Vitex is the peppery little berry of the chaste tree, used by women for over two thousand years and best known today for the days before a period. In Europe one vitex extract is an approved herbal medicine for premenstrual syndrome.
Huang Qi, the yellow root behind Chinese "Jade Windscreen" formulas, is one of the best-known qi tonics in traditional Chinese medicine and a popular immune-season herb in the West. Here's what the tradition uses it for, what the (mostly small, Chinese) studies show, the Health Canada amounts, and why people with autoimmune disease or a transplant should steer clear.
A rare Himalayan fungus that grows out of moth caterpillars, cordyceps has been prized in Tibetan and Chinese medicine since at least the 1400s as an energy and lung–kidney tonic. Today almost all of it is grown in labs, and the research is far thinner than the marketing.
Chaga is the black, crusty "birch conk" of the northern forests, brewed for centuries into a dark, earthy tea in Siberia, Scandinavia and Indigenous North America. Here's where it comes from, what the research actually shows so far, and the kidney caution everyone should know before trying it.
The world's most expensive spice is also one of the oldest mood herbs on record: Persian physicians called it a heart-gladdener, and modern trials have tested it for low mood and PMS. This profile covers how tradition uses it, what the research shows, and why "more" is not better with saffron.
Lavender is the classic calming flower, sipped as a gentle evening tea, added to baths and breathed in from the oil. In Europe the flower tea is an approved traditional remedy for mild stress and to help with sleep.
A dark mountain resin that Ayurveda has treated as a prized rejuvenating tonic for centuries, now sold worldwide for energy and men's vitality, and one of the supplements most likely to be contaminated.
Folate is the B vitamin your body uses to build every new cell, and the one with the strongest "take it before you need it" message in all of nutrition. Here's who needs a supplement, the real story on folic acid vs. methylfolate and MTHFR, and why more isn't better.
A B-complex bundles the eight B vitamins your body uses to turn food into energy and keep nerves and blood healthy. Here's what each one does, who tends to run low, what the research on stress and energy shows, and why "more" on the label isn't always better.
Vitamin B12 keeps your blood and nerves working, and it's one of the few vitamins your body can quietly run short on for years without your knowing. Here's who tends to run low, which foods and forms cover your needs, what "B12 for energy" really means, and the common medicines that drain it.
