[Isabelle]

I was thinking the skinny on hops may be helpful:

Phyto-estrogens: 8-prenylnaringenin and a few other less potent ones
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/85/12/4912.long

Anti-androgen: xanthohumol
http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjour...tracts/B79

At high doses, hops increases HGH and decreases IGF-1:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=8419&pid=36823#pid36823

Like PM, hops increases dopamine. An increase in dopamine seems to go hand in hand with a decrease in prolactin:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=5182&pid=9601#pid9601

There is 2-phenylethylamine in hops (chocolate love):
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=8419&pid=39760#pid39760

[BigDee]

Hello Isabelle and Susan,

Along with the turmeric, don't forget the black pepper.
http://www.naturalnews.com/black_pepper.html

From some of what is reported, it looks like black pepper would be a good addition to any program.

[Isabelle]

Hi Big Dave,

Thank you for the link.

Black pepper enhances the bioavailability of curcumin
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-1281...upport.pdf
and of other phytochemicals by blocking two metabolic enzymes in the liver and the intestines, aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and UDP-glucuronyl transferase:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.10...0601062054

I'm a bit cautious. I need enzymes to metabolize xanthohumol to 8-prenylnaringenin. I'll check if those two enzymes take part in that conversion.

[Isabelle]

Prostate supplement ingredients are not all anti-androgens, in the sense of being 5α-reductase inhibitors:
http://pros-terol.com/prostate/
About half way this ad, there is a list of ingredients with the usual vague description of what they do. This is a shorter rendering of what's in there for a few ingredients I usually list as 5α-reductase inhibitors:

β-Sitosterol: 5α-reductase inhibitor
Zinc: "can help shrink an enlarged prostate"
Stinging nettle root: "prevents estrogen from binding to the prostate"
pumpkin seed: source of zinc
Vitamin B6: along with zinc, "regulates" 5α-reductase

This list suggests that only the β-Sitosterol is a real 5α-reductase inhibitor. The others act in a different way, except maybe for zinc and vitamin B6. I need to check the scientific literature on this, but the above description of the mechanism of action may mean that stinging nettle root is not helpful in NBE.

[Isabelle]

A PM exchange reminded me that what should be in a program thread are program updates. The current doses are always in my profile page. My day looks like this:

08:00 4,000 mg maca root flour in water
10:00 1,500 mg goat's rue tea
13:00 2,300 mg powdered fenugreek seed in water
15:00 1,500 mg goat's rue tea
22:00 2,500 mg dried hops flowers, 3,000 mg broken flax seed, 3,000 mg oat flakes, with other cereals, milk, honey, and raisins
23:00 1,500 mg goat's rue tea, multivitamin

Maca: http://www.vanderpigge.nl/shop/active-ma...ttiss-300g
I buy this brand for fenugreek: http://www.aziatische-ingredienten.nl/fenegriek/
but the fenugreek I buy is powdered, like this: http://www.ebay.in/itm/330590180977
Hops powdered: http://www.accense.nl/hop-gemalen-jacob-...anguage=en
Hops cut: http://www.dadrogistonline.nl/products/d...p-gesneden
Goat's rue: http://www.dadrogistonline.nl/products/d...geitekruid
Broken flax seed: http://www.vakdrogist.nl/zonnatura-lijnz...DgodSH5RnQ
Oat flakes: http://www.hahne.de/index.php?language=de&category=020300&product=104&limit=0
Multivitamin: http://www.detuinen.nl/de-tuinen-multi-totaal-50.html/

[Nila]

Hi Isabelle,

how many grams of Goats rue do you take a day?

Do you take take three, two or one cup of tea?

And much herb do you put in one cup - one teaspoon, one tablespoon ...?

[Isabelle]

Hi Nila,

I take 4.5 g (4,500 mg) of dried Goat's rue herb a day.

I drink 3 cups of 200 ml tea each.

I put 1,500 mg in one cup. My goat's rue is chopped, dried herb, so 1,500 mg is about one egg spoon, or three teaspoons.

I have a 200 ml porcelain Chinese tea pot, about the size of a coffee mug. In it sits a porcelain tea strainer like this one:
http://langelijs.wordpress.com/2011/04/0...l-theepot/
The whole set looks like this:
http://www.natashascafe.com/html/chinese...asses.html
http://www.teagarden.com/tea-cup-double-...r-680.html

Because of the lid, the tea stays warm for 20 minutes, which is what it takes to draw tea from an almost woody herb like goat's rue. The mug is 200 ml, so it's the perfect size to make one fresh cup three times a day. The herb fills about 1/4 of the strainer.

[Isabelle]

I've never been a collector of anything, but browsing through pages full of images of porcelain infuser mugs: ooh

This one is übercute:
http://www.primatea.com/japanese-babies-...rainer-369

This is dishwasher proof and everything:
http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-...nfuser-mug

and this looks very British:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/home-gif...y/23020962
even if B&N ship it from Manhattan :S

The second one on this page probably is British:
http://soeclectic.com/2011/07/14/loose-l...user-mugs/

Mine is like the one pictured in this blog post:
http://muffintopped.wordpress.com/tag/ch...fuser-mug/

[Isabelle]

I just linked this site in a post to our new member, Angelus:
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/bio.html

The site has a User's guide, and it's worth reading. There is a lot more on the site than what can be accessed from the home page. One way to find it is to use the latin name of the plant, like this: I know hops is humulus lupulus, so I type http://www.henriettesherbal.com/plants/humulus.html

Then I click the button "lupulus", and I get
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/plants/h...pulus.html
two pages full of links to what is on the site on hops. There is one blog entry, 15 beautiful pics, and 30 scans of classic herbalist books. It doesn't go back as far as Rembert Dodoens' "Cruydeboeck" of 1554, but it really covers a lot from 1828 to 1947.

[Nila]

Hi Nila,

I take 4.5 g (4,500 mg) of dried Goat's rue herb a day.

I drink 3 cups of 200 ml tea each.

I put 1,500 mg in one cup. My goat's rue is chopped, dried herb, so 1,500 mg is about one egg spoon, or three teaspoons.

I have a 200 ml porcelain Chinese tea pot, about the size of a coffee mug. In it sits a porcelain tea strainer like this one:
http://langelijs.wordpress.com/2011/04/0...l-theepot/
The whole set looks like this:
http://www.natashascafe.com/html/chinese...asses.html
http://www.teagarden.com/tea-cup-double-...r-680.html

Because of the lid, the tea stays warm for 20 minutes, which is what it takes to draw tea from an almost woody herb like goat's rue. The mug is 200 ml, so it's the perfect size to make one fresh cup three times a day. The herb fills about 1/4 of the strainer.

Thanks for the info, Isabelle.

Unfortunately, my goats rue is in powder form, so I have to figure out another way to measure it.

I also considered buying a tea mug. The stores had it from $20 and up. But I decided against it because my goats rue is so fine, I figured it would pass through the holes. So I went for refillable tea bags (100 bags for $4.99)

I like the barnes and nobles mug you posted and the price is pretty decent. So I might get that anyway.