Mission Statement
In a world of sex herbs du jour, where stock boys at your local health food store dispense medical advice, and on-line providers offer herbal products used dangerously out of context from their original purpose (i.e. ma huang ephedra for weight loss), it is easy to spend a lot of money for little in return, or worse yet, for an herbal formula that can actually hurt you.
Beyond Well Being's mission is to provide TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) herb formulas to patients using solid TCM diagnostic tools, age-old TCM protocols and modern communication technology to arrive at an intelligent, safe and effective herbal medicine designed solely for the individual.
Just like the good ole days... in ancient China.
Al Stone, L.Ac.
Beyondwellbeing.com is the on-line extension of the traditional Chinese medicine practice of Al Stone, L.Ac., DAOM (Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine)
Being an acupuncturist in the state of California requires a masters degree in TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) or TOM (traditional Oriental medicine) which is an umbrella term for a variety of healing techniques and modalities. Acupuncture is one of them as are traditional Chinese herbal medicines.
Al Stone has also earned his doctorate in acupuncture and Oriental medicine (D.A.O.M.) at Emperor's College, one of only a handful of schools in the USA that have been given the approval to offer this doctorate.
Al is also an instructor of herbal medicine and Oriental diagnosis at Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica, California.
In 1995, Al began his other website, Acupuncture dot com which to this day continues to be the premier TCM website for the entire world. Some content written by Al remains at Acupuncture dot com to this day.
In 1999, Al co-authored a text book on Chinese herbal formulas that is used in English speaking TCM schools worldwide. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Review Guide was followed by another text book, authored again by Yi Qiao and Al Stone called "The Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis Study Guide", published by Eastland Press.
Al supports the highest standards of his profession and supports the work of TCM professional organizations such as the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and the California State Association of Oriental Medicine.
Al's background of philosophy and martial arts brought him to his present career in traditional Chinese medicine. Here's a one page synopsis of his path, give or take.
Al treked to China soon after graduation from college and his field notes and anectdotes are all found at "Al's Excellent Adventure".
Al also has a page with some of his photography and a few sayings on it too. Please enjoy "Crazy Nature, Straight Face," and "Random Pictures of Santa Monica."
Business Verification
Beyond Well Being has been operating out of Santa Monica, California since early 1998.
Click here for a Better Business Bureau Report on Beyond Well Being. They often change their web page addresses, so you may need to insert the name "Beyond Well Being" into the field asking for the name of the business on their home page.
Beyond Well Being's preferred mailing address is:
PO Box 3571 Santa Monica, CA. 90403-3571
Beyond Well Being also uses the convenient Paypal credit card payment website for secure credit card transactions as well as a variety of other financial services.
You can verify Beyond Well Being's financial history by clicking on the image to the left, or by visiting Paypal's Business Verification.
Everything that is for sale at BeyondWellBeing.com can be purchased online through your computer. If you are uncomfortable with online purchases, you can call us directly and make a credit card purchase over the phone.
Herbal Products Suppliers
Beyond Well Being herbal extracts are inserted into capsules in our Santa Monica, California offices. The powdered herbal extracts come from two suppliers.
Evergreen Herbs in City of Industry, California imports its herbal extracts from a supplier in Taiwan.
KPC (Kaiser Pharmaceutical Company) Herbs from another supplier in Taiwan.
Tianjiang Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. In the Jiangyin Economic Development Zone (How does that compare to "City of Industry" for a catchy name?) Jiangsu Province, China.
All of these products come from companies that adhere to or are credentialed by Australian or Taiwanese Good Manufacturing The American FDA does not yet have good manufacturing practice guidelines set up for the production of herbal supplements.
Beyond Well Being uses no endangered or threatened species in our herbal products.
Many informed consumers understand that there are some herbs out there such as Ma Huang/Ephedra which can cause heart problems in excessive dosages. Beyond Well Being formulas only include this herb when the patient conforms to traditional indications (such as the common cold with facial edema or wheezing, but no sweating) and in the traditional dosages below 10 mg per dosage. These formulas and ingredients are not available online, but only through direct professional contact in person.
If you are a vegetarian and you want to make sure that there are no animal products in your formula, you'll want to communicate that to me while we're discussing your case. Some of the herbs that I use come from animal sources. Of course, I don't use any endangered or threatened species. I can also put your formula into veggie-caps.
There are other herbs that I do use on a regular basis such as E Jiao which is made from the skin of a donkey and Mu Li which is an oyster shell. So, if that's a problem, we can talk about this. If it isn't a problem, don't let the thought of what the herbs are deter you from enjoying their medicinal properties. You eat sushi, don't you?
Other Websites of Interest
Gancao.net is a website that houses some interesting case studies, an excellent collection of links to other sites that deal with traditional Chinese medicine, and a list of TCM practitioners all over the world.
Eagle Herbs is going to be the next incarnation of this website.
