There are moments in a practitioner’s journey when you encounter a tool, a person, or a piece of knowledge that doesn’t just enhance your work—it transforms it. For me, one of those moments happened several years ago in Seattle at a NANP symposium, when I had the great fortune of meeting a brilliant representative from York Test. From that first conversation, I immediately recognized the profound value this form of testing could bring into my standard practice. Not as a repla

Sleep & Timing — When Consistency Becomes Medicine Why When You Eat and When You Sleep Matters More Than You Think By Dustin Strong, CHN, ACN One of the most overlooked aspects of sleep has nothing to do with supplements, sleep aids, or even bedtime routines. It’s timing. A woman in her 60s came to see me after making meaningful improvements to her sleep. She was feeling better than she had in years — and yet, she still sensed there was more available to her. Sleep was better

By Dustin Strong, CHN, ACN Sleep is rarely broken for just one reason. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing a series of real client stories — each revealing a different obstacle that was quietly standing in the way of deep, restorative sleep. These are not stories of failure, but of discovery. Together, they remind us that sleep is not a single habit to perfect, but a conversation with the body — one that changes with age, stress, environment, and life stage. If sleep has b

For more than 15 years, I have returned to the same powerful practice again and again: a 21-day purification. I have done this program for myself and guided thousands of people  through it. I’ve personally completed it over 50 times , and every year I hold these 21 days as non-negotiable  — sacred time for healing, learning, and renewal. Every November (1–21), January (11–31), and May (1–21), I pause the noise of life and return to the foundations of health. And every single

At a certain point in life, many people stop asking, “What else can I take?” And start asking, “Is all of this still serving me?” That question isn’t resistance. It’s wisdom. I see it often in people who have done everything they were told to do—kept appointments, filled prescriptions, followed instructions—yet still don’t feel quite like themselves. What’s often missing isn’t effort. It’s context. Medications can be incredibly helpful. They can also quietly accumulate over t

For a long time, I believed that giving my whole heart to every person who asked for help was the highest expression of service. And then I had a client who taught me otherwise. I showed up fully—emotionally, intellectually, energetically.I held space, offered clarity, mapped a path forward. And in the end, she chose not to continue. Not because she didn’t understand. Not because the path wasn’t there. But because she wasn’t ready to let go of what felt familiar. It was painf

A physician came to see me not long ago — a brilliant, compassionate doctor who kept finding herself stuck in a cycle of getting sick . She’d recover… then get sick again. And again. Nothing seemed to fully shift. Her words were, “I just feel stuck — like something isn’t moving.” As we talked, it became clear that her body wasn’t the only thing feeling stagnant — her energy, emotions, and overall vitality were feeling weighed down too. And as a Chinese herbalist herself, she

Exploring the hidden triggers behind adult-onset conditions — from infections to toxins and everything in between Most of us grow up believing our health story is predictable. If we’re healthy throughout childhood and adolescence, we assume we’ll simply continue on that path. So when a major condition “suddenly appears” in adulthood — especially one we were told is mostly genetic or lifelong — it can feel confusing, frightening, and often completely random. But here’s the tru

The Silent Mineral Crisis: Why Calcium + Phosphorus Can Change Your Health Forever When I talk about minerals, I’m not just talking about “supplements.”I’m talking about the very foundation of your vitality —the raw materials your body uses to build strong bones, balanced hormones, resilient nerves, and a metabolism that carries you gracefully through every decade of life. Two of the minerals I evaluate in every single person I work with? ✨ Calcium ✨ Phosphorus These two ofte

There’s something profoundly humbling about watching families care for one another. This morning, two sisters brought in their mother, who had recently been told she was in “heart failure.” Whether this was a misinterpretation or simply a translation mix-up, what they truly wanted was understanding—and hope. They had come the week prior to have her Heart Sound recorded. The Heart Sound Recorder (HSR) is a powerful, non-invasive tool that allows us to “listen” to the heart in