
A word of caution..I went overboard with the chinese herbs. I tried some eucommia bark, and some other tonics and it ended up tasting pretty bad. My advice is to limit the tonic herbs to mild tasting ones like Shou Wu, which is actually tasty. Don’t ruin your beef tendon!
Let the slow cooker do it’s stuff for 8 hours or more. You’ll have the most tender, wonderful tasting beef tendon that rivals the best chinese restaurant.
Shou wu chih for sleep?
So, it’s official. Shou wu chih is great for sleep! I’ve been taking Shou wu chih on and off for a long time. I started to suspect that it helped deepen sleep last year. I can say every time I drink Shou Wu Chih I get a great night’s sleep. I’m not really sure what the reason is for it, but it works. As I mentioned in previous posts, there is a version with alcohol out there. Drinking a few ounces of this will definitely make you sleepy, however you should wake up refreshed. Regular wine doesn’t have this effect on me, but shou wu definitely does.
Hmmm, does it contain melatonin?
Stout and Eggs
Here’s a cool one for you..try Guinness Stout with a raw egg. I first heard of this in the Caribbean where it is reportedly a natural viagra. It’s popular especially in Jamaica. However, a quick google search will show you that many cultures around the world drink Guinness with a raw egg in it. I have some ideas concerning why there would be such virility enhancing effects of this drink. 
First, the real stuff is infused with Nitrogen to create the distinct head. When I hear nitrogen, I automatically think there must be some kind of nitric oxide related connection. Then of course is the alcohol content that helps boost circulation. Anything that boosts circulation is usually linked to enhancing nitric oxide. Last, the raw egg is full of choline and lecithin. Legend has it that Casanova frequently dined on raw eggs and oysters to enhance his prowess.
Try it out..it’s good stuff.
Offal is not awful
Most people consider offal to be pretty disgusting. Offal is considered to be anything other than the muscle and bones of a butchered animal. There are many cultures that eat this stuff on a regular basis or consider them delicacies. For example, tripe (intestine) makes a delicious anti-hangover remedy in Mexico called ‘Menudo’. Pork Skin is a skin beautifier in Vietnam. Tendon is eaten in china to build strength and as an arthritis remedy. Browse any asian supermarket and you’ll find an assortment of hearts, livers, kidneys and even uterus for your fine dining pleasure! I think in modern society, we miss out on these essential foods. It’s not natural to only eat fine cuts of meat — muscle. The human race was built on eating every part of the animal. As I think of it, frankfurters and sausages are probably a pretty good way to get these things in your diet. So is head cheese.
For anti-aging, I feel it’s important to get collagen in your diet. You can’t get collagen by only eating fine cuts of beef. You need to eat tendon, oxtail, pork skin. You can find some great recipes online or visit an authentic asian restaurant and try something new. One thing you can try is the famous vietnamese soup called ‘Pho’ or beef noodle soup. They often throw in tendon and some tripe. It’s considered very healthy and a strength builder in asia. Try it!
New Discussion Forum
I decided to add a discussion forum to allow people to ask questions and share experiences with their own personal tonic quests.
What tonics have you tried? What are you trying? Let us know what deals you found on the ‘net.
Share the Love!! Don’t be shy..be the first to post.
Enjoy, and make sure to let me know what you think of this forum.
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.
Chinatown Liquor Stores
Manhattan’s chinatown has at least 3 liquor stores that I’m aware of and probably a lot more. What makes chinatown liquor stores special is that they carry an assortment of chinese medicinal wines. There is one popular wine called Lu Wei Ba (I can’t seem to find a good picture of it anywhere). It’s basically an alcohol extract of deer tail. Deer tail is used in traditional chinese medicine as a tonic. It strengthens the lower back, legs and knees. I’ll publish a recipe soon for Deer Tail Soup, which I found to have a super tonic effect on me that lasted throughout the next few days. I especially noticed my legs felt like they had twice their normal strength after drinking this soup.
A few weeks ago, I found a chinese wine called Chang Chun Yao Chiew from Royal King. Unfortunately, the ingredients were not listed and apparently it’s a secret formula. The word “Yao” gives a clue, “Yao” usually refers to the waist (which means the lower torso and upper legs. This is supposed to be a kidney/liver tonic. Since it came from Royal King, I was comfortable buying it. Royal King is a reputable herbal tonic company. I can’t say I felt a super tonic effect, but I can say the nights I took it, I slept very well. I went through a 750ml bottle fairly quickly. I think this is something that should be taken for awhile to feel it’s effects. In the meantime, I’ll try to hunt down the formula for this tonic.
Browse a chinatown liquor store. Many of these tonics come in attractive bottles. Ask for one called ‘three whips’..i’ll explain that one in another post!
Irish Moss – Jamaican Power Drink
How does great skin, a strong “back”, virility and awesome taste wrapped up in one drink sound? Sounds great to me, so that’s why I’m introducing you to a little known Jamaican treat called Irish Moss or Sea Moss. Chrondus Crispus is a variety of seaweed that is found in coastal regions of North America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe. Many of you have heard of the thickener, Carageenan, which comes from this seaweed. It’s popular is Scotland and Ireland as the main ingredient in pudding. It’s high in Sulfur and other minerals and is touted as male performance booster. Here’s how you make it:
Ingredients:
- Irish Moss
- Flax Seed (aka Linseed)
- Condensed Milk (I use skim milk to lower calorie content)
- Spices–Nutmeg,Cinnamon,Vanilla
- Optional-Gum Arabic
- Optional-Isinglass (Agar)
- Optional-Sugar or Sweetener to taste
- Optional but recommended-Wray and Nephew White Rum
This is how one of the good Irish Moss packages looks like and where to get it.
How to Make it:
Note:I tend to shy away from listing exact amounts. Experiment, you can’t go wrong.
Some people recommend soaking the irish moss overnight first with some lime juice. I found it’s not necessary. Just rinse it and take off any particles. Put in a pan with water to cover and a bunch of the flax seeds and the optional agar and Gum Arabic. Bring to a boil and simmer until the Irish moss melts away (could be an hour or more depending on how much seaweed you’re using). I recommend starting small until you get the hang of it. Keep an eye on it because it can boil over and make a huge mess on your stove. You can use a fork or one of those hand blenders to speed it up. Put in the vanilla and spices with milk and sweetener. Add the Rum if you want an extra kick.
Be creative. Everytime I drink this mixture, my skin looks great for days afterwards. It must have some kind of nitric oxide, PDE-5 inhibition or related effect because this stuff is seriously powerful and works.
Ideas to enhance the effects:
- Boil in some peanuts or peanut butter. If using raw peanut, try to include the skin
- Add a Jamaican Root Drink (these are bitter herbs with reputed aphrodisiac and healing power)
- Try adding Carrot Juice
- Ginseng Extract is often added
- Various combinations of Banana and Oats are also often used
- Gingko extract is sometimes added
Take the time to make this drink and enjoy it’s tonic effect. You’ll be glad you did!
Ching Chun Bao — Antiaging tablets from China
Ching Chung Bao also spelled Qing Chun Bao is an interesting tonic I found while on my quest for Shark Oil.
It’s meant to be taken twice a day and over a long period of time. The bottle says, “Main functions: Postponing aging, maintaining youthful face, enhancing youthful vigour.” Sounds good to me!
These are the listed ingredients:
- Ginseng
- Rehmannia Root
- Chinese Asparagus Root
- Siberian Solomon Seal
- Cistanches
- Goji Berries
- Astragalus root
All of the above are Tonic Herbs. As long as there aren’t any hidden ingredients, I think this is a superb formula to take over time. Everyone’s heard of goji berries and ginseng. Solomon Seal is a wonderful lesser known tonic that is said to help restore your body after stress and over indulgence. Cistanches is a great nitric oxide enhancer and probably a decent pde-5 inhibitor (must research that sometime). Astragalus is another great tonic and has a reputation for enhancing your immune system. You should be able to find it for about 8 usd a bottle.
Generally, and according to the traditional chinese medical system, all of these types of tonics that benefit the kidney and liver system are good for anti-aging because those are the systems that are mostly responsible for keeping us young. They govern the condition of your hair, teeth, bones, connective tissue, memory, sex drive and youthful vitality. Check out the jing post on this site for more info.
Although this one is interesting, I doubt I can commit to taking it religiously twice a day. Anyone interested in trying this one out?
Mushroom Mania
Who thought that the simple mushroom could be one of our biggest arsenals for staying young, boosting our immune systems and balancing our hormones? Did you know that mushrooms are powerful anti-aromatases?
Check out this link regarding how powerful the white button mushroom is for keeping your Testosterone levels high : Click to read about how mushrooms inhibit hormone conversion to estrogen.
If you take DHEA, you probably know that it’s hard to control what DHEA converts to. It can convert to testosterone or estrogen. Eating mushrooms should help make sure the DHEA doesn’t convert to estrogen. Too much estrogen is a bad thing! Not just for men, but for women too. There are too many environmental estrogens called Xenoestrogens that are wreaking havoc on our health. Read what Wikipedia has to say about Xenoestrogens here. They are bad news and have only appeared in the last 70 years or so. They are implicated in cancers and higher estrogen levels for men. In fact one study implied that men’s johnsons are getting smaller over the years because of it! Don’t let this happen to you or your loved ones.
So eat your mushrooms! Try them with Oyster Sauce and a little onion, garlic and ginger.
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!
Shou Wu Chih 3 Month Update
It’s roughly 3 months now that I’ve been drinking Shou Wu Chih fairly regularly. It’s hard to take something almost every night even with free dailynudge reminders sent to my cellphone! Daily Nudge. Because it has a fair amount of alcohol in it, I didn’t take it on nights I had a few drinks or got caught up with work late into the evening. It’s non stimulating, so I find it’s a superb tonic to take before bed.
I do have to say, that my hair is much much darker. I haven’t found a hair with a dark root yet, but overall my hair is darker. Why the hair is darker is hard to say. More oil? Any experts out there?
Other benefits
If you read my first post on this product: Gray Hair Experiment you will notice that Shou Wu Chih is one of the more effective tonics out there. It’s taken to restore energy depleted from too much sex or stress. This is a good one to have and it’s certainly not expensive. I’ve been finding mine in a asian grocery store for just a few dollars. And it tastes good!