Matt Warnock, Free My Health & RidgeCrest Herbals

Matt Warnock, Owner of RidgecrestAt RidgeCrest Herbals, our mission is to change the way people use and think about herbal remedies. We believe herbs are medicines, and can be used in many ways to help the human condition. Herbs can be as powerful as drugs, but safer, more renewable, biodegradable, and affordable, and with fewer side effects. Like homeopathics, acupuncture, naturopathy, and many other “alternative” practices, they should be readily available and affordable to everyone. 

RidgeCrest Herbals was started in 1993 by my father Paul Warnock and his partner Clyde StClair. They took over a line of complex professional formulas and took them to health food stores. I got involved in 2000, when Clyde was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and my mother fell victim to “Fen-phen,” a combination of two FDA-approved weight loss drugs. She was initially given only 18 to 24 months to live, but she lasted 14 years, mostly bedridden after a couple of strokes. My dad needed help, and more time with mom. My plan was to run RidgeCrest Herbals until we found a better solution—but I loved the industry and stayed. It’s now been 24 years.

My Journey

I graduated in 1985 with both an MBA and a JD (law degree). I clerked in two government agencies and a patent law firm, and had my fill of administrative law. Until 1998, I was an attorney and litigator in Silicon Valley. Part of my job was to prepare and examine expert witnesses, sifting real science from paid advocacy. I then moved to Utah to do some mergers and acquisitions work, where I practiced my MBA skills for a couple of years. I also started mentoring entrepreneurs, helping them get capital and experience. I still do that today with Kinect Capital, a unique non-profit venture accelerator in Utah.

When I took over RidgeCrest Herbals in 2000, I was terrified. Both my parents and the StClair family depended on RidgeCrest Herbals for their retirement income. I kept hearing herbs and supplements were unregulated and unsafe. If two FDA-approved drugs (Fen-phen) could do so much damage when combined, why would herbal medicine be different? Our simplest herbal formula had five ingredients; some contained dozens. How could I know they were safe? 

I did what I’d always done as a litigator: dive deeply into the science. What I found surprised me—medicine was not so much science as art, and included a lot of early simplifying assumptions that we now know are not true. These discredited assumptions include:

• Not all people are alike, and there is no one “standard of care” that is best for everyone. We know now that even identical twins have different epigenetics, microbiomes, environment, and medical history. All of these factors affect dose response relationships and sensitivity.
• Statistics can analyze and predict results in populations, but in medicine, we treat individuals. Statistics are of very limited value in practice.
• Drugs can’t be both “safe and effective.” In reality, safety and potency are always a trade-off, based on dose.
• Many drugs are prescribed far above their ED50 (effective dose for 50% of population), leading to increased side effects and interactions.
• Drugs are tested in a simple clinical environment, but prescribed in complex ones.
• Drugs are rarely tested in combination, but often administered together (polypharmacy).
• Drugs often compete for common elimination channels, causing interactions.
• Dose response curves, and especially toxicity curves, are much more complex than is commonly assumed. 
• Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are notoriously difficult to replicate, and often not worth their cost. Other scientific tools are often better for the job.

As I learned more about herbal medicine, I found that it made very different assumptions:

• People differ, and the differences matter.
• Herbalists pay less attention to symptoms, and more to underlying causes.
• When we artfully combine ingredients, we can use less and still get better results.
• When we combine ingredients, we get gentler and more predictable individual results.
• Herbal medicine is based on centuries of observation, but needs better scientific theory and explanation.
• Herbal medicine isn’t safer by nature—it’s centuries of experience combining herbs in diet and discovering the dangers that make it safer than most drugs.

Eventually, I became an “accidental herbalist.” I learned to formulate using both ancient and modern theories and materials. I received a couple of patents: one on combining herbs with homeopathics, and another on bioavailability. I wrote articles and talked to other members of the industry. The more I learned, the more I realized that our medical system needs an overhaul—that while both herbal and conventional medicine can learn from each other, modern medicine should probably become more like traditional herbal medicine, not the other way around. Interestingly, in cutting-edge medicine, some of this is already happening. But the economics of regulation still make it virtually impossible to use herbal medicines commercially. 

We Grow Our Vision

As RidgeCrest Herbals grew, we attracted people who understand our mission. It’s more than just helping people lead healthier lives—it’s about changing the world. Ten years ago, we started our annual Almanac—a way for us to communicate a culture of caring and positive energy to people who share our values. As we grow, we put these values into everything we do: Eclectic, Innovative, Effective, Trusted, Caring, and Fun! We build herbal remedies for specific needs that either aren’t addressed, or not effectively. We don’t chase fads or “me too” products—we only make products that we think will make a real difference in our customers’ lives. Though nothing works for absolutely everyone, we do pretty well. We live our motto every day: “Guaranteed results, naturally!”

Growth has also helped us focus more energy on our vision. Although I had plenty of volunteer work, when Michael McGuffin asked me to run for the board of AHPA [the American Herbal Products Association], I was honored to do so. I have always looked up to Michael and many other industry leaders. I want us to be proactive, rather than always fighting a rearguard defensive action against FDA, FTC, and others who wrongly claim we are unregulated and unsafe. They seem to have an unlimited supply of bad regulatory ideas, while the real cause of our medical troubles (an FDA monopoly with no price controls) never seems to be even considered.

What Can You Do?

Last year FTC sent a warning letter to about 670 companies (us included) making unsubstantiated allegations of unsubstantiated claims, and threatening damages of over $50,000 per day. While raising this issue with others in the industry, I met Margrett Lewis, whose startup (ppolabs.com) had been sued before they even got started. I also met Nate Jones of Xlear, who had been sued for sharing science about a nasal lavage product. I talked to old friends like Elan Sudberg of Alkemist Labs and Jim Emme of NOW Foods who were as upset about this as I was. Together we drafted an open letter to FTC which can be found at FreeMyHealth.org. We hope that every member of the industry will sign on to protest FTC’s misguided ideas. Consumer groups like Alliance for Natural Health USA, Citizens for Health and the National Health Federation have also signed on, because they recognize the negative impact this FTC action will have on natural health choices.

Herbs like Heal-all, Boneset and Feverfew earned their common names because they work, and their qualities should not be censored by bureaucrats in the thrall of modern drug cartels. I can talk about those herbs because we don’t happen to sell them—if we did, merely talking about them would sprinkle them with magic pixie dust and make them “unapproved new drugs” in FDA’s twisted worldview. Such legal gymnastics are absurd and unfair, and deprive consumers of important and affordable health care options. Such monopolistic censorship shouldn't be tolerated.

Sadly, this was all predicted long ago. Years before the Bill of Rights was adopted, while Virginia still had one official, established religion, Thomas Jefferson wrote that in both science and religion, only freedom favored progress. He lamented Virginia’s religious intolerance, and warned: “Was the government to prescribe our diet and medicine, our bodies would be in the same care that our souls are now.” He went on to say that “It is error alone that needs the support of government. Truth can stand on its own.” He was right then, and is even more so today.

Please go to FreeMyHealth.org to defend your health freedom!