Matt Forney Archives

How GABA Can Lower Your Anxiety

GABA is a truly weird supplement in that all the literature I’ve been able to find on it is split down the middle. Half the articles on it claim that it’s useless, the other half claim it’s a great way to lower your anxiety levels. The former argument focuses on the fact that GABA doesn’t easily cross the blood-brain barrier, ergo it can’t act on the brain directly.

Does that mean that it can’t lower your anxiety in other ways? No.

GABA is an amino acid that functions as a neurotransmitter; substances such as alcohol, phenibut, alprazolam (Xanax) and ashwagandha act on receptors in the brain, producing feelings of tranquility and lowering anxiety levels. However, GABA receptors can also be found in the enteric nervous system, the cluster of nerves that governs your digestive tract.

Because of this, GABA can reduce anxiety by acting on receptors in the gut. It sounds kooky, but ever since I began taking it, I’ve experienced both lower stress levels and more pleasant digestion. It’s worth looking into it to see if it can help you.

GABA Makes Your Tummy Happy

When I began taking GABA, I noticed that my digestion became a lot calmer. I have a sensitive stomach; eating spicy foods usually ends with me groaning in the bathroom a few hours later. While it doesn’t directly reduce my anxiety, not having my intestines aching for hours puts me in a much better mood.

In fact, the enteric nervous system is so important to overall health that scientists refer to it as “the second brain.” Disturbances in the enteric nervous system have been linked to mental disorders such as autism, meaning that keeping your “second brain” healthy is vital for overall fitness.

While GABA is not as effective as other anxiety-reducing supplements such as phenibut, ashwagandha or even suntheanine, it’s cheap enough and has enough of an effect to be worth trying out. If you’ve been having digestive issues, this supplement can help you bring them under control.

Watch the companion video to this article below:

To watch the video on YouTube, click here. To watch it on BitChute, click here. For more videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel here and my BitChute channel here.

Click here to buy NOW Foods GABA.

Naughty Nomad’s Guide to New York by Mark Zolo

Naughty Nomad’s Guide to New York is by far the most detailed guide on getting laid in a particular city I’ve ever read.

Most of the city/country guides I’ve read, such as Roosh’s various Bang books, stick to a general overview of the country or city in question and what its girls are like. This makes sense: it’s impossible to uncover every nuance of a country with millions of people in it. But roughly half of Mark Zolo’s book is dedicated to specific breakdowns of nightlife in NYC’s various neighborhoods, with detailed description of bars, the types of girls you can find in them, and everything else.

I can almost visualize Zolo’s liver begging for a respite from the metric tons of booze he guzzled while doing research.

If you’re interested in picking up girls in New York—probably one of the few places left in the U.S. where you can pick up girls without having to deal with massive amounts of autism and social justice—Naughty Nomad’s Guide is an obvious must-buy. Zolo could have easily released a more generic book that was half the length of this one and still make money, but the sheer amount of detail in Naughty Nomad’s Guide makes it invaluable. (Full disclosure: Zolo hired me to edit the book.)

One of the things I took away from Naughty Nomad’s Guide is the sheer logistical clusterfuck of getting in, out and living in New York City. Seeing as I grew up upstate, NYC was just a short train or bus ride away for me, so I never really thought about the massive headache that visiting the city entails for anyone who doesn’t live in the Northeast. Zolo details how you can travel to New York and not get completely reamed on accommodation:

In Upper Manhattan, especially in Harlem, there are numerous brokers that offer cheap weekly room rentals (usually for Hispanic migrants). There’s an advance on the broker’s fee to the tune of $150, and you’ll also have to stump one week’s security (which you’ll eventually get back), but the good news is the rooms are only about $150-$200 a week, payable weekly, and all you need is a valid ID. So, for less than $500, you’re in the door and have your own bed. Compare this with a typical lease requiring you to jump through hoops, sign contracts, and provide three to four months upfront. This typically adds up to thousands of dollars… and you still have to buy a bed to sleep on!

Naughty Nomad’s Guide also provides a helpful breakdown of the different types and ethnicities of women in the city as well as the game you need to shag them. Do you like Chinese girls, Latinas or preppy college twats? New York City is the world’s greatest smorgasbord of snatch:

You’ll see her in clubs and lounges, usually with a loud-mouthed cohort hollering in Ebonics and dropping the N-word incessantly, displaying about as much class as that of an Afghan schoolgirl under Taliban rule. She may not be very sophisticated, but her excessive confidence, thick buttocks, ostentatious dress and trashy tattoos all hold a certain, stripper-esque sex appeal that still makes you want to nail her ghetto ass.

But the true centerpiece of Naughty Nomad’s Guide is the nightlife section. As I mentioned already, much of the book is dedicated to Zolo’s first-hand research of NYC’s best watering holes. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few of my favorite spots on his list, showing the depth and extensiveness of his work:

If you’re in the city, I recommend you start in Chinatown. Fill up on cheap beer and oriental grub around Mott Street and then enjoy a cocktail and some chill live music at speakeasy Apotheke. After there, take a 10-minute walk up to GoldBar for hip-hop and high heels (free in, but it’s hit or miss). If you want to split up the journey, there’s an optional stop-off in the Mulberry Project in Little Italy (it will be completely dead, but it’s another hidden another speakeasy). Better yet, skip GoldBar and go to Pianos in LES.

If there’s one problem with Naughty Nomad’s Guide, it’s that it assumes you have a certain level of game proficiency. While I don’t expect every book like this to reinvent the wheel, given how unforgiving New York’s singles scene is, you’re only going to get value out of the book if you’ve already honed your skills to a certain level. New York City is not for newbies.

Additionally, given the book’s focus on venues, it’s questionable how valuable Zolo’s guide will be two, three or four years down the line. While many of the bars and spots listed in Naughty Nomad’s Guide have been around for a while, given how trends change, the book will likely become progressively outdated as it gets older.

Overall though, if you live in NYC or are planning a visit, Naughty Nomad’s Guide to New York City is a book you can’t afford not to read. There is simply no other resource that can help you find poosy paradise in the Big Apple so easily.

Watch the companion video to this review below:

To watch the video on YouTube, click here. To watch it on BitChute, click here. For more videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel here and my BitChute channel here.

Click here to buy Naughty Nomad’s Guide to New York City.

Read Next: The Gringo Trail by Mark Mann

Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich

Gorilla Mindset is one of the most life-changing books you can buy.

Not wholly, not completely. Mike Cernovich’s handbook on self-improvement and personal psychology cribs from a number of different sources, most notably Dr. Shad Helmstetter’s classic study on self-esteem, What to Say When You Talk to Your Self. But what distinguishes Gorilla Mindset from its predecessors is both its breadth of data and the personal experience that Cernovich brings to the table.

It’s this comprehensive approach that makes Gorilla Mindset a must-buy.

Gorilla Mindset succeeds because Cernovich approaches self-mastery from the very foundation of identity: mindset. The thin red line connecting most self-help gurus, from generic Tim Ferriss clones to pick-up artists, is that their programs are based on faking it until you make it: changing your behavior and hoping that it alters your personality in the process. Gorilla Mindset turns this on its head by having you adopt a mindset of confidence, from which success flows:

No one taught us how to talk to ourselves. It happened through osmosis. We silently repeated the same speaking patterns, words and phrases to ourselves that others had spoken to us out loud. You could spend hundreds of hours on a therapist’s couch analyzing where you learned how to talk to yourself. But where you learned it is not the question you need to answer. Gorilla Mindset is not about blaming your parents, teachers, or other loved ones or authority figures. This is a book about taking action.

I can attest to the power of the self-talk techniques that Cernovich and Helmstetter advocate. Two years ago, my friend Zampano introduced me to What to Say When You Talk to Your Self. While the idea of recording positive affirmations—i.e. “Today, I will do five Turkish get-ups” or “Today, I will approach ten girls”—and listening to them every morning sounds hokey, it really works.

Self-talk works because it simultaneously provides positive encouragement while purging negative habits and thoughts from your mind. Only you can change yourself; while other people can give you direction and motivation, the spark for transformation can only come from within. At the same time, merely thinking about changing yourself doesn’t work.

Much in the same way that writing down a goal makes you more likely to achieve it, recording your goals and dreams in your own voice—and listening back to them—makes you more likely to follow through.

At the time I first discovered Helmstetter’s book, I was in a fairly low period of my life, stuck in a dead-end job in a city I hated with little prospect of escape. While I was making a fair chunk of change off my blog and books, it wasn’t enough to live off of. I was stalled on multiple book projects and going nowhere fast.

As an experiment, I began recording positive affirmations geared towards giving myself a kick in the ass. Within a week of hearing my own voice shouting at me like a boot camp instructor, I started changing my habits. Instead of loafing off after work, I started working again:

I released two books in the span of three months.
I re-released my previous books, with better editing and flashier cover art.
I overhauled the design of my blog to attract more readers.
I created my own online bookstore.
I started a new mailing list.

The result of all this? I was able to quit my job and become a full-time writer seven months later.

Cultivating a healthy mindset also helped carry me through several major crises. It was around the time I read What to Say When You Talk to Your Self that my article “The Case Against Female Self-Esteem” went viral. For three months after I published that post, my email inbox and social media accounts were a flood of death threats and hate from triggered feminists. I was denounced by everyone from Daily Kos to the Huffington Post.

Meanwhile, my traffic grew exponentially: I got over one million hits in October 2013 alone and got so much traffic one day that my hosting provider had to disable my account.

It would have been easy to wilt in the face of public opposition, to apologize for my views, pull the article or whatever, especially considering that this was around the time that public figures like Pax Dickinson were being roasted alive for un-PC statements. But I stood firm and didn’t back down, mocking my haters and refusing to kow-tow to their temper tantrums. In fact, when I visited New York City during the height of the shitstorm, I actively Tweeted out my location much of the time, making it easier for my enemies to stalk me.

What happened? Nothing.

I was able to stand up to so much public pressure because I was using what Cernovich refers to as “gorilla mindset” techniques. I taught myself that the collective shitfit feminists were throwing didn’t matter. They couldn’t get me fired from my job, arrested for “hate speech,” or even killed. In fact, the public anger over my article on female self-esteem was part of what helped me become financially independent off my writing.

I’ve weathered similar crises—and come out stronger—largely because of the power of self-talk. When hordes of tattooed sluts descended upon me, infuriated at my Return of Kings article on girls with tattoos and piercings, I flipped ’em the bird and laughed. When a jilted male feminist tried to instigate an SJW lynch mob to falsely accuse me of rape (while pressuring his girlfriend—one of my best friends—to go to the police and accuse me), gorilla mindset techniques saved me from having a nervous breakdown.

Gorilla Mindset isn’t simply a clap-happy self-improvement book: Cernovich’s advice can save your life.

Aiding Cernovich’s introductory chapters on self-talk is a wealth of information on health and lifestyle. In contrast to Helmstetter’s laser-like approach to self-esteem, Gorilla Mindset provides a comprehensive, holistic plan on transforming your life. Taking Cernovich’s advice on posture, supplements and other aspects of your life ensures that the gorilla mindset will become a permanent fixture of your personality:

Practicing such body language and mindset can result in them being chronically activated. Therefore, rather than getting a temporary increase from a workout or a victory, such exercises may allow for regulation of testosterone over a longer time frame. After all, the research I discussed in the science of posture and testosterone article, about changes in testosterone levels in men during marriage and divorce, seems to indicate longer-term effects on testosterone due to psychological and social changes (Mazur & Booth, 1998).

Cernovich also backs up much of his writing with citations showing that his advice is scientifically sound.

While it may sound hagiographic to say this, you can’t afford not to buy Gorilla Mindset. Self-talk has had such an huge impact on my life that it’s virtually impossible to imagine where I’d be without it. If you’re sick of pop psychology and generic self-help fluff, Cernovich’s book holds the key to unlocking your full potential as a man. Gorilla Mindset is easily one of the most important books released in 2015 and a must-add to your collection.

Watch the companion video to this review below:

To watch the video on YouTube, click here. To watch it on BitChute, click here. For more videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel here and my BitChute channel here.

Click here to buy Gorilla Mindset.

Stoic Paradoxes by Cicero (Translated by Quintus Curtius)

Quintus Curtius’ translation of Stoic Paradoxes manages to accomplish something that few books do: make a complex philosophy accessible to the average man.

People know about Stoicism in the loosest sense as a philosophy that encourages men to reign in destructive emotions and become resilient as a means of dealing with life’s challenges. Hell, “stoic” entered the English language as a word describing those who can endure hardship or tribulations without whining or breaking under stress. But as with all philosophical concepts borrowed from other peoples, Stoicism is much deeper than the popular imagination conceives it to be.

But how do you learn about Stoicism—or any philosophy, for that matter—without drowning in awkward translations or bad scholarship?

Stoic Paradoxes by Cicero is the perfect place to start. This new translation by Return of Kings contributor Quintus Curtius presents one of the classic texts of Stoicism in an easy to understand way. If you’re looking for a stimulating read that will turn your worldview on its head, Stoic Paradoxes is worth the money.

But this begs the question: why do we need a new translation of this work? Stoic Paradoxes has been translated into English before. Curtius explains in his intro, which also does an excellent job of summarizing both Stoicism and the value of Cicero’s work:

Translators are often known to complain about the dilemmas they face in rendering the thoughts and words of a writer from one language into another. The reader may be assured that this dilemma is very real. For the conscientious translator, there is a constant tension between faithfulness to the original text and readability in the target language. If the translator emphasizes too literal a rendering of his text, he risks producing something clumsy or opaque in the target language; but if he emphasizes a looser, “freer” rendering of the text, he risks producing something that departs too far from the original. So one must strike a balance between fidelity to the original text, and unambiguouscomprehension in English. The success or failure of a translation is based on this balance.

I’m far from fluent in ancient languages, but I’d say that Curtius nailed it with his approach. The main text of Stoic Paradoxes flows as smoothly as Coke down the chin of a fat kid, conveying Cicero’s ideas in concise yet intelligent language. To paraphrase a quote Chip Smith used about my friend Ann Sterzinger’s translation of Octave Mirbeau’s In the Sky, I expected the book to read like Curtius, but instead it reads like Cicero.

Further adding to this edition of Stoic Paradoxes is the extensive scholarship that Curtius has included alongside it. He doesn’t simply regurgitate Cicero’s words in a modern language; he includes several introductory chapters on his life and works as well as an extensive series of endnotes for those interested in studying further. Curtius’ efforts do an excellent job of easing the reader into the currents of Cicero’s thoughts:

He found himself back in Rome after his sojourn in Greece, and from that point devoted himself completely to law and politics. At the age of thirty he married his wife Terentia, a woman of likely patrician stock who provided Cicero the financial boost and connections needed to be a competitor in Roman politics. He enjoyed many years of domestic felicity with her, but financial troubles brought on by Cicero’s political tribulations ultimately doomed their marriage, and they divorced in 46. But that heartache was for the future. Beginning in 75, he had many years of successes, including being elected to several offices at the earliest age that candidacy was possible. First came a successful quaestorship in Sicily; when this ended he was hired by several Sicilian municipalities to prosecute a corrupt official named Caius Verres.

The main text of Stoic Paradoxes comprises about half of the book’s total length; while you can blast through the whole thing in about a day, Cicero’s words require careful study. What strikes me about Cicero’s presentation of Stoicism is how alien it is to modern sensibilities.

I don’t mean that Stoicism is difficult to understand; I mean it runs counter to how people today are expected to act.

In the modern West, men and women are expected to give in to their emotions at all times, to whine about their problems, and to turn molehills into mountains. Microaggressions, trigger warnings, and social justice witch hunts are the products of unrestrained emotion. Indeed, people in general—and women specifically—are so consumed by emotion that they’re starting to lash out in violence in order to further their left-wing agendas.

Mankind is devolving into a race of giant babies, constantly on the prowl for something new to be offended by.

Stoicism stands against the maelstrom of emotion and the arrogance of atheist materialism by teaching that the way to inner peace is through restraint. Only by curbing your worst instincts and living in harmony with nature can you become the best man you can be. Cicero argues for Stoicism with passion and logic, citing examples of how unrestrained emotion leads men to grisly ends:

Did these men think the only things worth pursuing in life were those things shallowly praiseworthy or appealing? Let those who mock this argument and judgment come now, and decide whether they prefer to resemble those who live in gleaming houses of marble, ebony, and gold, who have statutes, pictures, and embossed gold and silver ornaments, and Corinthian artworks; or if, rather, they prefer to be like Caius Fabricius, who neither had these things nor wanted them.

While it’s certainly possible to argue that Cicero goes too far in one direction, you can’t deny that our world could use some stiff upper lip. Stoic Paradoxes is a concise handbook for unlearning the mental pathologies that society forces upon you.

If I were to criticize Stoic Paradoxes for anything, it would be the inclusion of Cicero’s essay “Dream of Scipio.” It’s not part of Cicero’s original text; Curtius included it because it forms a “nice balance” with Stoic Paradoxes. While it’s certainly an interesting work, it clashes stylistically with the other essays in the book and feels out of place.

This is really a minor point, though. As a translation and a philosophical work, Stoic Paradoxes truly is a must-read for men. If you’re seeking masculine enlightenment and a counterpoint to mainstream society, Curtius’ book will kick your ass down the right path.

Watch the companion video to this review below:

To watch the video on YouTube, click here. To watch it on BitChute, click here. For more videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel here and my BitChute channel here.

Click here to buy Stoic Paradoxes.

A Date on Campus: Jackie’s First Frat Party by Emily Roberts

NOTE: I originally meant to publish this review at Return of Kings a few months ago, but I shelved it due to lack of time. In the time between when I first started writing the article and now, A Date on Campus was removed from Amazon for unknown reasons. I hope the author puts it back up, but until then, here’s my review.

As a popular writer who regularly posts on books, I’m generally awash in review copies of stuff. Everyone and their mother sends me a copy of their manifesto, novel, or totally-original-guide-on-how-to-lift-and-pick-up-chicks at some point, hoping I’ll give them the thumbs up… or actually review the damn thing. At any given time, I’m absolutely drowning in review copies, to the point where they’re crowding out the stuff that I actually want to read.

And then there’s the rare book that gets to jump the queue and pique my interest.

Some time ago, I received an email from an “Emily Roberts” with the subject line “UVA/Rolling Stone erotica.” I immediately opened it up and read this:

“Virginia Robinson” inspired me. Enjoy the book ;)

“Virginia Robinson” refers to how I trolled the manosphere last year under the identity of the same-named submissive Christian housewife and aspiring erotica novelist. I clicked the attached link and received my free copy of A Date on Campus: Jackie’s First Frat Party, described as “a steamy re-imagining of the infamous UVA frat exposé in Rolling Stone magazine.”

Oh shit…

I was expecting A Date on Campus to be similar to Roughed Up by #GamerGape, another recent erotica title based off of real-life events, in this case the rampant cheating of game industry darling Zoe Quinn. I reviewed Roughed Up by #GamerGape for Reaxxion back in January, finding it weakly written and about as “offensive” as a Cinemax softcore flick (Quinn and her lackeys had the book pulled from Amazon for being “threatening” or something equally stupid).

While both #GamerGape and A Date on Campus are “ripped from today’s headlines” (as the marketers might put it), that’s where the similarities end. While A Date on Campus has an obvious parodic undertone, the book is not only serious as an erotica title, but is much more skillfully written. A Date on Campus is a fictionalized depiction of the now-discredited story Sabrina Rubin Erdely fabricated for her article “A Rape on Campus,” sans the actual rape:

Jackie sat still as a mouse, soaking in the discussion. Over the summer, she had dumped her high school boyfriend. He was handsome enough, but also a little nerdy and insecure. Initially, she had been attracted to his intelligent, bookish nature, but she had always felt, deep down, that he wasn’t quite in her league. Whenever an athlete or other high school alpha male made a pass at her, she inwardly seethed with frustration that she was tied down with her boring boyfriend. She used her move to Charlottesville as an excuse to break up with him. “Since we’ll be so far apart, maybe we should start seeing other people,” she had said to her devastated boyfriend, knowing full well that it would be much easier for her to “see other people” than it would be for him.

The plot follows the nondescript college freshman Jackie, who arrives at the University of Virginia newly single and ready to mingle. Unfortunately, despite being away from her family, surrounded by throngs of horny young men—and having a raging slut for a roommate—poor Jackie just can’t get a date. That is, until she becomes acquainted with one Drew Monahan, a hunky lifeguard who draws her eye… and gives her a means to live out her forbidden fantasies:

But most frequently, Jackie would imagine an attractive guy, driven wild by desire, taking her by force. In these dubious consent fantasies, it was never the guy himself she objected to, but the place and time. “I can’t wait any longer,” the man would whisper menacingly in her ear as he pulled her unwillingly into a public restroom or an empty classroom. “STOP! Not here! Someone will see us!” she would protest futilely as he roughly yanked her bra off and pulled down her pants. Once she was naked—dangerously exposed to anyone who might stumble in on them—she would give in and passionately fuck the guy, orgasming intensely at the thrilling risk of discovery.

The writing in A Date on Campus, while not award-winning, is actually pretty good and does its job in getting the reader all hot and bothered. Roberts’ main folly is that she occasionally slips into overly clinical terminology to describe sex acts, akin to a more talented E.L. James. While it isn’t too bad in many cases (such as in the above excerpts), some of the segments lose steam due to Roberts narrating them like she’s a nurse trying to figure out how a free clinic patient got a dildo wedged up his ass:

Jackie remembered that her ex-boyfriend liked her to massage his epididymis tubes with her tongue when she gave him blowjobs. Jackie released Drew’s dick and started sucking his balls instead. With her tongue, she vigorously stroked the semen ducts at the back of Drew’s testicles.

Call me cynical, but I have a hard time believing that the average teenage girl could even pronounce “epididymis.”

Where A Date on Campus really shined for me—someone who has no interest in reading erotica—is the ending. The book is effectively alternate history (or, if you want to get technical, actual history, as opposed to the mainstream media’s narrative about the UVA rape hoax), resembling a smuttier, less literary version of Andy Nowicki’s Heart Killer (no, I’m not joking).

Without spoiling anything, Roberts’ explanation for Jackie’s booze-soaked gangbang is both amusing and a depressing commentary on modern America.

While A Date on Campus is not exactly the kind of book you run to go buy, I recommend it as both a way to get off (if you’re into that kind of thing) and a smartly written reinterpretation of one of the biggest hoaxes of recent years. Emily Roberts’ erotic novella isn’t just better written than “A Rape on Campus,” it’s infinitely more believable. Forget The Onion: we get more honesty from porn these days than from the media.

Click here to buy A Date on Campus: Jackie’s First Frat Party.

Is Peruvian Naturals’ Maca Root Worth the Money?

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I recommend maca root as an inexpensive supplement for enhancing your sexual health. Taking 1,575 mg of it a day not only made my testicles larger, it also increased the frequency and strength of my erections.

But does the brand you use make a difference?

A while back, Colin Post sent me some free samples of maca root from his company, Peruvian Naturals. After having taken Peruvian Naturals’ product for several months straight, I can confidently say that it is the superior product. If you’re looking for an easy way to improve your testicular health and sex drive, Peruvian Naturals’ maca root is the way to go.

Maca Root, Enhanced

The main difference between the Nature’s Way brand I previously used and Peruvian Naturals’ brand is the size and potency. Peruvian Naturals’ maca root comes in chalky tablets similar to their chanca piedra, and each tablet is 800 mg, as opposed to Nature’s Way’s 525 mg. As a result, you only need to take two tablets per day as opposed to three.

When I first began using Peruvian Naturals, I noticed that my balls were a bit bigger than when I was using Nature’s Way. It wasn’t a big difference—I don’t have to cart them around in a wheelbarrow or anything—but it was large enough to stand out.

Additionally, Peruvian Naturals’ product gives me more of an energy boost when I pair it with bee pollen and other supplements that boost my alertness. While maca root doesn’t give me energy on its own, it helps enhance the effects of other energy-boosting supplements.

Overall, Peruvian Naturals’ maca root is well worth the extra money that it costs. Its increased effectiveness compared to other brands means you will get more out of each tablet.

Click here to buy Peruvian Naturals Maca Root.

Why Herb Pharm’s Ashwagandha is the Best

A while back, I recommended taking ashwagandha as an all-purpose sleep aid and anxiety reducer. While not as powerful as phenibut or kratom, a capsule of ashwagandha every day had a noticeably calming effect on my demeanor.

But like with other supplements, not all brands of ashwagandha are equal.

A month ago, I switched from ashwagandha capsules to a tincture by Herb Pharm. While results may vary depending on your makeup, I’ve noticed both a massive improvement in the quality of my sleep and a measured decrease in my general anxiety.

Overall, I’d recommend Herb Pharm’s tincture if you’re looking to get the most out of your ashwagandha.

Herb Pharm: The Difference Is Here

The main difference with Herb Pharm’s ashwagandha tincture is that it hits you much faster than the capsules. Within ten or so minutes of consuming the tincture, I feel a wave of relaxation wash over my body. The effect is akin to phenibut, but much faster, not as powerful, and non-addictive.

Additionally, you also need far less of the Herb Pharm tincture to get a buzz compared to capsules. I was able to cut the recommended dosage on the tincture bottle in half to feel the effects.

Note that like capsule ashwagandha, tinctures need to be cycled if you want them to maintain their effect. If you take ashwagandha continuously, your brain’s receptors will build up a tolerance rather quickly. Right now, I use ashwagandha on a 4 days on/3 days off cycle, which helps keep my body from becoming too acclimated to the stuff.

The bottom line is this: if you’re going to try ashwagandha, I highly recommend Herb Pharm’s tincture. It not only produces better results than ashwagandha in capsule form, it’s cheaper as well.

Click here to buy Herb Pharm Ashwagandha.

Why You Need to Take Vitamin D and Vitamin K2

While most people recognize that they need Vitamin D, they typically stick to the cheap brands available from their local supermarkets. It’s yet another type of supplement where relying on store brands can do more harm than good.

Like with fish oil, you need to spend money if you want results.

The problem with taking Vitamin D on its own is that without Vitamin K2, D will calcify your arteries, causing atherosclerosis and speeding up your aging. Vitamins D and K2 are symbiotic: in order to get the maximum benefit out of one, you need to use the other.

While grass-fed butter is a good source of Vitamin K2, the best solution is to use a variety of Vitamin D that includes K2. The store-brand softgels not only don’t have it, they don’t provide enough IUs (international units) of D for optimal health. The solution is a high-potency product such as Thorne Research’s Vitamin D/K2 blend. I’ve been using Thorne Research’s blend for a few months now and it’s had absolutely fantastic results.

Vitamin D for the Rest of Us

Thorne Research’s product is a world apart from the economy grocery store brands that barely work. It comes in a tincture form, as opposed to softgels, and the recommended daily dosage is much higher: 4,000 IU, as opposed to the standard 1,000 IU for most softgels. Given that 2,000 IU is the minimum amount of Vitamin D that most people need, does doubling that make a difference? The answer is fuck yes.

When I first began taking Thorne Research’s product, I noticed an immediate improvement in my mood and energy. While softgel Vitamin D provided a small boost in my overall energy, Thorne Research’s blend was like getting a temporary personality transplant. I felt way less lethargic and sunnier, and in conjunction with phenibut and kratom, I was also considerably more social.

The only real downside I can see to Thorne Research’s Vitamin D is the price: at just shy of $25, the cost might deter some shoppers. But given that one small bottle will last over a year (since you only take four drops per day), it’s still an incredible value.

Overall, I’d recommend Thorne Research’s Vitamin D to anyone who’s looking to enhance their overall happiness. Store-brand softgels are better than nothing, but if you want to go to the next level, Thorne Research is the way to go.

Click here to buy Thorne Research Vitamin D/K2.

Can Chanca Piedra Reduce Your Chances of Getting Kidney Stones?

Chanca piedra is a plant from South America used by Amazonian natives and other South Americans to treat kidney stones. The herb’s name literally translates to “crushes rocks,” and it purportedly works to lower and normalize calcium levels in urine, since excessively high calcium is the cause of those oh-so-painful kidney stones.

But does it actually work?

I don’t have kidney stones, but in the past month, my diet hasn’t been the best. Due to the amount of traveling I’ve been doing, I find myself eating out a lot and drinking a lot of soda and beer. Whenever I start getting the bulk of my hydration from anything other than water, my urine turns a deep yellow and smells bad. I figure this is due to the higher concentration of sugar and other garbage in what I’m drinking.

A while back, Colin Post sent me some free samples from his company, Peruvian Naturals, and a bottle of chanca piedra was among them. I decided to put the stuff to the test, and chanca piedra is an effective way to cure/avoid kidney stones and clean out your bloodstream.

Chanca Piedra: Nature’s Janitor

Peruvian Naturals’ chanca piedra looks like something out of a nutritionist’s nightmare. The stuff comes in 500 milligram tablets that have the consistency of chalk, while their pungent odor resembles nothing less than some obscure chemical custodians use to scrub out vomit stains.

But this stuff works.

After taking two tablets (one gram) of chanca piedra for a week, I noticed that my urine had changed consistency and was clearer and less smelly. This was despite the fact that I was still eating a pretty crappy road diet. Two weeks after going on the chanca piedra and my urine had become almost water-like, though that was probably helped by the fact that I was eating somewhat normally again.

I also didn’t have anything close to a kidney stone.

While I wouldn’t recommend chanca piedra as a general use supplement, if you’re worried about kidney stones—or actually suffering from them—you should check it out. It’s cheap, takes effect quickly and will noticeably improve the quality of your urine.

Click here to buy Peruvian Naturals Chanca Piedra.

Whiskey and Ashes: An Inebriate’s Avowals, Maxims and Observations by Ace

Whiskey and Ashes is one of those rare books that provides value well beyond what its slim length suggests.

A collection of quotes from Ace of 80-Proof Oinomancy, one of the manosphere’s best-kept secrets, Whiskey and Ashes is 300 pithy one-liners spread out over a thin 64 pages. The book is designed in such a fashion that while you can plow through it quickly, without investing a whole lot of mental energy into it, most of Ace’s witticisms will stick with you long after you hit the last page on your Kindle.

This is one “bathroom book” that you’ll be returning to again and again.

Whiskey and Ashes is worth the Lincoln that Ace is charging for it because of its wisdom. Ace’s writing doesn’t spoonfeed you the facts or treat you like a retard who needs everything spelled out in 18-point font and bullet-point lists. While there are a few duds in the collection, they don’t diminish the impact of the book.

But just who the hell is Ace, anyway? Whiskey and Ashes has a brief foreword by our mutual friend Dr. Illusion, shedding light on this mystery man and his maxims:

In the years I have known Ace, he has always been there with sage advice when I needed it. He became the person I reached out to when life was kicking my ass. Whatever I was going through, he had been there and provided wise (but always cryptic, of course) words to make me approach the problem in a different light. One gem that I will always remember came when I talked to him about relationship problems. He said to me “Remember this, Doc. She doesn’t love you, and she isn’t having sex with you. She loves an idea of you, and she’s fucking that idea or image of you. If you want a deep personal connection, get a dog.”

From there, the book launches into Ace’s “avowals,” a collection of short quips on everything from women to civilizational decline to random miscellany:

It would appear that men aren’t entitled to sex; women aren’t entitled to safety. One might be led to believe that fact brought us together.

Remember, if it has tits or tires you’re going to have trouble with it eventually.

What makes this world tragic is this fact: One can be great or one can be grateful. Never both simultaneously.

Ace’s writing is powerful not just because of what he says but what he doesn’t say. His jibes are characterized by what he calls “negative space,” the idea of making a point without explicitly stating what the point is. This gives Whiskey and Ashes a permanence beyond its seeming brevity. You’ll read a few of Ace’s quotes, close the book, turn them over in your head and eventually go, “Holy shit! NOW I get it!”

How many books inspire you to keep thinking about them long after you’ve put them away?

My problems with Whiskey and Ashes are two. One, the book needs a better edit job. The very first maxim in the book is missing a period, and too many of Ace’s sentences could have used more standardized punctuation. Second, the organization of the book seems a bit random. While the final maxim in the book will hit you like a bullet in the gizzard, Whiskey and Ashes seemingly skips around topics without any kind of rhyme.

That said, the mean length of each maxim is one sentence, so it’s not a huge deal.

Bottom line? Whiskey and Ashes is a must-buy, and potentially one of the most momentous books released this year. I don’t say that lightly, but Ace’s viewpoint and philosophy will benefit any man who takes the time to study them.

Click here to buy Whiskey and Ashes: An Inebriate’s Avowals, Maxims and Observations.