Ben Greenfield [00:00:00]: My name is Ben Greenfield, and on.

Ben Greenfield [00:00:02]: This episode of the Boundless Life podcast.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:00:04]: Our Ultrasonic extracted tincture of lion's mane is one of the most potent lion's mane formulations on the market. When I take the lion's mane tincture, hold it under the tongue for 30 to 60 seconds, all of a sudden, within about a minute, I feel my brain come on. It's almost like both of the hemispheres start communicating with one another more effectively and it just switches brain on. It doesn't carry these stimulating caffeine like, euphoric, uplifting energy qualities, but it helps to turn on the mind. For many years, I've taken formulas or individual plant tinctures where I don't quite feel the medicine or the effects from it. With our Ultrasonic extracted tinctures, I have been able to experience plants for the first time with the medicine that we're extracting.

Ben Greenfield [00:01:03]: Welcome to the Boundless Life with me, your host, Ben Greenfield. I'm a personal trainer, exercise physiologist, and nutritionist. And I'm passionate about helping you discover unparalleled levels of health, fitness, longevity, and beyond.

Ben Greenfield [00:01:25]: My office smells like white grapefruit. I've just been using your different oils, so that happens to be what's sprinkled in my office today. So I guess we're recording. We can just start from me talking about white grapefruit in my office. What's up, Nick?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:01:40]: Everything, Ben? Yeah, life is good. I have a lot to be grateful for. Or should I say grapefruit for grateful.

Ben Greenfield [00:01:47]: Oh, that's what you did there. Oh, boy. We're off to a fun start. Those of you who don't know Nick, Nick is like the guy I've learned more about essential oils from than anybody else. He is literally the wizard of essential oils. The name of his company is Essential Oil Wizardry. He has been on the podcast. I'm kind of second guessing now.

Ben Greenfield [00:02:06]: Nick, have you been on twice, I think?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:02:08]: Yep. This would be my third round.

Ben Greenfield [00:02:10]: Yeah, it was super fun. And I think the first or second time we did it up at my house in Spokane. We're doing it virtually now. There's a lot fewer smells when we do it virtually. Although, as we were just saying, my office always smells like your essential oils anyways. My office, my sauna, my bedroom. It's like, I'll even wear your stuff as my cologne sometimes when I run out of my real cologne. So you're responsible for how I smell and how my house smells half the time.

Ben Greenfield [00:02:42]: And obviously we've done other episodes and I'll link to those of people go to BenGreenfieldLife.com/ Wizardry Oils BenGreenfieldLife.com/ wizardryoils and I'll put links in there to all of Nick's crazy stuff. But we were just talking as I attempted my bastardized version of Thai to greet you, Nick, that you were just over in Thailand doing reSearch or something for your oils?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:03:08]: Yeah. So I was fortunate enough to take a six week trip for my 40th birthday in January with Ellen. And the intention of this trip was really our last international national hurrah as Ellen and I are about to step into this journey for pregnancy. And so we really wanted to celebrate this precious time together and go have a lot of fun in a foreign country. And so while I was in Thailand, I reached out to numerous essential oil companies in the Thai region and I received several responses and, and one of them just really spoke to my heart. It's a Thai family that owns a bunch of property and collaborates with other farmers in the region. And when I looked at some of their offerings, I was so inspired to go and visit. They have some of the most precious Blue Lotus and other types of floral extracts and they're doing really novel resin extracts and so they're producing really potent medicinal extracts that we'll talk more about.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:04:22]: And so my journey to Thailand was really one of exploration and adventure and connecting deeper with my wife. And it also blossomed into this beautiful opportunity to connect with a Thai family that are producing some of the world's finest botanical extracts.

Ben Greenfield [00:04:40]: Okay. I actually want to learn a little bit more particularly about the Blue Lotus one because I've come across that in Thailand before. But before that I got to hit rewind for a second, this whole pregnancy thing. So is she pregnant or is this the path you guys are about to start attempting?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:04:56]: Yeah, we're about to get started. So next month is when we're going to start planting seeds for a beautiful child.

Ben Greenfield [00:05:05]: Yeah, yeah, planting seeds, that's a, that's a fun project. So in terms of what you know, because I know you've got your own form of internal biochemistry, are there like strategies from the essential oil world that might relate to fertility in some way.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:05:24]: With regards to the essential oils? You know, I'm going to be learning a lot more about pregnancy and the use of essential oils. It's something that I've chosen to stay, stay away from for the most part. What we have been doing is lots of our Ultrasonic extraction tinctures where we're producing really potent tincture formulations. I've been stacking as a man, our Ultrasonic extracted Kakanga roots and our Jing-Chi formula. And our Jing-Chi is filled with super nutrient rich, very potent yang tonic herbs. It has Ashwagandha, Kakanga root, Tongkat Ali, Epimedium Bajakah. And it's really potent for stimulating testosterone and enhancing the amount of energy one feels. So I've been dosing with that and eating a lot of Sea Moss and just getting the soldiers ready.

Ben Greenfield [00:06:26]: Sea Moss. Really? Does Sea Moss have an effect on fertility? I just asked because I got a bunch of packets of the akasha Sea Moss in my refrigerator. I've been using it as salad dressing, actually, but it impacts fertility.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:06:39]: I enjoy megadosing with Sea Moss. It is so mineral rich that it will help your body build fluids extremely well.

Ben Greenfield [00:06:49]: Okay, cool. All right, so if you're crying or producing sema, either one, it could help. All right, Any fluids, folks? There you go. Sea Moss. So back to Thailand. Blue Lotus is one again. For some reason, I associate that with Thailand because I've seen it in paintings there. I've seen it around in temples, hotels.

Ben Greenfield [00:07:11]: What's the deal with Blue Lotus?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:07:13]: Blue Lotus has been this revered plant for many centuries. It goes back to ancient Egypt. And you can see ancient hieroglyphs on the walls with women who have their nose stuck in a flower. And that is said to symbolize the. The Blue Lotus flower. Blue Lotus carries this really intriguing aroma, and it helps to lift a person's intuition. More esoteric belief says that it opens up the crown, it helps with intuition. It also has this really sensual, beautiful, honeysuckle rich aroma, and it's very tantalizing.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:08:00]: The pharmacology of Blue Lotus has several different constituents which really hit a lot of different receptor sites in the brain. And so when a person ingests Blue Lotus, either by eating it or vaporizing the pure oil, it's. It really carries this sensual, uplifting, really honed intuition that I would describe it as. It lifts your vibration and it really clarifies your vision.

Ben Greenfield [00:08:34]: What's your favorite way to use it? And I asked because I think you mentioned to me that it's a little bit of an aphrodisiac. We'll get into the stack you sent me for that later on. But perfect, isn't it? Isn't it related to that like. Like the aphrodisiac effect?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:08:49]: It can be for many people because it really helps to reduce the levels of stress, clarifies your mind, and it brings you into the present moment and from that place of creativity and inspiration. If you are in the bedroom connecting with the woman you love, it is a great ally.

Ben Greenfield [00:09:08]: And you mentioned eating it. I know earlier you also used the word resin. Is that what you'd eat? Is the actual like. Well, explain to me what a resin is, because I think that's the oral form. Right.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:09:19]: We have several different formats of this precious Blue Lotus. We've been sourcing Blue Lotus Absolute and CO2 extracts, which are highly aromatic, for about a decade. And these Absolutes have a really full spectrum aromatic profile and flavor profile. And my favorite ways of working with those personally are to put them into an essential oil vaporizer and heat it up and breathe it in straight to the lungs. It is a real powerful way and the most amazing flavor profile that one can experience. And so the Blue Lotus Absolute has been an offering from ours for about a decade now. These Blue Lotus resin that we just sourced from Thailand is indeed more orally active. So the resins are produced by taking the organically grown plant material and putting it into water and heating up the pot until it's cooked down.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:10:29]: You filter out the plant material and what happens is it's a great concentrate. And so the Thai family is producing about 100 to 1 for these extracts. And let me explain what that means then. This means approximately 100 grams of plant material are in a single gram of this precious resin.

Ben Greenfield [00:10:54]: Oh, wow. So this is kind of like where you hear about, for example, Oil of Oregano. You can obviously spice in your kitchen with Oil of Oregano. But then if you were to concentrate the actual leaf, you can get to the point where it's like caustic to the skin. I mean it can be so concentrated. So, so you're taking the Blue Lotus and taking what you'd have to consume like hundreds of pounds of flowers to get the effect of. And you're getting it into a tiny little like ball that would fit on the end of a spoon.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:11:23]: Exactly, yeah. So most people will start off with about a grain of rice of these various types of resins. And I'm usually ingesting about a pea sized amount. And I'll kind of play with my dosing from there. And um, usually if I'm staying up later or being out social, I might redose every one to two hours. But I have several of these resins from Thailand that are Absolutely amazing for different purposes.

Ben Greenfield [00:11:55]: Are you still. Because we, we geeked out on what makes your oils kind of unique in a couple of episodes. But and people can, of course, listen to those. But I actually want to talk a little bit about that. Do you still charge up? I think you said you had, like, this giant crystal called, like, an Ark Crystal or something like that, and all of your products, you actually somehow, like, charge them with frequency. So it's not just the oil. You've got a way of, like, blasting or amplifying their energy before you ship them out to people.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:12:25]: Totally, yeah. So the. The Ark Crystal, which was invented by Nassim Harameen, is still a part of our proprietary plan process of charging our essential oils. And so what makes our brand in our offerings so unique and different is, to my knowledge, we're the only essential oil company and botanical extract company that works on sourcing the finest quality botanical extracts from all over the world, utilizing those as the starting material, and then charging and tuning them with different tools, techniques, and frequencies. And so part of our processes for stimulating our different essential oil products, indeed, we are using the Ark Crystal to enhance the energy. And each of these different techniques that I'm talking about, if you are at our lab, we can do a before and after. And it's unbelievable to people who are just experiencing it for the first time, because there's a notable difference from before and after for each. Each of these tools.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:13:35]: And so the Ark Crystal is one of the strategies we also utilize. Organite. Organite is a composite resin of inorganic and organic minerals, and it's compressed into a resin. And when the resin compresses on these crystals, it carries a piezoelectric charge, which translates to electrical energy. And the electrical energy is conducted through the metal shavings of copper and other types of metallics that are in there. And so it really acts as an activator. And what we do is we combine different frequencies that are imprinted on these holograms, and we amplify the signal using the organite directly into the oil and the various types of products, the crystals.

Ben Greenfield [00:14:27]: I don't know if you still have these, but I think you gifted this to me the last time you were at my house in Spokane. A little like. It's like a tray. I still have it. I keep it right by my oils. I have this special box that I keep the oils in, and I keep that tray in there. It's like this white tray that I think you said has some of these piezoelectric crystals in it. So I can kind of like, keep my oils charged while they're at my house.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:14:51]: Okay. Was it. I'm wondering if I gifted you one of the Biogeometry clearing trays.

Ben Greenfield [00:14:58]: I think that's exactly what it was. Yes. I think it's white.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:15:02]: Okay.

Ben Greenfield [00:15:03]: And then it's got, like, these little indents in it.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:15:05]: Yeah, there's. I. I've had the gold ones and the clear ones over the years, and the clear one is transparent, but it has white markings.

Ben Greenfield [00:15:15]: Yeah, that one. Yep.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:15:16]: Yep.

Ben Greenfield [00:15:16]: Okay.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:15:16]: Perfect.

Ben Greenfield [00:15:17]: Okay, so. So if somebody, let's say, wanted to charge up, let's say they wanted to use your technology, but didn't just want to use it on oils, could I, like, I'm just some stupid cover, like a banana on top of there and it would charge up the banana?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:15:32]: Totally. Yeah. The. You know, the Biogeometry technology is by no means mine. It's one of the things that we utilize in enhancing the quality of our oils. And that tray is used for clearing energy and enhancing the BG3 energy, to my knowledge. And when you put any type of food, drink, medication oils onto the Biogeometry clearing tray, it helps to clear and amplify the energy.

Ben Greenfield [00:16:05]: I have to say I was skeptical about Biogeometry, and I'd heard about it. And then probably like six years ago, I visited Paul Chek's home, and I walked into his office, and it felt like I was walking onto a different planet. Almost like gravity had changed or there was this different energy in the room. And he, of course, has, I think, his whole house, like his whole acreage, has all sorts of Biogeometry pendants and configurations and art and sculptures and all sorts of things that enhance Biogeometry. So I visited with him for, like, two hours in his office. I learned a whole bunch about Biogeometry. I've done a couple of podcasts on it now. I'll link to them in the show notes.

Ben Greenfield [00:16:46]: And I actually have a lot of these little pyramidal shapes and stickers and trays and things like that in my own office now. And some people raise an eyebrow at this stuff, but it's this hard to describe feeling of almost like peace combined with this calm energy when you're in a room or in a home or a structure that has some of this biogeometer. Bio. If I can talk biogeometrical configurations kind of scattered around it.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:17:20]: Biogeometry is a very powerful tool to apply into one's personal life. I've received a lot of feedback about our oils over the years. What makes them so unique? Biogeometry is definitely one of those tools that really adds to it. Interestingly enough, I've had students of Biogeometry that are rather high level Biogeometry reach out and share that our oils carry a BG3 energy and configuration, which means that whatever we're doing is working and they're bioharmonic.

Ben Greenfield [00:17:59]: When you said Ultrasonic, you mentioned Ultrasonic tinctures a little while ago. Is that the same as the, the frequencies from the Biogeometry? Do you call them Ultrasonic after they've been infused or is ultra Ultrasonic something else?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:18:14]: Yeah. So the Ultrasonic extraction process is one that was shown to me a little approximately a decade ago, I think it was 2017. And Douglas Stewart, rest his soul, he shared with me a process of taking plant material and utilizing Ultrasonic frequencies, using water as a solvent and extracting the different plant alkaloids and different essential oils into the high quality water. You essentially are producing a very concentrated tea. So what happens in this process is the Ultrasonic frequencies create these shear forces on a microscopic level and they get into the plant material, they break down the cell walls of the plant material on these spill out and extract the different essential oils and plant alkaloids. You then have this rich concentrated tea. We take this tea and we run it through a vacuum filtration process to remove as much of the plant waxes and plant material as we can. Then we put it through a low temperature vacuum distillation process utilizing a rotary evaporator.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:19:36]: And through this process, we take that rich plant herbal tea that has rich bioavailability and is super concentrated and we concentrate it down further until it's this Ultrasonic extract. We then reconstitute it with the hydrosol that we vacuum distill out using a very low temperature and we add some organic alcohol to stabilize it, producing a very potent and bioavailable tincture. This is what I'm talking about. And this is our process for Ultrasonic extracted tinctures.

Ben Greenfield [00:20:16]: So if somebody wanted to try a tincture, because I know you have quite a few that you sell on your website to see what it feels like when you try one of these tinctures. Let's say, let's say somebody just wants kind of a pick me up, like this is something maybe they want to do in the morning to get through a tough work morning for more focus, more energy, maybe they're a little bit sleep deprived, whatever. What would be a couple of your top Ultrasonic tinctures if somebody just wanted to try this for themselves?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:20:46]: Yeah. So a great option to start off with would be our Ultrasonic alliance main tincture. So I've received the feedback and this is my own experience with our tincture as well. And I think there's quite a number of reviews reporting this on our website that our Ultrasonic extracted tincture of lion's mane is one of the most potent lion's mane formulations on the market. So when I take the lion's mane tincture, hold it under the tongue for 30 to 60 seconds, all of a sudden, within about a minute, I feel my brain come on. It's almost like both of the hemispheres start communicating with one one another more effectively and it just switches your brain on. It doesn't carry these stimulating caffeine like, euphoric, uplifting energy qualities, but it helps to turn on the mind. And so that's a really great one to start off with.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:21:46]: What's special about this Ultrasonic extraction process and for me, having experimented with so many individual plants is for many years I've taken formulas or individual plant tinctures where I don't quite feel the medicine or the effects from it. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Sometimes after a week or two, I start noticing something and it was hard to really pinpoint what does this plant do? And with our Ultrasonic extracted tinctures, I have been able to experience plants for the first time with the medicine that we're extracting. And so it's a real joy to be able to experience. For instance, our Ultrasonic Skullcap tincture. Skullcap is oftentimes used in sleep or relaxation formulas. And when I extracted it, I noticed that it actually has more of a adaptogenic like quality. And so what I mean by that is when I take the.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:22:55]: The Skullcap, which I actually took some before this podcast, what I notice is it helps to relax the nervous system, but it also can stimulate the mind. It can help to hone the focus and really bring you into the present moment. So I'll actually. I love utilizing skullcapped before podcasts, before bedtime or when I'm going to get creative with a project because it really drops me into the present moment. And if I'm needing to rest or relax, I can also transition into sleep very easily from it.

Ben Greenfield [00:23:33]: That's what I like, by the way. Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Reishi kind of fits into this category for me. Any of those adaptogens, paradoxically, the same thing that kept you awake when you needed more focus earlier in the day, can help you chill and relax at the end of the day. You know, kind of tuning you up or down, depending on what your body needs, which is just. It's such a cool part about, you know, as. As my kids say when we're talking about nature, that's pretty neat. It's pretty neat.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:24:03]: That's awesome. I love that.

Ben Greenfield [00:24:05]: Yeah. The tincture you mentioned, you hold it in your mouth. Is that necessary? Like, do you lose the effects if you swallow it right away?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:24:12]: What I notice subjectively is an enhanced absorption and stronger level of effects when I hold it under the tongue for 30 seconds to a minute. Other people prefer, because of the alcohol, they may prefer to put it into a beverage like water or tea. And that also seems to work really well for it. So I would either hold it sublingually and. Or make a 8 ounce glass of water or tea, add in your desired tincture formulations and get at it.

Ben Greenfield [00:24:48]: Okay, got it. Now, another delivery mechanism. You mentioned how you would. You'd use a vaporizer for the Blue Lotus. I think some people have heard of a nebulizer. Is that the same thing?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:24:59]: So the, the essential oil vaporizer is a. I've been using them for over a decade and I'm waiting for the manufacturer to produce some more. And so unfortunately I can't source these, but these are a stainless steel type of apparatus that connects with a glass pipe at the end. And you can put the pure essential oil, CO2 extract or floral Absolute into the glass vial, heat it up and breathe it in directly into the lungs. So this is a manual process in regards to the heating process. The hotter you get it. So the goal, if you're going to use this type of process, you want to heat and volatile the aromatic molecules without burning the essential oils. The hotter you get it.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:25:55]: You know, the goal is not to see the essential oils start smoking. That's going to cause more damage than benefit. The goal is to heat up the oil gently enough that the flavor molecules and the different terpene molecules are going to volatilize and you can breathe them in directly into the lungs. This is a very powerful method. During our first interview, I believe we had spoken about this method and I shared my experience when I was ill with pneumonia during a winter season and I vaporized some Oil of Oregano, which I'm not suggesting anyone to do because it's extremely caustic and irritating in this way. But I was on the verge. I was really concerned for my life at this point and needed to see a doctor. And so I knew the power and the potency of the antimicrobial antifungal qualities of oregano.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:26:54]: And I was already having a difficult time breathing at this point. So when I saw my essential oil vaporizer sitting right next to a bottle of Oil of Oregano for me, I felt that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. So I would. I would probably suggest if I was vaporizing something to stimulate my immune system. Currently, with our wide array of different formulations, I would prefer to vaporize our immune system oil or our respire oil. And those would be a lot smoother, gentler, and very potent in terms of helping to open the lungs and clear some of the mucus and also stimulate the immune system.

Ben Greenfield [00:27:40]: I have a bottle of your Respire in my hyperbaric chamber, actually. I just like, every time I climb in, it smells great. The vaporizer thing, though. They're obviously vaporizers like the. The Buddha, I think Paul Chek vaporizes. There's actually a whole chapter in my book Boundless about all. With all his different recipes, different leaves and oils, et cetera, he uses a volcano. I mean, could you just, like, go to Amazon and get a vaporizer that, you know, people would most popularly use for weed and use essential oils and something like that?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:28:13]: I wouldn't want to give a blanket statement for that because there's so much crap that circulates in vaporizing tools. And I would. I would not want to be vaporizing propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin. I wouldn't want to vaporize any type of carrier oil, including. Including carrier oils that are found in lots of our blends.

Ben Greenfield [00:28:38]: Right. But, but, but just to clarify real quick, like, I have. I have the Buddha, and it's just a glass, like a glass pipette that you would draw the vape through with a very small metal grate inside the glass. And I suppose theoretically, if you had some kind of like a mesh that you could put the oil on, there's no. There's no other oils or propylene glycol or anything like that involved, such as you would find in a vape pen. You're just adjusting the temperature and drawing through the glass.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:29:09]: Yeah, that sounds accurate. I've worked with Paul and have shared many bags with him utilizing the volcano. And it's definitely a lot of fun to add different essential oils or some of our essential oil tinctures onto the plant material. And if you're using one of the tinctures, it's really important that before you place the bag on top to heat up the herbs and the essential oil, you're going to want to heat up the herbs before placing the bag on top of it because you want the alcohol to evaporate off and not go into the bag where you're going to be breathing it in because the alcohol can be damaging to the lungs. However, if you are utilizing, let's say our superimmune boost or our release tincture onto the plant material, you add the appropriate amount and allow the alcohol to evaporate off. You now have a essential oil infused herbal blend and the amount of flavor profiles and different effects that you can co create with the botanical kingdom is Absolutely amazing. And I'm really grateful Paul taught me about utilizing the volcano and combining it with herbs because it, it just opens up a whole other way that you can work with the different essential oils. I actually have a list of some of my favorite essential oils and tinctures that I enjoy vaporizing which I'd be happy to share with you and your listeners.

Ben Greenfield [00:30:55]: I'll totally put them in the show notes. I got to remember where the shownotes are. It's BenGreenfieldLife.com/ Wizardry Oils. Yeah, email them to me and I'll put them in the show notes. I've actually smoked a lot of bags with Paul. I don't have a volcano. I just never bit the bullet and got one. But there is, for people wondering, there is a page in my book Boundless.

Ben Greenfield [00:31:16]: I forget which chapter it's in, in which I have a lot of his recipes in there that he kind of taught me about the volcano. But I'm sure a lot of people are thinking, dude, you guys are starting to sound like a couple of psychonauts talking about smoking essential oils and yada yada. Most people want to just like maybe slip into their sauna or diffuse something in their office or maybe use a humidifier or something like that. But from what I understand, what I've learned from you, even that differs, like what kind of oil you're going to use in a diffuser versus a humidifier versus a, you know, a sauna. So how do you kind of navigate that? Like let's say I'm listening and maybe I do have a sauna and I've got a humidifier and a diffuser. Like how do I, how do I choose if I'm shopping around your website, what to get and what to add to what?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:32:07]: Well, let me share a little bit of education and kind of empower people with a mindset of what they're looking for in the types of benefits and maybe drawbacks of different apparatuses. So when you're talking about a diffuser. You're going to want to have a diffuser that has high quality materials, something like glass or non reactive parts that are going to be touching the actual essential oil. When you incorporate different diffusers utilizing water, you're going to weaken the, the aroma that is going to be aerated into the environment. If you are going to use a different type of maybe an Ultrasonic diffuser, those typically will use water and oftentimes have plastic parts. So if you have essential oils sitting with plastic parts for an extended period of time, that's going to damage the apparatus and maybe volatizing microplastics as well. And so when you have a diffuser that is incorporating heat into it, heat is going to change the essential oil. And so you may be receiving less of the therapeutic benefit that you would be expecting from the pure essential oil.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:33:37]: So all of these are different factors with regards to when you're choosing your, your diffuser, when you're selecting your diffuser. What I like using, we have a nebulizing diffuser, which is a patented diffuser which has a wooden base. It only, the oil only touches a glass. It's not diluted with water. Each of the oils can diffuse to about 800 square feet. So it's very potent and it's not going to be broken down by heat and it's not diluted by water. So these are the types of things to look at when you are sourcing a diffuser.

Ben Greenfield [00:34:22]: Do you sell that on your website, that diffuser?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:34:24]: Yeah, yeah, we do.

Ben Greenfield [00:34:26]: I didn't even know you sold diffusers.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:34:27]: Yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, we have a link to a partner we've been working with for about a decade on that. Cool.

Ben Greenfield [00:34:33]: All right.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:34:34]: Yeah. And so this is the mindset that I like to use. And so when you're incorporating oils in the sauna, if you are using a pure essential oil that is going to volatile completely, you might receive a little bit less of the benefit if you are pouring it onto the rocks and letting it smoke and burn.

Ben Greenfield [00:34:58]: Okay, so we're talking, by the way, not about the infrared sauna a lot of people use now. We're talking about sauna that's got like, yeah, like the cage with the rocks that you normally put water on. So and then this is. I'm glad you're covering this because I've been wondering about this. Whether or not if I put oil in the water that I'm pouring on the rocks, is it kind of like ruining the oil or even making it unhealthy If I breathe it in.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:35:21]: I'm imagining that it reduces the amount of therapeutic qualities and there might be some damage to the constituents which would be unknown in the body. And also you're going to receive therapeutic benefit from the oil that you're putting onto them. So I would, I would say you're, you're likely receiving less benefit by putting them directly on the rocks. You could put them into a glass that is very close to the rocks so that it's slowly volatilizing and receiving less of a burst of, of direct heat.

Ben Greenfield [00:35:59]: You mean just like a normal, say like a drinking glass?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:36:03]: Yeah, maybe like a 32 ounce jar filled with water and essential oil.

Ben Greenfield [00:36:08]: That makes really good sense. I, why didn't I think of that? Okay, so I could just take a mason glass jar. Let's say I want to breathe, I don't know, like your, I really like your respire or frankincense is another one I like. So I could just put some drops of that in the glass jar and, and set that next to the sauna heater.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:36:26]: Yeah, I would, I would suggest that that would likely create more benefits and less of a risk for more of the damage of the oil reacting with itself. However, I also perceive, you know, that would be more of the purist approach. I'm also perceiving that if you put a pure essential oil or CO2 extract directly onto the rocks, that you would gain a lot of benefit as well. So it's really. How much of a purist do you want to be?

Ben Greenfield [00:36:58]: But the rocks are really hot. You don't think that would damage the oil?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:37:01]: I think that it would damage the oil to some degree and you would also receive some benefit as well.

Ben Greenfield [00:37:08]: Okay, but when you're, you know, people talk about seed oils and how if you consume like a rancid or damaged seed oil that it could cause damage, you know, oxidation to your cells.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:37:19]: Yeah.

Ben Greenfield [00:37:19]: If you breathe in like a heat damaged essential oil, you don't think that could cause any damage to the lungs or something like that, do you?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:37:28]: I think that it would be better to use more of that purist method of putting it into the water. I think that the benefit would outweigh the risk. But let's say you're doing this practice every day or multiple times a day, you. And you don't do breath practices, or you aren't using regular detoxification protocols, then likely over the course of a period you're receiving some benefits, but you're also receiving a little bit of intensity that Your body has to process. So this is why I would like to suggest these different techniques to get the most out of your essential oils safely. Now, when you were making the comparison with seed oils and in a pure essential oil, you are not going to have any of these fatty acids and these fatty acids are going to combust when exposed to these high levels of heat. In these high levels of heat, these different volatile aromatic molecules may have enough energy that they react with each other and some of them will go into the environment unchanged. So it's really about taking care of yourself and mitigating risk while also getting the most out of your therapeutic essential oils.

Ben Greenfield [00:38:49]: You use an infrared sauna, don't you?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:38:51]: I do. And in my infrared sauna I will personally typically I'll rub my body and get my body sweating and I'll sit with it for about 20 minutes. Then I'll apply different essential oils onto my physical body. So I'm not applying it directly to a heat source, but they are typically exposed to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit for an extended period of time. And then I'll rub those into my body and then towards the end I will rub myself off with a different rag and kind of clean myself off and remove some of the toxins and the oil which hasn't absorbed in, into my body. That's kind of my personal strategy for using the oils in the infrared sauna.

Ben Greenfield [00:39:41]: I also sometimes am lazy and I will just like literally just baptize all the walls of the sauna with oil. And then I do that in the dry sauna and I even do that in the cold plunge. Like when I'm walking past the cold plunge sometimes I'll just like put a few drops in there. So the cold plunge always smells incredible if you like the smell of, I don't know, a, a spa. So, yeah, back to the Blue Lotus thing. And you were talking about this kind of aphrodisiac blend. You sent me some oils and I remember we were going back and forth. This was like the night I was going to take my wife on a date.

Ben Greenfield [00:40:22]: And you had a lineup of Tongkat Ali, I think Bajakah, if I'm saying that correctly, Kakanga root, Blue Lotus. And I kind of picked your brain. You gave me the information on dosages, et cetera. But for people, let's say somebody visits your website and they want like the ultimate date night stack, or maybe they're wanting to plant some seeds like you and Ellen do. Fill me in. What are you going to add to Your shopping cart and why.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:40:53]: Yeah. So our Jing-Chi formula is a real powerful blend of lots of different, different jing herbs. That's one of my favorite go to's. I'm. I'm really personally stacking our Jing-Chi, our Ultrasonic Epimedium and our Ultrasonic Kakanga root. Each of those are. They carry their own nuances. So the Kakanga root I sourced for my friend Ja Chris, who was born on the Virgin Islands, and he's the one who wild harvests these roots up in the hills, and it's a really special sacrament to their people.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:41:33]: And in fact, it's one of the prime ingredients found in their root teas that they drink on the island. And I remember Chris sharing with me about one of his baby mothers who was unable to get pregnant for a period of about nine months. And he told me what he did and really helped to resolve that story about being unable to get pregnant. And that was Kakanga roots, Moringa leaf and a bunch of Sea Moss. And so I've been going and enjoying a lot of the Kakanga roots, which is also found in the Jing-Chi formulation, Epimedium. I really feel a strong. It feels like the energy of testosterone, just masculine drive, physical strength, wanting to work out, potent sexuality. So I feel.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:42:36]: And when I take a lot of the Epimedium, I can even feel a layer of aggression.

Ben Greenfield [00:42:42]: Yeah. And by the way, that's funny you say aggression because I looked up, I was doing some research on Kakao root and multiple, multiple websites said that it's used in many indigenous tribes to help young men not be lazy.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:42:56]: Yes. Isn't that, isn't that fascinating? Yeah. The. What Ja Chris taught me was that they give it to the youth to help motivate them and keep them with direction, and they give it to the elders to keep them strong and healthy. And it's a powerful aphrodisiac. Definitely taking too much Kakanga roots can cause priaprism.

Ben Greenfield [00:43:21]: Yeah. Which is the erections that last for a very long time and can be very painful and annoying and in some cases send you to the hospital.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:43:30]: Yep, that, that would be. So utilizing these powerful Jing herbs in a responsible way is how I would always approach. Approach it. So, you know, one dropper, two droppers, maybe three droppers. You know, I. I've definitely two to three droppers and stacked a few of them. A strategy if a person is having a difficult time with a prolonged erection. Sometimes I'll focus on breathing and focusing my breath and concentrating on my breath.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:44:05]: And relaxing the nervous system sometimes. That's. That's a strategy that can aid during those scenarios.

Ben Greenfield [00:44:13]: So the. The spelling for this one that you said kind of combines a lot of this stuff. Did you say Jing-cChi?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:44:21]: Yes, Jing-Chi. J, I, N G, Chi. C, H, I. And that's a. That's a. That's one that is somewhat difficult for us to keep in stock.

Ben Greenfield [00:44:33]: And.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:44:34]: And there's a great reason why for it, I bet. Yeah.

Ben Greenfield [00:44:38]: All right, cool. All right. And then, by the way, it works as advertised, folks. And I keep that. I got little labels in the pantry, and there's one that says men's health, and that's where all those. So although my wife partakes, also, the kitchen stuff is interesting because a lot of people, of course, are familiar with diffusing essential oils or using them in a fragrance or using them, in some cases, in the vaporizer, like we talked about. But in cooking, they can be very powerful. But you have some cool blends.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:45:12]: Thank you.

Ben Greenfield [00:45:13]: You sent me those vanilla drops. I was putting those in my coffee. But talk to me about the kitchen part. And also as part of that, if you do need to be careful with the concentration, because I think these things are stronger than a lot of people realize.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:45:28]: Yeah. So the. The different formulations that we produce for the kitchen are very strong and beautiful flavoring agents. So I think we were discussing, I may have shared with you, Chai Perfect, our Golden Spice.

Ben Greenfield [00:45:47]: I used like, four drops of Chai Perfect in a glass of hot water, and it was, like, still at that level, super concentrated. I'm not much of a creamer guy, but I actually added, like, some coconut cream. Cream to the water is very strong.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:46:00]: Yeah, that makes sense to me. So the. Typically, what I suggest is a smart. A starting addition would be about one drop in 8 to 16 ounces of liquid for these various types of either pure essential oil blends or tincture formulations. For this reason, you can always add more and more flavor it to taste, but once you add too much, it can really throw off the formula. And I felt like you were going to really enjoy playing with these, as you're quite creative in the kitchen. Ben. And so it sounds like you experimented with about four drops.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:46:42]: How big would you say your glass was? Approximately?

Ben Greenfield [00:46:46]: That was. It was pretty big. It was about 24 ounces.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:46:49]: Okay. And then was it the.

Ben Greenfield [00:46:52]: No, I take that back. It was by 20. 20 ounce.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:46:56]: Okay. And then was it the pure essential oil or was it the tincture formulation with it?

Ben Greenfield [00:47:03]: It was the one that said Chai Perfect on it.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:47:05]: Okay. Because we have those as a pure essential oil and we also have them in a dropper bottle. And those are the tincture formulations. So the tincture formulations are a little bit weaker and I would expect somewhere between you.

Ben Greenfield [00:47:22]: I'll tell you just a second. It's over here. Get it then when the host leaves. But let's see. Get my special box here. It was the. This is great too, because then people get to see what your label looks like. And vigor.

Ben Greenfield [00:47:46]: I hope it's in. Here we go. It was this one shy, perfect, uplifting blend.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:47:52]: Yep.

Ben Greenfield [00:47:53]: That looks like the organic wildcrafted divine. I don't know which. Which one is that? I should put my headphones on because I can't hear you. Hold on.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:48:00]: That is the pure essential oil blend.

Ben Greenfield [00:48:03]: Okay, now I can hear you. That one.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:48:05]: Yeah, it's a pure essential oil blend.

Ben Greenfield [00:48:07]: Okay.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:48:08]: And so that's why it was going to be. Yep, exactly. So for that size, two drops would have probably been pretty perfect in terms of potency. And when you add cream, I find that it absorbs the flavor. Absorbs and becomes more well rounded. So I love your intuitive hit on maybe adding some coconut milk or coconut cream.

Ben Greenfield [00:48:33]: Yeah. That balance it out pretty well.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:48:35]: Yep. And if it was a tincture, probably two to four drops would have been a great place to play with for that amount. So the tinctures are less concentrated, but the flavor profile of the essential oil blends are so potent that that a little bit can go a long way.

Ben Greenfield [00:48:59]: Do you ever cook with it? Like, do you have any recipes that you've used, like the vanilla or the Golden Spice or anything in.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:49:04]: With regards to recipes, I am just such a wizard when I play. I don't write down unless it's in the essential oil lab. When it's. When it comes to cooking and preparing food or beverages, I'll just add utilizing about 8 to 16 ounces per drop of pure essential oil. That's kind of what I'll use to play with on the fly. If. If one wanted to add a bunch of spices that are like turmeric, cardamom, black pepper, combine that with some coconut cream and add some of our Golden Spice tincture. That is a really wonderful flavor profile.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:49:52]: So you could look up a golden milk formula, add some Sea Moss gel and some of our Golden Spice tincture, and you're going to have one of the most rich, potent, nutrient dense beverages and your body's going to feel super strong.

Ben Greenfield [00:50:10]: I've got a massage tonight and I know what I'm going to be drinking after my massage? Sweet. Almost Father's Day at the time we're recording this, although Father's Day will have passed after we recorded it. You sent me this one that I've actually been wearing as a fragrance. And I don't know if that's the right way, but I love the way it smells. It's called Father's Love. It just intrigued me when it shows up. It's a great name. But what is this one?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:50:33]: Father's Love was a formula that I crafted to honor my father while he was still alive right after he received the stage four cancer diagnosis. And I wanted to make a healing blend to honor and celebrate my father. And my father was really fond of tobacco. And I added some tobacco Absolutes and some very earthy, different extracts in here. So the Father's Love contains bergamot, buddha wood, cabra, cedar, hiba, tobacco Absolute, and rose auto. And the. The Father's Love is really a formula that helps to ground a person into their body, helps to open up the heart, helps to really come into resonance and forgiveness with patriarchal energy, and celebrates the divine Father, be it in physical form or your. Your own father.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:51:43]: And for me, it was a celebration of my father's life. And the aroma reminds me of this really beautiful old walnut furniture with some sweet notes to help to open up the heart and reminds me of. Of the smell of growing up and. And honoring my father.

Ben Greenfield [00:52:05]: I love that I'm going to be wearing it on Father's Day. Just. I just. Do you ever do that? Just sprinkle it on your clothes?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:52:12]: I do, yeah.

Ben Greenfield [00:52:14]: So there's another one that has been getting a lot of attention, another herb that's been getting a lot of attention in the health world. Saffron, for something that really stabilizes the mood, seems to be great for depression and anxiety. There are companies like, what was the company Organifi. They sent me these gummies they have called Happy Drops, and saffron is an ingredient in those. I think saffron's kind of underrated as a spice. So tell me about the saffron.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:52:46]: Our Ultrasonic extracted saffron tincture is a really lovely single ingredient. And working with the saffron plant is really a great agent. I fell in love with saffron by extracting it and feeling it in my body during the winter this past season. And what I find is when you take saffron internally, it helps to radiate the inner light, and it helps to lift the mood and bring in more joy into your day to day. During the winter Season, I tend to utilize different lights, infrared lights, like from sauna space. I have them throughout our house, and I also incorporate different UV spectrum bulbs. And I find that it really is helpful for me when it's snowing outside and I'm not getting my light quotient.

Ben Greenfield [00:53:48]: That I prefer, like a Seasonal Affective Disorder type of remedy.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:53:52]: Correct. And when I started working with saffron in my body, what I felt was it, it helps to shine the inner light, it helps me to turn on my inner sun.

Ben Greenfield [00:54:04]: And.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:54:05]: And so I felt like I was less dependent on external light and more my body just felt satiated and happy.

Ben Greenfield [00:54:14]: Yeah, I agree. I think. I don't know if you ever cook with it or use it as a spice. But again, for. It's summertime when this podcast is coming out, but I think it's one of the best things to have around when you've got the dark, dreary days of winter. Speaking of which, are you still in Oregon, Nick?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:54:31]: Yeah, Ashland, Oregon.

Ben Greenfield [00:54:33]: You're still not that far from me. You know, I moved to North Idaho, so I'm only like 90 minutes from Spokane, where I used to.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:54:39]: Okay.

Ben Greenfield [00:54:40]: Yeah, we got to get together sometime. Hey, one other thing, because I've been keeping this one by my desk and spraying it on every once in a while. Agua de Flores. This is almost like a mist. Tell me about these things.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:54:53]: Agua de Flores was inspired by Florida water, and Florida water is. It's this synthetic fragrance that is utilized in various types of circles. Ayahuasca circles, for instance, will use this. Florida water.

Ben Greenfield [00:55:16]: Are you saying Florida, like the state Florida?

Dr. Nick Berry [00:55:18]: Correct. Okay. And so the Agua de Flores, it stands for water of flowers, and it's one of the. It's inspired by a flower bath. And the ingredients in here are things like bergamot, ylang ylang, sandalwood, cedar rose, geranium, jasmine rose. And so it's a really rich, organic flower water. And when my mentor and I were talking about making a Agua de Florida, a natural version, this was the inspiration for this blend. And so this is one of our ceremonial sprays.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:56:07]: And it's really good for just lifting up your mood and really showering in some beautiful flowers.

Ben Greenfield [00:56:16]: Yeah, it smells great. Smells like. Smells like you're spraying flowers on. It's. Oh, there we go. He's doing it right now, folks. So, you know, I, I, like I said, this is the third time I've interviewed you, Nick. You have so many different offerings.

Ben Greenfield [00:56:32]: I think you have like over 200 different products now on the website that over 300. Oh man, the wizard alchemy blends and your ceremonial blends, your botanical perfumes, you got a bunch of kava products, therapeutic formulas. You even have this one in here, the Easeolution, which is more for bites, stings, et cetera. It's like visiting your own sweet smelling pharmacy when you go to your website. And that's why I've been a fan of you for so many years. I learned so much from you. And if you're listening right now or watching, I really encourage you just go over there, check out Nick's website. You guys have great customer service.

Ben Greenfield [00:57:13]: Nick, like not only are all the descriptions on there really helpful as far as where to get what or what to use for what, but you've always just sometimes I'll ask you what's this oil for? And I'll get like a two page email with everything I would ever need to know. So I really appreciate you man, and you've got such a big heart and such a love for this. So thanks for doing what you do.

Dr. Nick Berry [00:57:34]: Oh, it's my pleasure Ben. And I'm truly honored to share with all of your listeners and it's always been an honor to co create and share together.

Ben Greenfield [00:57:44]: Absolutely. All right folks, it's BenGreenfieldLife.com/ WizardryOils I'll link to other interviews with Nick. You can hear his whole backstory, how he got into doing what he does, more about the history of the company, other essential oils we didn't talk about on this show, and plenty more. So BenGreenfieldLife.com/ wizardryoils until next time, I'm Ben Greenfield along with Dr. Nick Berry, signing out from BenGreenfieldLife.com to discover even.

Ben Greenfield [00:58:12]: More tips, tricks, hacks and content to become the most complete, boundless version of you, visit BenGreenfieldLife.com in compliance with the FTC guidelines, please assume the following about links and posts on this site. Most of the links going to products are often affiliate links of which I receive a small commission from sales of certain items. But the price is the same for you and sometimes I even get to share a unique and somewhat significant discount with you. In some cases, I might also be an investor in a company I mentioned. I'm the founder, for example, of Kion LLC, the makers of Kion branded supplements and products, which I talk about quite a bit. Regardless of the relationship, if I post or talk about an affiliate link to a product, it is indeed something I personally use support and with full authenticity and transparency recommend in good conscience, I personally vet each and every product that I talk about. My first priority is providing valuable information and resources to you that help you positively optimize your mind, body and spirit. And I'll only ever link to products or resources, affiliate or otherwise, that fit within this purpose.

Ben Greenfield [00:59:27]: So there's your fancy legal disclaimer.