85: Ancient Herbs for Libido, Hair Growth, Great Skin, and Less Stress | Josh Axe, DC

Here's what people need to know about collagen: it's essential. If you're not getting it, it's like getting zero omega-3 fats in your diet; there are repercussions. Areas of your body are suffering, especially your skin, joints, and your gut health. Those three areas will suffer the most.

With Chinese medicine, ultimately, if you follow the protocols, they're the most effective protocols out there. Today's Western medicine is based off of less than 200 years of research. Ancient Chinese medicine is 4,000-years-old and based off of millions of individual case studies.

Your body can only do so much at one time. Your body acts as a spectrum; it's either protecting itself or it's healing itself. Protection or regeneration. Most of us live in this protected state where our blood is in our brain and our extremities, so our internal systems and organs aren't functioning properly. They're weakened, they're not digesting nutrients... What adaptogens do is say, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's balance things back out. Let's lower this stress that's in the brain, and get more of the blood and nutrients to specific organs.

I do think collagen is one of those things - foods, supplements, whatever you want to call it - that people should be taking every day. In terms of what people have seen the biggest results from of all the supplements I've recommended over the years, I would put collagen number one.

Foods and supplements that support collagen production

This is a Chinese principle: when you eat a food that looks like an organ, it supports that organ.

I can tell you from working with thousands of patients over the years that Chinese medicine is 10 times more effective than most of these other forms of medicine because they're actually getting to the root cause.

50% of somebody getting sick is not diet, it's emotions. When you have fear, it causes disease of your reproductive organs, kidneys, and bladder.

There's some evidence that reishi can reduce 5-alpha reductase, which converts testosterone into DHT, which means that it can potentially help prevent male pattern baldness.

Once you reach the age of 25, your body produces less collagen every single year. By the time you're in your 50s, your body's producing 75% less collagen, which is why your skin sags, because now your body has less collagen and it's producing less collagen.

Walnuts support brain and neurological health

Medical studies now show that drinking beetroot juice increases performance better than any other food on the planet for triathletes, runners, and endurance athletes.

Adaptogens are known for boosting qi in the body. Qi, what is it? It's your adrenal glands; it's essentially like your battery.

Adaptogens are known for calming the unnecessary energy your body is sending out to deal with a sympathetic response.