April 4, 2025 by Margie Navarro

SET case: 'Winter Reset'

This SET formula was created for someone who wanted to regulate and improve their mood– particularly heading out of the height of winter. I chose as the base a traditional East Asian combination of herbs and Poria mushroom shown in research to improve mood “by the regulation of several factors, including the monoaminergic systems, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, synaptic plasticity, inflammation, brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, [and the] brain-gut axis” (Wang, et al., 2023). The low point in her mood was often first thing in the morning. To nip this tendency in the bud and get her spring started off right, I blended this formula that she could take right before bed so that it could be assimilated overnight and set her day off right.

I encapsuled this formula for the patient for ease of taking– she could leave it on her nightstand so she remembered to take it and also easily pack it to go while traveling. Two of the herbs that are particularly important in this formula also have a bitter flavor, so while some formulas taste great enough to enjoy as a beverage, this is one that sometimes is best in capsules. So rather than mixig her herb blend in a base of either matcha or houjicha, the capsules could be taken directly for a few months to reset her neuroendocrine system.

– Margie Navarro, herbalist & acupuncturist

Reference: Wang, Y. T., Wang, X. L., Wang, Z. Z., Lei, L., Hu, D., & Zhang, Y. (2023). Antidepressant effects of the traditional Chinese herbal formula Xiao-Yao-San and its bioactive ingredients. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology, 109, 154558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154558