DIY Protandim: Recipe For the 5-Herb Botanical Mixture

In 2003, a nutraceutical product called Protandim appeared on the market that promised to slow down and even reverse aging. The five main herbal ingredients in the product have been used for centuries in Ayurveda, Chinese, and herbal medicine, and while all of them are very beneficial for health separately, studies show that they may have a much more powerful effect combined.

In 2005, an ABC Primetime Investigative Report showed Protandim works by activating what is known as the Nrf2 pathway. This communicates with and instructs cells to do what they are already naturally designed to do: upregulate our “survival genes”, and downregulate the genes that potentially lead to disease, thus supporting optimal body function.

6 minutes.

There are several dozen studies on Protandim. The supplement showed reduction in skin cancer development in mice, induced antioxidant enzymes, and reduced oxidative stress in humans.

What is great about this product is that it uses five widely available plant ingredients (Bacopa; milk thistle; ashwaghanda; green tea; turmeric) that can be also purchased separately and mixed together at home, which people have done successfully. 

Several amazing moms did the work to duplicate the formula themselves and avoided the spendy price tag. See the recipes below.

From my friend Diana: “I just want to share with you how well our autistic son Benjamin has been doing ever since we started supplementing with 675mg per day of the 5 botanical mix also known as Protandim. I do not use the actual Protandim product since it has some additional synthetic ingredients that I’m not comfortable with, but instead we have given him the pure organic botanicals. I mix it myself, based on the patented formulation (below) and the clinical studies conducted on the effectiveness of these 5 plants.

By 1st grade, our son Benjamin was diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, anxiety, SPD (sensory processing disorder), and Autism. This all happened after his last M-M-R shot before kindergarten. He became very unhappy going to school, his body and mind would became catatonic, and he was completely disconnected. Some mornings we would spend over an hour by the front door of the school, trying to motivate him to enter the school doors. He wasn’t violent, simply unresponsive and you could see the panic and anxiety this poor child was experiencing.

Soon, he was recommended SSRI drugs to help regulate him, however I have done my homework on all these psychotropic drugs, and we have absolutely declined the treatment and opted for therapy instead. By this time, I was pretty well-versed in many of the dangers of pharma medications and interventions that are often required or recommended. (A little bit of our family does and don’ts: we do our best to eat and drink clean, preservative-free, organic, fluoride-free, also try to stay away from corn, food dyes, artificial sweeteners and all the other junk out there. Also, we try our best to stay away from products that contain additives, parabens, aluminum, and all the other harmful ingredients that we can’t pronounce. In case of sickness, we always go for the homeopathic remedies).

He’s been taking 675mg per day of this herbal mix (as tea) for the last 12 weeks. My son has become more focused, able to grasp and relate the information back with more ease. His anxiety has completely diminished almost overnight. He’s calmer, happier, his moods are more regulated which allows him to interactivity with more ease with teachers and other students. He has gone from just having a one on one teacher/assistant to working in small groups with other students. His transitioning issues are almost nonexistent. Overall he’s just done a complete 180. I’m so blessed to have found something that is natural and have had such amazing success with it. Also this seems to have helped his gut issues. He’s no longer constipated, no longer complaints of acid reflex and we haven’t been experiencing any food sensitivities lately.

There is hope and there are natural ways to heal and help those in need!

A few weeks ago, we have enrolled Benjamin in basketball at our park district. He absolutely loves it, is engaged in the game, and that means the world to us. He is also an amazing Lego builder and little engineer, he calls them “his creations”:

The Recipe:

Mix the following herbs in a bowl or zip-lock bag. This makes enough for a few weeks.

• 2 Tablespoons Bacopa powder (per serving 150 mg)

• 3 Tablespoons milk thistle (per serving 225mg)

• 2 Tablespoons ashwaghanda (per serving 150 mg)

• 1 Tablespoon green tea (per serving 75 mg)

• 1 Tablespoon turmeric (per serving 75 mg)

The Dosage and Notes:

The serving size (taken once per day) should be 675mg of this mix or the equivalent of 1/2 baby teaspoon (or just enough to fill a ‘0’ size capsule). Diana gives this amount as tea and not in a capsule (see comments to Jan at the end of this post). For reference, 1 teaspoon is 4.4 grams or 4,400 milligrams, so 675mg per day of this tea/botanical mixture whether for children or adults is only a fraction of what you would use to create a cup of tea. You have the option of using a capsule or giving it as herbal tea.

(I linked to the exact same products Diana shows in her photo, but there are dozens of other similar products online.)

Note: Using gelatin capsules for already challenged children may not be wise. Gelatin is reported to be MSG-forming and most capsules are made in China.

Recipe To Make BULK Homemade Protandim

Another friend Debbie has been making this bulk recipe for “Homemade Protandim” for years. She says:

“I learned the exact dosage information for one tablet of Protandim. It translated to the ratio 3:2:2:1:1 (milk thistle: ashwaghanda: bacopa: green tea: turmeric). So I learned the amount in teaspoons (corresponding to mg.) for each herb. It worked well for the proper mg. amounts to fill a size ‘0’ size capsule.

Then to make it much easier, I thoroughly mixed a larger batch with the correct ratios of herbs, used my small ‘0’ capsule machine and viola!

The amounts I used for this larger batch were:

• Organic Milk thistle, 1 cup

• Organic Ashwaghanda, 2/3 cup

• Organic Bacopa, 2/3 cup (also known as Brahmi)

• Organic Green tea, 1/3 cup

• Organic Turmeric, 1/3 cup (also known as Curcumin)

These are all organic, which is an improvement over the product Protandim. Plus it is cheaper!

Examples of Synergistic Effects Between These Herbs:

• When used in combination, green tea and turmeric have shown stronger anti-cancer properties, reduced inflammation and stress in cows, and shown promise in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

• Green tea together with milk thistle may be able to help colorectal cancer patients, and extend life expectancy in animals.

• Green tea and bacopa have shown to reduce a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Green tea and ashwaghanda have anti-cancer effects against different types of cancers.

• Turmeric (curcumin) and ashwaghanda may be beneficial against advanced osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.

Brain Mapping On Protandim: https://youtu.be/Hvu2CWIszN4

“Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.” ~Genesis 1:29

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