Hippocrates said: “Let your food be your medicine.” He was right. He understood that food ultimately controlled health, and that how we feel is a direct consequence of what we put into our bodies.
Proper nutrition affects us everyday in terms of energy storage, functioning as properly as we need to, even controlling sleep patterns. Allowing the body to receive the nutrients it needs through the proper food sources is a gift we should all be giving to our hard-workin’ bodies. Unfortunately, eating right isn’t all there is to it.
  Root Formulas is a company started about 6 months ago by Lee Schwalb and Andrea Medina in San Francisco, CA. They make tinctures and tonics using natural, homeopathic ingredients (grown locally whenever possible) combined with a vast knowledge of ancient Chinese, Ayurvedic, Western, and progressive preventative medicine.  

Lee is a licensed acupuncturist by trade, and we got to meet up with him to talk about the formulas and how they work. He explained that while ancient Chinese medicine used herbs native and local to China and other Asian countries, our westernized bodies cannot easily handle Eastern herbs. Many people may protest that they have had great success with Chinese herbs, but some of us westerners simply can’t handle them as well. 
  Our bodies are used to ingesting different sorts of foods, so to ensure absorption and the quality of their product, Lee and Andrea use herbs more native to Americans and our bodies. By making them in this way, they are more rapidly absorbed through the blood stream and thus more effective. 
  He also explained that while most people understand that exercise and nutrition are the foundations of a healthy lifestyle, they aren’t eating the right foods to be healthy. For instance, if you’re ingesting lots of crummy foods, the nutrients provided are sparse and have an extremely hard time being absorbed by the body. By supplementing with, for instance, the digestion formula, the nutrients react to the herbal stimulant which help clear a path through the yucky stuff so the nutrients can be absorbed into the body.   

Another great thing about Root Formula’s products? All of the ingredients are things you’ve actually heard of: ginger, dandelion root, licorice, cayenne, and passionflower are just a few ingredients found in their products. When was the last time you could pronounce everything in the ingredients list on the medicine bottle? Probably never! The simplicity of their product is comforting in a world full of prescription bottles and empty results. 
  Their more popular formulas include the sleep formula, made with valerian and hops, and the calming formula, made with St. Johns wort and chamomile. 
 They gave me a few bottles of the digestion formula and the PMS formula to try for myself, because the proof is in the pudding (er, tonic)! I have been using the digestion formula for about two weeks now, and the PMS formula for the past week. After just three days of taking the digestion formula (1 teaspoon with 8 ounces of water, three times daily) I noticed a difference in how my tummy felt after I ate, like my food was being processed more efficiently. My food seemed to be digesting more easily, not sitting in my stomach for as long. I also noticed that the need to snack in between breakfast and lunch seemed to ease, as though the formula was allowing my body to truly absorb all of the nutrients of my food, keeping me satisfied longer. The PMS formula is truly awesome. It helped ease almost all of my normal symptoms, including irritability, indigestion, and excess gas and bloating. I can’t speak highly enough of it!