Nutrition Nutz, with Jim Wilk C.N.C.
Nutrition Nutz is a lively podcast delving into the latest health trends, trusted dietary supplements, and cutting-edge research. It features a diverse array of guests including national educators, health brand representatives, naturopaths, herbalists, and industry leaders - all "nutz" about healthy living.
Hosted by Jim Wilk C.N.C., Nutrition Nutz offers a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm. Jim's journey in the health industry began in 1972 as a stock boy at The Last Carrot health food store in Coconut Grove, FL. Over the years, he has incorporated various health modalities into his professional career, including manufacturing tofu, and becoming a certified yoga instructor and a licensed massage therapist. With a wealth of experience as a nutritional counselor, Jim earned his C.N.C. credential in 1995 and currently advises customers at Holly Hill Health Foods in North Wales, PA. From 2005 to 2020, Jim also hosted the "Holly Hill Health Hour" radio show.
Jim's passion for health is also evident in his lifestyle, as he exemplifies his beliefs through bicycling, yoga, gym workouts, and continuous education. While he follows a keto and paleo diet, Jim also enjoys "vegging out" at times. He believes in the healing power of humor and laughter.
Whether you're looking to learn, laugh, or simply love what you hear, Nutrition Nutz is a podcast worth tuning into.
Nutrition Nutz, with Jim Wilk C.N.C.
Herbal Solutions for Stress with Dan Chapman, Redd Remedies
Ever wondered how stress could be silently undermining your health? Join us on Nutrition Nutz as we welcome Dan Chapman, CEO and founder of Redd Remedies, to uncover the hidden impacts of stress and explore innovative herbal solutions to manage it. Inspired by his mother's remarkable health transformation through alternative medicine, Dan founded Redd Remedies to offer well-crafted formulas that tackle health issues more effectively than single ingredients. His journey, from his family's pioneering health food store, Sunrise Health Foods, to the creation of Redd Remedies in 2005, provides a fascinating backdrop for our discussion on the evolution of stress understanding and management.
Throughout the episode, we delve into the unique benefits of adaptogenic herbs for different stress types. Dan introduces us to targeted formulas like True Energy for low energy, At Ease for emotional stress, and In-Joy for low mood. We also dive into the specifics of products like At Ease PM, which helps achieve restful sleep without sedatives, and the importance of expert formulation in ensuring the effectiveness of these products. Whether you're a caregiver or just someone battling daily stress, this episode promises practical insights to help you maintain a balanced, focused mind. Tune in to understand how to manage stress effectively and reclaim your health.
Use coupon code "NUTZ" (in your cart) for 15% off your entire order of featured products on our sponsor's website: HollyHillVitamins.com.
Welcome to Nutrition Nutz, where we discuss the latest nutrition breakthroughs, supplements and wellness choices with leaders in the natural products industry, health practitioners and research scientists. I'm your host, Jim Wilkes, certified Nutritionist. Thanks to our main sponsor, hollyhillvitaminscom, the place for great selection, service and prices. Check out their extensive wellness library for updated, science-based info. Welcome everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today on Nutrition Nuts.
Jim Wilk:I'm your head nut, Jim Wilk, here and I've got a good show today with a buddy named Dan Chapman. He has an interesting story, family history of problems, especially his mom back in the 50s with conventional medicine, and they tried a different route back then, which is highly unusual and found out that she started getting better with a lot of her health issues and she and her husband started a little health food store called Sunrise Health Foods back in 1961. And Dan, our guest today, who is the founder and CEO of Redd Remedies, and we'll talk about some of their great products with Dan. He decided to get involved in the business and manage the store, but he wanted something a little bit more out of the stuff that was available in the stores back then and so he started a company called Redd Remedies. Now this is R-E-D-D and redd means to put in order. I'm not sure where the word comes from. I have to look that up.
Jim Wilk:As far as the roots of it right, but they really saw a need in the industry to put things together to keep your health in order. Got it, because when your health is not in order, then that becomes really the focus of a person's life. So they used plants used in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine and all these wonderful European herbals and vitamins and minerals and extracts, and they went by a lot of different types of clinical trials to get these formulas and they've become very successful. So we're going to talk about some of the things that they make, but probably mostly we're going to concentrate on stress and Dan has a good perspective on that. So stay tuned for Dan Chapman, ceo and founder of Redd Remedies. All right, and on the phone I have Dan Chapman. Thank you, dan, for joining us today. Really appreciate it.
Dan Chapman:Always good to be here with you, Jim.
Jim Wilk:Thank you so much. I was telling the folks out there about your little bit of history, about your family and starting a health food store. Wasn't many health food stores around 1960, were there?
Dan Chapman:Yeah, you know that is true for sure. If you had a health food store in the early 60s, you were in it for a really serious reason. My mom was one of those. She was unfortunately a young lady who was not well in the late 50s and early 60s but really transformed her life by changing diet, integrating some herbs, nutrition, and so I may be grateful for the challenges she had, because I've been blessed by them over my life to be able to kind of grow up within this natural food industry and natural food world. So it's been wonderful for me.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, yeah. I wonder if you could talk to a couple of my kids that didn't follow in my footsteps there.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, I'm trying to do the same with my kids, you know.
Jim Wilk:No, most of them are good, Some of them aren't, but you know it is what it is. It's natural to rebel, sometimes against your parents. I don't know. Get your own footing in the world, maybe.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, there's always a little bit of that, but I've got some good kids, so I'm really grateful for that too.
Jim Wilk:Sure, sure. So you worked in a health food store and you helped run that one, the Sunrise Health Foods but you saw something in there. You saw something that maybe you thought you could improve, or that you thought to be something that's missing out of what you were selling in the store there.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, when you do something for a long time and Jim, I know you know this is true, right, because you have done the same in Howie Hill for how many years now but you talk to not just one or two or 10 or 100 customers, but you start talking to thousands and thousands of people and you start to see patterns. And that really is kind of what was the genesis of Redd Remedies when I started this company in 2005. 2005, and very specifically decided that I wanted to have a supplement company that was formula based, because I had really come to believe in the power of a well-crafted formula to solve a health challenge, rather than this ingredient or that ingredient and having a customer trying to put that together themselves. And so that was really the beginning of why I wanted a formula company in Redd Remedies and why we do that.
Dan Chapman:But there's also another pattern that I definitely saw and that's, I think, predominantly our topic for today, and that's the impact of stress on people's lives and in their health. And I'll tell you, 20 years ago it took a lot of work to get people to understand how stress impacted the body. But in the last couple of years everybody understands that there is stress and I don't meet hardly anybody today that doesn't very quickly and readily understand that stress actually impacts their health well, and so people are very, very willing to listen today, which is good.
Jim Wilk:So have you? Your personal lives have had to deal with stress for different reasons and things Like. I always wonder what makes a stressful person. What is causing that? Is it something that their reactions to whatever's going on in the world, or is it just something that happens once in a while? I'm always curious about something like that.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, and so really, when I think about stress, I'm not just thinking about our emotion, because certainly there are different personalities, right, that's, one of the joys of the world is that we get to interact with all kinds of people, and so you do meet those people that are high stress and you get those people that are just very even keel, you know, and you get those people where their stress might be more melancholy or low. But when I'm talking about stressors, it includes that, but it's also just the stressors of the world that we live in. I mean, we live in a toxic world. The air that we breathe and the water we drink, and the food that we eat, and the cleaning supplies around us, and the clothes, the material the clothes are made out of it, and on and on and on. We can list all of that. And those are stressors, you know. They disrupt the balance in our body, they disrupt hormones and that creates stress. And then you know that certainly, in addition to that is you know again, what are the circumstances that you live in. Are you in a situation that is high stress or do you manage stress relatively well? And that certainly has been the impact the last couple of years on people's emotions with the pandemic and so forth and isolation, and what I found is even individuals that say, okay, I handle stress really well, yes, that was hard, but I'm okay. Oftentimes they don't fully recognize the impact of that stress in the body.
Dan Chapman:And so really, what I say in general about stress is that it amplifies any potential health issue that you have, and so if you are susceptible to thyroid issues, for example, under stress, that thyroid problem is many times worse. If you struggle with some immune type issues under stress, your immune system really struggles to keep up. If you struggle with cardiovascular issues, no matter what it might be, under stress, that cardiovascular issue is many times worse, even simple things like joint pain or muscle pain. Under stress, pain is worse Because most people think that pain is a response to maybe physical damage, think that pain is a response to maybe physical damage, and they don't recognize that pain is actually an emotional response. And that's why, if you do have a problem with a knee or something, for example, the pain is always worse at night after a long, hard day, and it's generally better after a good night's rest, and a lot of that just simply has to do with how stressed is your body because stress amplifies. So again, like, no matter what it is, stress amplifies and there certainly are many situations where it's not just the amplifier but it's also the cause.
Dan Chapman:And I see this in a lot of places, maybe most specifically digestive issues. You'll have somebody come in your store and they're like you know, I've got heartburn or I've got, you know, bloating or gas or just whatever it may be, and so a lot of times our normal response in the health food store is to give them a probiotic or to give an enzyme, and those are great solutions. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't do probiotics and enzymes we should. But if we don't recognize that, it's very likely that stress caused that issue in their digestive system in the first place. It's almost like the enzyme of the probiotic is a Band-Aid because stress is still going to cause it. And so let me just unpack that one thing a little bit to give you an understanding.
Dan Chapman:So under short-term stress, our body naturally overproduces acid.
Dan Chapman:Stress, our body naturally overproduces acid.
Dan Chapman:And so somebody has kind of that acid stomach, or certainly somebody's giving a public speech and they're nervous about going up front.
Dan Chapman:You can even be like, so tied up with that stress you can throw up and vomit and have an upset stomach. I mean, that's the result of short-term stress in the body. But then when that stress turns long-term or chronic, the digestive system actually has kind of an opposite reaction. It goes into, instead of overproducing enzymes, it underproduces enzymes in the body and so now we can get experiences like heartburn or poor digestion or gas or bloating, and again we can have some level of help from a probiotic or an enzyme. But if it's stress that's causing that, that isn't going to fix the problem. You're going to need the probiotic or the enzyme tomorrow and next week as well, whereas if we can modulate that stress response in the body, we can actually fix the digestive issue from a core level. So in that understanding, stress actually changes the microbiome and so if we can come back to a place of balance on that stress response, the microbiome will go back to where it belongs without even the need necessarily in every case for a probiotic to fix it.
Jim Wilk:Well, you make a good point when you say between the chronic and more acute, because I think you do need some stress in your life. That's how things get done and we've had stress the old saber-toothed tiger at the cave back in the day, but it dissipated very quickly, the quick stress responses. But what you're talking about is more of a chronic thing where they can have an effect, because wouldn't you agree that some stresses might be apropos?
Dan Chapman:Absolutely. Actually, I appreciate you bringing that up because you know, without stress, our muscles don't grow, our joints and our tendons and ligaments are weak. So, yes, we do need stress and even emotionally it is a stressor or a thing that maybe frustrates you in your life, that gets you to act and do something different or better. So, yes, I absolutely agree that we need to and it's good to have different types of stressors in the body. But, like everything in life, there's a balance to that and for most of us, we're living in this place where the types of stressors and the amount of stressors that we have are significantly more than what is healthy and we don't tend to do anything about it. Like, stress is not generally the thing that you look at to say oh, that's why I have high blood pressure or sugar issues, so instead a drug is used, and so forth.
Jim Wilk:Right, you can't smell it or see it. It's not like a rash. Those are maybe some of the outcomes, but the underlying cause of it. I have to admit I don't think of that and it's something because you can't see it. It's put under the table there. But you're so right about that. The outcome can be that stress-related, Just like inflammation, can cause a lot of disease and people don't really see that inflammation going on in the body right?
Dan Chapman:Well, absolutely, and stress is actually a cause of an inflammatory response. Now there's a lot of others as well, right, but stress again in that idea that stress amplifies if you're already doing things or have inflammatory things happening within your body, stress will amplify the inflammation, and so that's really kind of my main message that I think people need to understand is that no matter where you're at in your health journey, no matter what health issue that you might be struggling with even if you say, well, I don't know, I don't really have a health problem, dan, I'm relatively healthy All of us can do something to modulate that stress response and no matter where you're at, life will absolutely get better. And that's the power of some of these different herbs and formulas that we put together to help people deal with stress, to reduce the amplification, to help you live a healthy, long, kind of stable, full life.
Jim Wilk:Right. So what are some ingredients that can help somebody? I know there's a big interest in adaptogenic herbs these days. Would you consider that to be a prime objective there?
Dan Chapman:Oh, absolutely Actually. So the group of adaptogen herbs is definitely primarily what I would use in this case, and so I'm assuming you know you've got listeners that have been listening to you for a long time. I'm sure they have an idea of what adaptogens are. But you know, just real quickly, an adaptogen is a small class of herbs, so there's just a handful of herbs that we would classify as true adaptogens, just real simply, adaptogens are basically your herbal answers to chronic stress, and while all adaptogens are going to do an amazing job of protecting your brain and your body from the negative impact of stress, each adaptogen will have something that it's kind of particularly good at. And so that's where I've looked at stress and basically what I've kind of found, and again, this comes after like thousands and thousands of people realizing that there's a part of me that doesn't like to put us in like general buckets, but I do see very clearly there's kind of three different places that people tend to go when it comes to stress, and I kind of call them your stress type, and so if I can go over those real quickly, the first stress type is that individual who says I'm generally healthy, my life is full, I'm very active, very busy. Yes, there's a lot of stress going on, but that stress just kind of robs me of energy. So I might be a bit tired, right, and so certainly the number of these energy drinks that are being consumed today is good proof that there's a whole bunch of people in this camp. So high stress is low energy.
Dan Chapman:We have a formula called true energy that I use for people that are in that kind of stress camp.
Dan Chapman:The next one is that individual whose stress tends to cause more emotion, so it might be the anxious, the worry, the fear, the ADHD, the focus issues, so that may be somebody who carries the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Dan Chapman:And for that individual we have a formula called at ease that we use. And then the last camp is that individual whose stress really kind of pushes them down, so they feel low, melancholy, they may not even honestly want to get out of bed, go out of the house, get off the couch, almost to feel like I just don't even care, I don't want to try again today. And for that individual we need to provide some emotional strength and support and we use a formula called Enjoy for them. And all three of these formulas are adaptogen-based formulas. So it kind of goes back to we have adaptogens that are expert at physical and mental energy we use those in true energy. We have adaptogens that are great on that emotional stress we use those in at ease, and other adaptogens that are great at building emotional strength and lifting the spirit, and we use those adaptogens in joy.
Jim Wilk:Well, I know these days I see a lot of people. These days I see everything. These days have people looking for energy and I've always been a big believer in things like ginseng and some rhodiola, that type of Siberian ginseng, and some cordyceps, and I see your True Energy formula has a lot of those in there. Those are all excellent adaptogens. I know you guys do things for a specific reason and the formulations you do. They kind of complement each other, correct?
Dan Chapman:Yeah, absolutely so. You know, you've talked to, you know, Stacey Littlefield, our master herbalist here at Redd Remedies, and that's one of the things that really makes us unique as an herbal supplement company is the fact that we have a master herbalist, you know, on staff that works with us every day, day in and day out, and Stacey leads our formulation process. She also is the one that will look for the specific herbs that we want and approve the ingredients that are in our formulas. And you might think that most herbal companies have an herbal expert on stuff and, oddly enough, it's remarkably rare, and so I do consider these like they are expertly crafted formulas, kind of like going and having a meal at a five star restaurant where you know that chef is well educated and knows exactly the right ingredients and spices and combinations and the amounts to put in. You know that that meal that you're having are herbal formulas of the same way.
Dan Chapman:So for energy, yes, it's rhodiola, and we use two different types of rhodiola in true energy the rosea and the crinolata. We combine that with Asian, also known as panix, ginseng and cordyceps, and those adaptogens do an amazing job of helping physical and mental energy, strength, stamina, focus, clarity and then some other ingredients that kind of nourish the stamina, focus, clarity, and then some other ingredients that kind of nourish the adrenals, thyroid and liver, and so it's adaptogen-based. But we know that if we want to provide positive energy for people, we also need to nourish and support your adrenals, your thyroid and your liver. Those are essential for well, just for energy production within the body, and so that's how that formula is put together.
Jim Wilk:Well, and again, I think most people get their energy from caffeine correct, so it's so cool to have something that you can take on a daily basis that doesn't have any kind of stimulants in there, so to speak Absolutely. I think we have to really stress that to people. Pardon the word stress. We have to stress that to people to see that this is not like an instantaneous type of a product Though if you're really lacking, it might be something you can feel. But when taken on a daily basis, adaptogens adapt to what your needs are and if it's energy, it might behoove you to take this for a little while to really get the benefits out of it.
Dan Chapman:That's exactly right, you know. The only thing I would correct is that I know people say, well, I get my energy from caffeine, and I would just simply correct and say, no, you get your stimulation from caffeine. It actually robs your body of energy, forcing you to need more caffeine, and that is definitely the opposite approach that we have with true energy. There's no stimulants in here and what's amazing is that a lot of people will sometimes think, okay, well, if there's no stimulant, like, am I going to feel it today or is this going to take a month to actually work? Right. But most people using true energy, because they're so depleted because of all the stimulants that they've been using, they will actually feel that product work today or tomorrow. But the feeling is different, right, the feeling is not anxious, jittery, like you get from stimulation.
Dan Chapman:What you feel is high level, stable energy, physically and mentally. So you know, I say sometimes it's just like that, one day that all of us remember at some point in our life where we actually woke up in the morning 10 minutes before the alarm went off and we hopped out of bed and we're like man, I feel pretty good today. I must have slept really well and we go through the day and it's a good day, and it's three or four in the afternoon and I'm still thinking and making decisions and getting stuff done and you know, nighttime comes and because I wasn't on any stimulants, I can just go to bed when it's appropriate to go to bed at night. That's what you ought to feel and that's kind of what true energy is after. Is that high level, stable energy from morning till night?
Jim Wilk:That sounds good to me, guy. That's excellent. And you also talked about the Enjoy and folks, that's I-N-J-O-Y Enjoy. It's an award-winning formula too. And what's the main ingredient in the Enjoy? That helps with physical and emotional kinds of things going on in the body.
Dan Chapman:Yeah. So the adaptogen herbs that we use in Enjoy is schizandra, which is your adaptogen for emotional stressors, and then we marry that with holy basil, which is an adaptogen for emotional strength. It lifts the spirit kind of, creates that emotional resilience in the body. And then the other ingredients that we put around those two adaptogens in ENJOY are working to create balance with the neurotransmitters. So we're using some B vitamins here, we're using vitamin D, we're using 5-HTP and L-tyrosine. That whole combination are the building blocks necessary to start that chain of reactions, necessary so we can produce healthy and balanced amounts of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine. So we know for that individual we need to help balance and feed the brain right, because as your brain goes, so goes your emotions, and so Enjoy has the wonderful adaptogens along with those ingredients to bring balance to brain function and kind of bring that happy back into the brain.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, and people tend to maybe in your experience, too overeat at times when they're under emotional stress, correct? I was wondering if this could help that along as well there.
Dan Chapman:Actually, that's a great point. One of the things that so often we don't really fully understand is you know, why is it that under stress I just want a snack and I do tend to overeat. And that's one of the things that happens under chronic stress is your body actually stops producing the hormones that make you feel full or satiated. And so, you know, you just keep eating because you don't have that signal that says I'm full. And the other thing that happens under stress is your body says, hey, I'm going to hang on to all of the energy that's in your fat cells right now because I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or next week, and I want to make sure that I save that energy so you can survive.
Dan Chapman:And so your body tells your brain go eat food right now because we still need energy, but I don't want to let you use what you already have inside. I want you to go eat more. And so we have that feeling of stress to go eat, and when we do, we don't know when to stop, and because we're again modulating that stress response in that term. What I mean by that is it's essentially protecting you from that negative impact of stress. So now your body says oh hey, I realize there's some stress, but it's going to be okay. I'm going to produce the hormones that tells you not to overeat and I'm actually going to let you use that stored energy in your fat cells today so you can eat later. You don't need to eat right now. You just had a snack an hour ago, you don't need another one.
Jim Wilk:Gee goodness. Yeah, I think that's a big problem out there. I'm glad that there's companies like you that are addressing that. That's a different approach than most people think of when they're thinking of I got to lose some weight or I overeat too much. It really can make a big difference in someone's life, so I'm glad you do that. Also, there's another product called At Ease that you have and there's like a morning and nighttime formula. So explain those to me.
Dan Chapman:Yeah. So At Ease is the stress formula for those that are feeling again kind of that angst, that worry, fear, focus, concentration issues or again fear, focus, concentration issues or again kind of the weight of the world. So the adaptogen that we use primarily in that ease is Shazandra. It's the same one I mentioned for Enjoy. It's your adaptogen for emotional stress. And then we partner that adaptogen with another herb called Bacopa. Bacopa is actually not classified as an adaptogen, although it's very adaptogen-like.
Dan Chapman:And the reason that we use Bacopa in our AddEase formula is it does two primary things. One it's excellent for focus, concentration, just the ability to think and make decisions and remember concentration, just the ability to think and make decisions and remember. But it also is really wonderful to help the kind of calm, the physical, that goes along with angst. So your blood pressure might be up a little bit, your heart might be racing, your muscles might feel like they're tight and tense and tied in knots kind of. You know that feeling that you get when somebody's going to have to give a speech for the first time ever in front of people and we're really, really nervous. It just kind of quiet, the physical that goes along with that emotion.
Dan Chapman:And what I love about the copa is it won't put you to sleep. It's a wonderful herb to use during the day. It just kind of quiets appropriately that feeling that you have, and so that's the kind of the herbal foundation of at ease and so that's the kind of the herbal foundation of just need to quiet it. And what we find is when I quiet the brain I actually have a significantly better ability to be focused and to concentrate, whereas the enjoy the brain is low and I need to bring it up to balance. Add ease is taking that brain that's way up high and bringing it down to balance. So different ingredients to bring a brain down than we use to bring a brain up, but we want that brain in the same spot right.
Dan Chapman:Right, exactly we want the brain to be focused, concentrate, to be able to experience happiness and joy and not feel like, oh my goodness, what's happening in my world at the moment? Well, I so add ease does and not feel like oh my goodness, what's happening in my world at the moment. And so Addies does that very, very nicely.
Jim Wilk:I noticed the Addies also has the GABA in there, which also is great for stress, but it also helps you focus at the same time. I know a lot of children that actually use GABA because some of the drugs that are out there they go to the same receptor sites in the brain that the GABA nutrient does, so that's excellent that you put that along.
Dan Chapman:That's exactly right. Yeah, I'll tell you, at ease, as far as a formula that younger folks will use of the three, at ease is the formula that I have lots of teenagers and 20-somethings on, just because of the way that it supports the angst feeling and their brain's ability to focus and concentrate and study and do the things that they need to do today. So, yeah, at Ease is definitely that product. I also consider that the caregiver formula, so that individual who's taking care of others you know, you can think about a lot of mothers in this case, right, or any caregiver for that matter at ease is going to just kind of quiet that weight of the world that they feel on their shoulders so they can accomplish the things they need to get done today.
Jim Wilk:Right, exactly, and I noticed that there's some theanine and again the 5-HTP in there. These are all help with calming down all the messengers in the brain and just getting to that point, and you also use that in your PM formula. But I think people have to understand right that they're not sedative. So if you take it during the day it doesn't mean you're going to fall asleep. But if stress is keeping you up at night then it's a good idea to take the at ease PM at nighttime, right?
Dan Chapman:That's exactly right. You idea to take the Addies PM at nighttime right, that's exactly right. You know Addies during the day we don't. Just because you're anxious doesn't mean you need a sedative. That's actually not what you need. So there's no sedatives at all in Addies.
Dan Chapman:But then we also realized that really for any one of these three stress types, but predominantly the angst, so the Addies individual, we have a formula called Addies PM and it's a sleep product and it partners very nicely with Addies Daytime, but it also can partner really nicely with True Energy or Enjoy if you're in one of those other stress camps, and it is a formula that's designed to quiet that racing brain, right.
Dan Chapman:So we need to quiet that brain. We don't want our brain to wake up at 11 o'clock at night when it's time to fall asleep. And then the herbs that I use in that formula are California poppy hop and lemon balm and I'll tell you, those three herbs together do an amazing job of quieting that brain and the body, helping you get in that deep sleep and stay there through the night, and they won't cause any of the grogginess that you might get with the melatonin there is, by the way, no melatonin in at East PM. I'm not an advocate of using melatonin. It's a hormone, so what we do instead is we use 5-HTP, which is an amino acid that is the direct precursor to serotonin production, and once we have a healthy amount of serotonin, serotonin actually converts to melatonin, and so it's a healthy, safe way to help you regulate not just your melatonin levels, but serotonin as well, and so that's our ADD-E's PM formula.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, you also don't notice there's no valerian in there, which you see in a lot of sleep form. Is there a reason for that?
Dan Chapman:Great question. You know I love valerian, it's a fantastic herb but I do find that there's a fair number of individuals that, for whatever reason, seem to have a negative feeling from valerian. Nightmares are one of the probably the primary things that I've heard and I haven't personal experience, but many people I know have and so we left valerian out simply so we won't have that issue potentially for anybody. And I'll tell you in this formula the California poppy hops and lemon balm. It does everything that we need. This one also has the GABA, some magnesium, l-theanine, other ingredients that you've mentioned here a few moments ago, just to quiet that brain and that body.
Jim Wilk:How great is theanine? I mean it's been around so long, only heard good things with it. Great product naturally found in green tea. I mean I don't know how true this is, but that's the theory that people can drink a lot of green tea around the world and things. Because of the theanine content it all kind of offsets the caffeine. In fact, when I have a cup of coffee, I usually take a theanine along with it.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, and that's exactly right. L-theanine is an amino acid that's pretty prominent in green tea, so that's the sourcing for it, and it does a wonderful job of relaxing the brain, which is amazing. So it can quiet that anxious brain and at the same time, it's helping my brain function better, and so I refer to it as alert relaxation, and at nighttime, when my brain is relaxed, it will allow you to fall asleep. So when my brain is balanced and my body is not full of angst, you will fall asleep, and that's what this formula is designed to do.
Dan Chapman:It's kind of our whole philosophy at Redd Remedies is I want to help your body do what it was created to do. I don't want to do for your body something your body isn't capable of, ready to do in the first place, which is why I don't use sedatives, it's why we don't use melatonin, it's why I don't use stimulants, even though you can get all of those things from seemingly natural sources. I think a much better approach is to nourish your body, support the systems involved in what we're targeting and work to restore balance, because now your body is just simply doing what it was designed to do.
Jim Wilk:Gotcha Amazing folks. Remember. You can go to hollyhillvitamins. com, our sponsor, and we're going to give 15% off any item that we're talking about today. Just mention the word nutz and on the call or when you order online and you get that 15% off. You can also go to reddremedies. com and find out a little bit more in-depth on all these products and remember that's R-E-D-D. There you go, Dan. This is the biggest question of all I know, red. I never knew the definition of until your company I was introduced to many years ago. How did you come up with that word? Because it's not used in our language too much these days.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, that's actually. I appreciate the question. It's a great story. Redd does mean to put an order or to tidy up. It's a word we don't really obviously use in common language today, but you would use it in a sentence like hey, go right up your room or go right up the kitchen, meaning go clean it up, go tidy it up, go put it back in order. And that's our name, because that's also our mission is, if you think about what the natural food industry does, what a health food store does is they help people put their lives in order as it relates to health, and so we kind of made that our name of the company. It's Redd Remedies, and so we're designing perfectly crafted formulas to help put your body back in order. And that kind of gets back to my mom's story and it's not just my mom, but it literally is the thousands and thousands of people that I've talked to over the years.
Dan Chapman:I find that most people will they'll resonate with this. Truth is that I just don't feel as good as I want to. It's very difficult to know what to do and it's very difficult to fully achieve health, and we know that part of the reason we feel that way is because we're experiencing stress. It amplifies. We have toxins in this world that we live in. The food that we eat today is lacking nutrients, and all of that is causing a problem in our bodies, which is the reason that we need these well-crafted herbal formulas to help me feel better. And so that was my mom's story. It's been the story of what we've been doing at my family's health food store since the 60s and at Redd Remedies for 19 years now.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, and I appreciate you being in the field, out there, so to speak, in the retail outlets, and seeing what's kind of out, what's missing in a lot of the ingredients that are on the shelves and coming up with formulas that just it's a it's a many prong approach to to health, and I love the idea that that you seek out things like you're testing for pesticides, for glyphosates and all these GMP-fully areas in the things. Everything you do seems to have a purpose behind it, that purity thing that I think you talk about on your website.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, thank you very much. I'm really proud, honestly, of our history and the work that the team here has done at Redd Remedies, and I tell you what it energizes me every day to be able to get up and help another person feel better.
Jim Wilk:Dude. You do a great job, Dan. I appreciate it. Let's do this again real soon. Okay, we got folks. They have a full, extensive line of things their sinus formula I'm very familiar with their bone formula, their eggshell membrane bone formulas and they have things for your nerve health. So just check out the line there at reddremedies. com or go to hollyhillvitamins. com and get your 15% off. Dan, thank you so much for being on today. It was a pleasure, as always, and keep up the great work.
Dan Chapman:Yeah, thanks so much, Jim. It's always great to talk to you. Have a great day.
Jim Wilk:Please subscribe to the channel so you can get our latest episodes, and if you want to contact me with any questions or comments, try jimwilkcnc at gmailcom. Thanks again, thank you.