Just the other day we got a review from a person that hadn’t even tried the herb.
Product of China. Enough said.
Don’t lie to yourself. If it comes from China, dtau away from it. You can read all the horror stories about stuff coming from China all over the internet.
This is an example of a belief that can stand in your way. (and yes “dtau” was what he wrote.)
And it’s not the first time we’ve heard it. In fact, the title of this post comes from a simple one line email we received previously from another person.
Obviously there is some truth to this statement. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be believed by many people, even if they have no experience, like this guy with his blanket statement about the herb without having tried it. What you’ll find in this article will show you the more discerning truth. An earlier version of this article got this response…
“I was one that scoffed at Made in China. As a matter of fact, I bought some Horny Goat Weed from amazon and when I saw the “Product of China” label, I threw it out. I was thinking take the monetary loss rather than ingest poison. So after reading this, I will trust you guys to sell me quality products.”
Education can go a long ways. It is true that many things from China do suck. But that doesn’t mean they all do. It’s not like the ENTIRE country is out to get us with shoddy goods. (Also a bit hypocritical as you’re probably reading this on a device that was built in China.)
And to think it’s ONLY China is also off base. You can find tons of crap from within the USA too, and every other country.
There are people willing to cut corners everywhere.
AND at the same time there are lots of high quality, reputable companies both here and abroad. The trick is finding the difference.
Some studies have shown that certain herbal and other supplements found on store shelves are not what they claim to be.
The New York Times reported in 2013, “Using a test called DNA barcoding, a kind of genetic fingerprinting that has also been used to help uncover labeling fraud in the commercial seafood industry, Canadian researchers tested 44 bottles of popular supplements sold by 12 companies. They found that many were not what they claimed to be, and that pills labeled as popular herbs were often diluted — or replaced entirely — by cheap fillers like soybean, wheat and rice.”
There was some controversy about that piece as DNA barcoding isn’t actually the best test for materials that have been processed. Liquid chromatography is going to be a better option.
But that’s just one example of issues. Counterfeit products from Amazon seems to be an increasing issue.
Here is what we do differently to ensure this isn’t a problem, no matter where the herbs come from originally. Everything we have here at Lost Empire Herbs goes through an Identity Test at an independent US lab. Not only is this expensive but in certain cases it can be time-consuming as well.
This test shows that the herb is what they say it is, and that it isn’t filled with a bunch of other crap.
In our early days, the tests did not always come back positive.
For its benefits, we wanted to have Nettle Root quite a bit earlier. So we bought some from one supplier. It came back from testing as not being what they said it was.
Since we don’t like filler we didn’t release it. In fact, we just threw away the entire sample.
The nettle root we have now has been tested as 100% nettle root extract. Nothing else.
Our current supply of Nettle Root Extract Powder is exactly what they say it is, despite it coming from China. (This is different from our USA source Nettle Root Spagyric Tincture.)
Once again, it’s not just Chinese herbs. We really want to bring Tongkat Ali out earlier which comes from Malaysia or Indonesia. Paying for the testing we got a similar negative result. So we kept searching and found out current legit supplier.
Beyond identify, we look at heavy metals and microbes. Heavy metal contamination is one of the big concerns of China, but also other places like India. Lost Empire Herbs has stricter heavy metals standards than are required by government agencies.
You can read all about our standards and see how our herbs get rated here.
These tests aren’t cheap. And there are more tests we want to do, for every herb we have. Being a small company, we don’t have unlimited funds. But we have an ever growing budget devoted to these and even more tests to ensure we have the highest quality herbs possible.
So even if it comes from China, we do our part to verify its good stuff. While there is plenty of crap that comes out of China, we wouldn’t be selling it if is not good.
That’s our quality guarantee.
And let me switch gears for a moment. If you want to avoid China completely for other reasons (like the totalitarian technocratic CCP for instance) we get you.
We sell many American-Made herbs as well, with a growing focus on this too. See this article for a total breakdown on where everything we have available comes from.
The thing is China is the only place to get many of the herbs made famous in Chinese medicine. So for that reason we’ll continue to get supply there, at least until economic sanctions, WW3 or other events prevent us from doing so.
If you have any remaining questions on these topics, please ask in the comments below.
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David A Rosales says
I think when I mentioned to people where I get my herbs from… I tell them 3 things about LEH:
1. They are family owned and operated
2. They have been to nearly every country that they get their herbs from… they are intimately involved in the sourcing of their products and stand fully behind them
3. They test their products for purity including heavy metals
Once I kinda give them the run down like that… and then share my experience… they are convinced to give you guys a try. No not everyone likes herbs… I get that… and also some do and my hope is to inform and educate people about the great products that help support peoples health
Logan Christopher says
Thanks so much, but I’ve got to correct you. #2 is not quite accurate in the traveling to all the countries.
Brenda says
I’m pregnant with twins. How much pine pollen can I safely take? I checked web MD and it said not to take pine pollen when pregnant.
admin says
It is probably best to avoid pine pollen when pregnant as it is untested (at least in the West) for that use.
Ed Bernacki says
I’m hearing about broken cell Pine pollen and how it is more digestible. Is yours broken cell? Thanks.
I bought some of your pine pollen. Should have a 50 gram bag gone in 5 days. Over-doing it? It tastes yummy, especially let it liquify under the tongue. Or use it in lower lip region in the place of Skoal or Copenhagen, more healthy too>
admin says
Yes it is cell-wall broken. Up to 10 grams a day is what we recommend with the Megadose protocol so should be good, though many people get great benefits using less.
MaxMan says
I was one that scoffed at Made in China. As a matter of fact, I bought some Horny Goat Weed from amazon and when I saw the “Product of China” label, I threw it out. I was thinking take the monetary loss rather than ingest poison. So after reading this, I will trust you guys to sell me quality products.
Logan Christopher says
Glad to hear it. We only want the best for ourselves and for our customers :)