Besides the ever-popular topics of virility and libido and what herbs can support male reproductive health, prostate health is an important topic for guys, especially as they reach their forties, and heart health is really important for them as well. There is also room for herbs to support immunity, emotional well-being, and a healthy stress response for the menfolk.
Adaptogens can also offer support in many of these arenas. Ashwagandha, holy basil, jiaogulan, hawthorn, and schisandra are just a few that have nervine properties, support the immune system, and also offer cardiovascular support. Men, say hello to your adaptogenic A-Team.
The recipes in this chapter focus on herbs and adaptogens for overall wellness, heart-healthy spices, and prostate-supporting ingredients, but that’s just the beginning of ways that adaptogens can be a part of the healthy diet for men.
Just, please, guys: don’t be tempted to use adaptogens at the expense of your overall health. Adaptogens can support your energy, but that doesn’t mean that using them suddenly gives you Marvel comic–style superpowers. Self-care like good nutrition and getting enough sleep may not seem particularly macho, but adaptogens will yield their best results if you are taking good care of yourself!
Pepita Bombs
Pumpkin seeds are a decent source of zinc, a nutrient that has an important job on the prostate health crew. Maca and suma add their dense nutritional profiles to support the endocrine system and energy levels.
In Peru, where it originates, maca is used as a staple food and is one of the few plants that will grow in the harsh environment of the Andes Mountains. It’s actually distantly related to radishes, so you might even be able to argue that this recipe counts toward your daily serving of veggies!
Suma is also used for food within its native range, but unlike maca’s pronounced, earthy flavor, suma has a mild taste that is a bit like vanilla.
I thought these were good with molasses, but if you aren’t a fan of molasses you can use honey.
Ingredients
Yields 24 balls (6 servings)
1⁄2 cup nut or seed butter
1 tablespoon honey or molasses
1 teaspoon maca powder
1 teaspoon suma powder
1 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1⁄4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
How to Make
1. Mix together the nut butter, honey, maca powder, and suma powder in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds to the bowl and stir everything together.
3. The mix will be easier to work with cold, so let it chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
4. Once the mixture is chilled, use your hands to roll out 24 small balls. Put them into the container you plan to use for storage as you work.
5. When all of the balls are made, you can store them in an airtight container on the counter or in the pantry.
Using the Right Amounts
Each recipe is crafted so that one serving of the recipe gives you one serving of an adaptogen. You could use up to three recipes per day, or use two recipes in addition to a plain Jane serving of extract or encapsulated herbs. The definition of “adaptogen” states that to qualify as an adaptogen an herb must be nontoxic, but there are still a few of them that can make you a little uncomfortable if you get too much. Cordyceps and American ginseng are probably the two adaptogens that are most important to use at a moderate level.
Cranberry Electuary
Cranberries have a reputation as a fruit for women’s health and as a home remedy for urinary tract infections, but they are also really great for guys. They may contribute to healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) levels, and they are a prostate-healthy food, too!
Hawthorn and ashwagandha are the starring adaptogens for this recipe. Ashwagandha has endocrine and nervine benefits for men, and hawthorn benefits the cardiovascular system. Hawthorn berries are not a familiar fruit to most people even though they may know about them as an herb. The leaves, flowers, and berries are all used in herbalism but the berries can also be used to make sauces, jams, jellies, and other preserves, so a little hawthorn berry powder is right at home in this electuary.
Electuaries are usually made with honey and can include fruit. For this one, dried cranberries take center stage for a paste that can be eaten right off the spoon, added to smoothies, or stirred into yogurt.
Ingredients
Yields 1 cup
1 cup rough chopped dried cranberries
1 cup water
1⁄4 cup honey
1⁄2 tablespoon dried hawthorn berry powder
11⁄2 tablespoons powdered ashwagandha
How to Make
1. Put the cranberries and water into a glass canning jar and let the berries soak overnight.
2. Pour the berries and any leftover water into the blender and blend together.
3. Once the cranberries and water have been blended together, turn off the blender and add the honey, dried hawthorn berry powder, and ashwagandha powder.
4. Blend until all of the ingredients are combined, and transfer to a clean glass canning jar. Use up to a tablespoon at a time. The electuary should keep for about a month, but be sure to store it in the refrigerator.
How Do You Know an Herb Is Still Good?
If you’ve had a dried herb sitting in your pantry for a few months, how do you know it’s still good? You should familiarize yourself with the way your herbs look and smell when they first arrive. Using a reputable supplier helps boost the chances that your herbs will be fresh and vital when they arrive. Herbs will have unique smells and a unique appearance. Anything that starts to look dull and nondescript and has lost its smell is probably well on its way out. Sometimes a batch might get buggy or moldy, so keep an eye out for that. Mold can sometimes be seen visually—a dried herb may seem dustier than normal when you give the container a shake—or sometimes it will be detectable in a smell. The best way I know to describe a moldy herb smell is that it is a little musty and has a distinct peppery aroma.
Superman Shots
A little jolt of extra nutrition and a tasty way to take a serving of adaptogens cross paths in this recipe for Superman Shots. This recipe is modeled on a Bloody Mary. The decision to base these shots on that classic cocktail is not a random one. Tomato juice contains a healthy serving of lycopene, a prostate-healthy antioxidant. Probiotics are important for digestion, immunity, and mood.
If you have fresh tomatoes from a home garden, you can experiment with homemade tomato juice instead of canned tomato juice. I highly recommend trying it if you can, especially with different varieties of heirloom tomatoes so you can enjoy a wider spectrum of flavors in your Superman Shots. The nutrient profile from a fresh tomato juice is going to be higher than that of canned tomato juice, too, which is also a plus!
Ingredients
Yields 1 shot
1 ounce tomato juice
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash lemon juice
Pinch cayenne pepper powder
1 serving probiotic powder
1 serving adaptogen extract of your choice
How to Make
1. Combine the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and cayenne in a glass canning jar with the probiotics and your favorite adaptogen.
2. Put the lid on the jar and shake to combine.
3. Drink straight from the jar if you like, or pour into your favorite shot glass.
Men’s Chai and Mushroom Tea
Because nettle root works best as a decoction, you will want to plan a little ahead to make this recipe. Make the nettle and decoction first, and let it brew for 20 minutes. Use the decoction as a base for the chai tea. Choose a loose-leaf chai base that you like for this recipe; I find that a strong black chai is better suited for this than a rooibos.
Nettle root is used in Europe as part of protocols to help the body heal from BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia), which results from the enlargement of the prostate gland as men age. To be useful for prostate support in that manner, nettle root is best taken daily over several months, or you can use nettle root occasionally as a tonic for the entire urinary tract.
Ingredients
Yields 1 serving
1 teaspoon nettle root
1⁄2 teaspoon cordyceps
16 ounces water
1⁄2 teaspoon chai tea blend or 2 chai tea bags
How to Make
1. Place nettle root and cordyceps in a small saucepan with 16 ounces of water over medium heat. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer the herbs for 20 minutes.
2. Strain out the herbs and measure the decoction to make sure there are 8 ounces left. Return the 8 ounces of decoction to the saucepan.
3. Bring the decoction back to a simmer and turn off the heat. Add the loose chai tea blend or two chai tea bags and place the lid on the saucepan.
4. Allow the chai tea to steep for 5 minutes and then strain the tea or remove the tea bags.
5. Sweeten to taste and enjoy.
Using Capsules
What if you simply want a quick, easy way to carry a serving of adaptogens with you during the day? Sometimes an extract bottle is a little inconvenient and you may be wondering whether you can use capsules or tablets of adaptogens. I prefer using teas and extracts because the adaptogens are in a more accessible form; similarly, I like recipes that incorporate adaptogens along with foods because the body is already primed for digestion that way. With a tablet or capsule, your body needs to digest the capsule or tablet and then set to work digesting the plant material in order to get to the compounds in the herbs. As teas and extracts, the herbs have already been “predigested” after a fashion. If you do want to use tablets or capsules, stick with a company that has a reputation for quality across a wide variety of supplements. You can also consider filling your own capsules with a manual capsule-filling machine.
Suma Pepita Smoothie
A pinch of an adaptogen powder in a morning smoothie is a great way to start the day and get some extra nutrition into your daily routine. The fresh spinach may seem like an odd ingredient for a smoothie, but trust me, it’s a really good addition and you don’t taste it once everything is blended together. You can add a little sweetener of your choice to the smoothie if you like.
With nut butter and Greek yogurt for protein and ground flaxseed for fiber, this smoothie is a great breakfast smoothie or afternoon snack. You can experiment with different kinds of frozen fruit to find the flavor that you like the best.
Ingredients
Yields 1 serving
1⁄4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup frozen berries
1 cup spinach
1 tablespoon nut butter
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1⁄2 teaspoon suma powder
1 tablespoon pepitas
How to Make
1. Begin by putting the yogurt, frozen berries, spinach, and nut butter into the blender. Process everything together until it is nice and creamy. Add a little water if it has trouble coming together.
2. Turn off the blender, and sprinkle the ground flaxseed and suma powder into your smoothie. Put the lid back on the blender and pulse your smoothie a few times to make sure the flax and suma are blended into the mix.
3. Next, you need to make the pumpkin seed topping. Run 1 tablespoon of pepitas through a coffee grinder until you like the texture, or put them in a zip-top bag and roll over them with a rolling pin to crush, or use a can of soup or similar indestructible item from the pantry if you don’t have a rolling pin.
4. Pour your smoothie into a cup and sprinkle the pepita pieces on top.
Man of Legend Truffles
He shou wu has several entertaining myths associated with the supposed power of the roots, including that especially old specimens of the root have the ability to help you grow a new set of teeth or give immortality to the user! Although I love my little he shou wu plant, it doesn’t seem particularly magical or likely to do either, but I must say that I haven’t had it for such a spectacular length of time, either.
The raw root does have the super powers to cause an impressively upset stomach, though, thanks to the presence of anthraquinones. Those are the same irritating ingredients that give senna and cascara (two popular herbs used in bowel cleanse formulas) their laxative properties. Anthraquinones are irritants that can cause dependency if used over time, meaning that if you overuse them you won’t be able to move your bowels without them, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you’re using the processed form of he shou wu. In traditional Chinese herbalism he shou wu is processed by stewing it with black soybeans and then drying it. This makes it much less likely to upset the digestive tract, but it may still have a mild effect on people with very sensitive systems.
He shou wu gets its name, “Black Haired Mr. He,” from a story about an old man. In the story, Mr. He was very old and ill, but after several years of taking the herb Mr. He’s hair turned black again, he was restored to youthful vigor, and he even went on to father children. Considering some of the other tall tales told about he shou wu (immortality? a new set of teeth?), perhaps we should also take this legend with a grain of salt. Still, he shou wu has become a valued herb within several branches of Oriental medicine and is now being studied scientifically as an adaptogen. So we have Mr. He, whoever he may be, to thank for both his personal testimony and some of the wilder, more entertaining conjectures about this plant. Enjoy your Man of Legend Truffles!
Ingredients
Yields 12 truffles (4 servings)
1 cup coconut butter
3 teaspoons he shou wu powder
3 tablespoons brown rice syrup or agave nectar
1 cup high-quality dark baking chocolate pieces
How to Make
1. Prepare a baking tray by lining it with parchment paper and set up a double boiler on the stove.
2. Combine the coconut butter, he shou wu powder, and brown rice syrup or agave nectar in a bowl and knead them all together until combined into a paste. The kneading may be a little difficult at first, but as your hands warm the coconut butter it will become easier.
3. Form the coconut butter and herb paste into 12 small balls and set them on a tray in the refrigerator while you prepare the dark chocolate.
4. Put the dark chocolate pieces in the double boiler and melt them.
5. Bring the tray of coconut balls back over to your work area and use a spoon to drizzle each truffle with a dark chocolate shell. Once the chocolate has cooled, gently move the balls to spoon chocolate over the bald spot that was the place where the ball touched the pan.
6. Once cooled, store the Man of Legend truffles in mini-muffin cups in an airtight container in the refrigerator. One serving is 3 truffles.
He Shou Wu’s Topical Uses
Did you know that he shou wu can also be used topically for skin care? The leaves and vines were sometimes used to soothe itching, and the unprocessed root was applied for unpleasant skin conditions such as boils.
Sarsaparilla and Damiana Potion
Sometimes sarsaparilla is advertised as a men’s herb for increasing libido or athletic performance under the same logic used for suma. Herbalists are more likely to note that it is a wonderful alterative. This class of herb gently moves the body into better balance by supporting the channels of elimination. When not being employed as a general whole body tonic, sarsaparilla is traditionally used for things like skin problems, rheumatic disorders, and gout.
Even though it may or may not be a specifically “male” herb, it’s still a fine addition to the male herbal arsenal. Plus, sarsaparilla has a distinctive taste that found its way into root beer recipes and makes it a fun extract ingredient. In this recipe sarsaparilla is paired up with a nervine and potential aphrodisiac, damiana.
Ingredients
Yields approximately 3 ounces
1⁄2 ounce powdered sarsaparilla root
1⁄2 ounce powdered damiana leaf
5 ounces vodka
How to Make
1. If you like, you can make this recipe with a percolation set up as outlined in Chapter 1. If you’d rather do a maceration extract, follow the instructions here.
2. Place the powdered sarsaparilla root and powdered damiana leaf into a glass canning jar and add the vodka.
3. Put the lid onto the jar and shake it up to soak the herbs in the vodka.
4. Place the jar on a shelf in the pantry and check on it every day for 2 weeks. Make sure there is enough vodka to cover the herbs at all times. If the herbs have absorbed all of the vodka add a little extra to cover.
5. After 2 weeks, strain and bottle your extract. Make sure to label it. A serving of Sarsaparilla and Damiana Potion is 30–60 drops, and you can use it up to 3 times a day.
Good for the Gander Overnight Steep
Generally speaking, what’s good for the goose is also good for the gander. You may think of red raspberry leaf as a woman’s herb, but don’t be so quick to pass it up. It’s a nutritive herb full of vitamins and minerals, and has astringent properties that can support the intestinal tract and urinary tract. Add a little nettle leaf and you have an overnight steep that’s great for the gander. So drink up!
You can even add a teaspoon of nettle root to this blend for extra prostate support, but nettle root is generally used on a specific, as-needed basis for prostate health challenges, rather than as a preventive tonic.
Ingredients
Yields 1 serving
1 quart water
3 tablespoons dried red raspberry leaves
1 tablespoon dried nettle leaves
How to Make
1. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil and pour it into a heat-safe glass jar.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of dried red raspberry leaves and a tablespoon of dried nettle leaves.
3. Allow the nettle and raspberry leaves to infuse overnight in the refrigerator.
4. In the morning, strain the leaves out, sweeten the tea to taste, and sip throughout the day.
Powerblast Popcorn Balls
Besides being popcorn seasonings, adaptogens are the secret ingredient in these easy popcorn ball snacks! You can use adaptogens that have a reputation for being especially suited to men’s health, such as suma, maca, eleuthero, or he shou wu, or you can try whatever adaptogen interests you most. It’s easy to begin thinking of adaptogens in terms of “his” and “hers,” but in reality this isn’t a necessary way to categorize them.
Popcorn balls are easy to pack and take along as a snack wherever your busy day takes you, so if you’ve been looking for portable adaptogen snacking options, these are fun.
The pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in this recipe are a great source of zinc and protein for immune health and energy levels.
Ingredients
Yields 6 popcorn balls (serving size 1 popcorn ball)
3 tablespoons honey
3 cups plain popped popcorn
1⁄4 cup pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
2 teaspoons eleuthero, maca, suma, or he shou wu
How to Make
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Melt honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer for a few minutes, giving it a stir every now and then.
3. While it’s simmering, measure the popcorn into a big bowl. You want a bowl big enough that you can stir the popcorn around to coat it in the honey.
4. Once the honey has simmered for a few minutes, drizzle it over the popcorn. Stir the popcorn around with your hands to coat it with the honey.
5. Add the pumpkin seeds.
6. You may need to wait 1–2 minutes for the honey to cool before you begin to form the balls. If the honey is too warm it can be a pain to roll into balls because they are too sticky and won’t hold their shape.
7. Form the popcorn and pumpkin seeds into 6 balls of the same size. Line them up on the lined baking sheet as you work.
8. Sprinkle a pinch of your chosen adaptogen onto the top of each ball. Try to divide the adaptogen into even portions on each popcorn ball. If the first batch seems too plain to you, try adding a dash of your favorite spices or seasonings onto the top of each popcorn ball after you add the adaptogens, or stirring it into the honey just before you add it to the popcorn balls in step 4 the next time you make them.
9. Store in an airtight container on the counter or in the pantry.
Powerblast Popcorn Sprinkles
Adaptogens are easily added to popcorn seasoning blends and are disguised well by stronger popcorn seasoning flavors. Flavors that work well as a carrier for adaptogens include almost anything spicy or garlic-tinged, ranch, and cheesy blends. Add 1⁄4–1/2 teaspoon of powdered herbs to a batch of popcorn to sneak in a serving of adaptogens.
Suma Orange Cream Elixir
Suma has a bit of a vanilla taste to it anyway, so playing on that with a little vanilla extract and some orange juice concentrate makes a pretty pleasing elixir blend. Suma’s Spanish name is para todo, which means “for all things.” Pretty big talk for a little root!
You can use a premade suma extract from a reputable company or one that you make yourself. How do you know a reputable supplier for suma? Chances are, the company will offer a full line of herbal products and not just suma. They will also resist making fantastical-sounding claims about suma. If you have doubts about the supplier you are thinking of purchasing from, check the resources guide at the end of this book or pop in at your local health food store (the crunchy one, not the local bodybuilder hangout).
This will ensure that you buy from a company that takes the time to properly identify the ingredients in their supplements, and will also protect you from finding out six months from now that the suma extract you’ve been using was spiked with something a little extra (and maybe something you would rather not have been putting in your body!). Supplement adulteration scandals do happen from time to time, and the closer you stay to the “crunchy” brands and away from the hype-mongers the better you will protect yourself.
Ingredients
Yields 11⁄4 ounces elixir
1 ounce suma extract
2 teaspoons orange juice concentrate
5 drops vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple syrup
How to Make
1. Whisk together the suma extract, orange juice concentrate, vanilla extract, and maple syrup in a small bowl.
2. Bottle and label your elixir.
3. A serving size is 30–60 drops (about 1⁄4–1⁄2 teaspoon), and you can enjoy up to 3 servings a day.
What’s the Deal with Suma and Bodybuilders?
Ecdysteroids are a compound found in suma that is important to plant and insect growth processes, and has a similar makeup as the human hormone androgen. Suma is thus sometimes marketed as an anabolic agent or as support for healthy male hormone levels because it contains ecdysteroids.
Lionheart Seasoning Blend
Fenugreek and garlic are great spices for heart health. Garlic was believed by the ancients to have a fortifying influence when ingested. Roman soldiers would eat garlic before battle to make themselves braver. Or maybe it was just to chase away the enemy with a legion of bad breath.
Garlic has many other uses besides a seasoning in your pantry. In addition to supporting heart health, garlic has been used to help clear the lungs as an ingredient in cough syrups, as an infused oil to fight ear infections, and for sore throats. It’s a spicy herb with a fiery personality that can boost circulation to warm up cold hands and feet!
Nettle seeds add some adaptogenic fantastic-ness, and a little parsley in the mix helps keep you from scaring anyone away when you enjoy this tasty blend, since parsley is traditionally used to combat garlic breath.
Ingredients
Yields approximately 3⁄4 cup (11 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon powdered fenugreek
1⁄4 cup powdered garlic
1 tablespoon powdered cumin
1⁄4 cup nettle seeds
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
How to Make
1. In a small bowl, blend together the powdered fenugreek, garlic, cumin, and nettle seeds.
2. Add in the parsley flakes, and transfer the mixture to a small jar. Keep the jar handy on the table so you will remember to add a bit to your plate as a seasoning, or keep it in the spice rack and use it to cook veggies or chicken.