No need to be sorry, buddy. Hoping I didn’t come across too harsh. You have enough going on, don’t want to add to it. My emphasis on the invisible magic elixir was more directed at others than you anyway; same with the percentage and semantic points. Not to say it is impossible for a panacea, just unlikely. Lowering expectations to curb disappointment is sometimes a good move.
I prefer white asparagus over green, at least from a taste standpoint. White also has more protodioscin than green, although less (no) chlorophyll. Sometimes unripe is more potent than ripe, such as the case of pineapple where the immature fruit has more bromelain than mature. On that note, saw palm fruits take awhile to ripen. I would guess peddlers harvest early to speed up business. Maybe they use ethylene oxide to hasten the ripening, common to bananas. Speaking of, I have many banana trees in my yard. Will never buy them again. They take awhile to ripen, but it is worth it. Meals wrapped in and cooked in the leaves is delicious.
Not sure which propolis brand to recommend. I think that’s what you are asking here. Saw palm, I hate that midget palm tree, does not grow in the northeast. It can live for centuries and is hard to kill. Most other palm trees die when the heart is harvested, but this pest will grow back somehow. I had a tree in my yard, so I could have messed myself up for free, but I was impatient so bought it. The store put a generic label on it, so I’m not sure which company is to blame. Because of the bottle specs, I have narrowed it down to 5 suspects. I could call each company and see if they make generics for the store, but I’m not sure I want to know or not. Wonder what others think. I wish I knew what the active ingredient in the plant is. Many sources cite beta-sitosterol, but this cannot be accurate. Avocados, olives, and nuts have beta-sitosterol yet never cause the same problems. I shrug my shoulders.
No point in trying k1; the body converts it in small amounts to the k2 version anyway. Might as well spare it the metabolic hassle. MK7 has a longer half-life than MK4.
I guess yohimbe could be good if you have low blood pressure because it raises it. I notice periwinkle does the opposite, lowers blood pressure, so it could be good if you have high blood pressure. The latter also makes me get colds/flus easier and cuts get infected more easily.
Speaking of black tea, you might like kombucha. Naturally fizzy, sweet and sour tea. Cheaper to brew your own.
Glad you mention lyme herbals. People on lyme disease forums are saying sida acuta caused them to have hair loss. One woman said she lost half her hair in 6 months. I find that interesting. I wonder if it is a pro-DHT action or some other mechanism. Once upon a time, I came across it and brewed around 4 to 8 cups of vegetable broth a day for around 4 days with the stems, leaves, roots, seeds, flowers before running out. Made my scalp unbearably itchy; no hair loss though. My DHT, at least in the scalp must be lower than average. As stated above, I never had hair loss and had the opposite problem. Of course, they only test the serum DHT, not the tissues. My testosterone must be lower than average too, considering it has always been impossible for me to build muscle. I have no pre or post saw labs, but I wonder what my stats are. I won’t bother because it would ultimately be money down the drain.
Pardon me while I take a moment to laugh like hell. I wish I could have seen the look on your face when tongkat assaulted your taste buds. Kava and kratom cannot hold a candle to the bitterness of tongkat. I actually acquired a taste for the muddy, earthy taste of kava the first time. I like to combine it with coconut water or coconut milk. I like kratom with the trio of beet juice, turmeric juice, and ginger juice. I never used the 2 ks pre-saw, only post-saw. Never had cravings or withdrawal symptoms. Most smoke shops near me don’t sell kava. I think most are money laundering fronts. Being on every street corner and shopping plaza, how do they all compete enough to stay in business? But anyway, intense bitter herbs like tongkat, gentian, wormwood, quassia, and etc put the body in cleansing and repair mode, so maybe you had detox like reactions, not sure.
Lost sight here. What kept your immune system in check? Ironic how we had health woes before saw, yet we have made better strides than the others here who said they never had a health woe in their life before. Sounds to me like you are staying the same in some aspects, slowly getting better in others, and you don’t seem to be worsening. People will probably read this and think saw victims have better odds of improvement, but it is impossible to know the real statistics. Not every story is on the internet.
Out of the mushrooms, cordyceps is my favorite of all time. I feel so motivated on it. Puts me in a get things done mood. Favorite herb? Tough question. Mushrooms are in the fungus kingdom with yeast and mold; they are not in the plant kingdom.
The yellow flowers and leaf shapes of damiana and st johns wort are so similar looking. The latter is probably bad sexually, but I could not tell because it was already nonexistent when I tried it. I recommend against using it. The former I think helped with ejaculation force. Muira puama was helpful for penile sensitivity. Speaking of, when I first went to my local herb shop for muira puama, translating to “potency wood” in Portuguese, the clerk lady decided to give me a hassle. I wanted to know if they had it, how much $, and what form. Instead, she wanted me to say, in earshot of others, “what it was for” before she would check the stock or make an order. That pissed me off, her knowing full well what it was for based off her smiling and tone. Obviously, I never did business there again. Trying to embarrass me, I won’t accept that. I always hated buying these herbs, more or less indirectly telling people I had problems, meaning people familiar with these herbs at least, those who would know what it was for without me having to say in front of other customers who may not. I no longer have problems, so I’d be happy to show her what it was for instead of tell her. Even though I do not need these things today, I have spent time harvesting them and money buying others, plus I acquired a taste for them, so I’m not going to throw these things out and waste them. I still use them in food and drink recipes for flavor. My st johns wort and ashwagandha are sitting collecting dust though because I read too many stories of sexual adversities. Damiana blends good with cherry juice; muira puama blends well with pomegranate juice; maca blends good with coffee/hot chocolate; tulsi (AKA holy basil) with blueberry juice, etc.
I bet this midget palm tree is the “forbidden fruit” spoken of in the bible. It caused me more harm than plants that can literally cause premature death. Once upon a time, I mistakenly harvested belladonna berries and lost the ability to urinate for 36 hours, then I fully recovered. Not only that, I felt amazing after. Do you like peaches? I brewed a hot drink from peach leaves not knowing all parts of the tree contain cyanide, except for the fruit. I had the classic cyanide symptoms, but I recovered fully and quickly. It messed with my breathing. It’s difficult to explain. I had no difficulty breathing, but it seemed the breaths were not as productive, as if I needed to take 5 breaths while intoxicated to equal 1 breath without the toxins influence. I noticed after that I could exercise longer without getting winded. These toxins actually made me healthier. What doesn’t kill is supposed to make stronger, as the saying goes. When I adversely reacted to saw palm in the beginning, everyone was so supportive. The most common response was “once it’s out of your system, you’ll return to normal.” They were half correct, but not the half that counts. I returned to normal after about 2 weeks, but it only lasted 3 or 4 days, then I crashed at freefall speed. 18 months or so later, I started letting people know I was still suffering. The most common response I received was “if it was capable of that, it would have been banned, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda”. That reminds me of a recurring theme in horror movies, the main character witnessing/experiencing something unfathomable. Nobody believes the main character and instead treats them as they’re crazy until they witness/experience it themselves then they apologize. Never thought I (we) would live it.
I would not touch milk thistle. I have never heard of it causing post syndromes, but I have heard of it causing a preexisting post syndrome to get worse. If you want to help your liver, why not eat liver? The organs are more nutritious and easier to digest than muscle meat, especially raw. I’ve eaten raw meat for 8 years and never got sick from it. Too much of the same organ can make you overdose on certain vitamins or minerals though, whether raw or cooked. Oddly, I feel off if I eat too much protein without enough carbs or fat to go with it, whether raw or cooked. I eat keto the majority of the time, feeling my best on it.
