About Us

Welcome to Tango Advanced Nutrition

For the last 20 years Tango Advanced Nutrition has manufactured and distributed a unique line of advanced herbal formulas, all designed by an outstanding team of anti-aging scientists and world-class herbal researchers. Our advanced formulas are modern, updated versions of traditional herbal “essence tonics,” long revered for their legendary abilities to enhance energy, promote vitality and restore health.

Superior Tonic Herbs

Tango’s advanced herbal formulas are based exclusively on tonic herbalism – the practice of combining traditional ‘tonic herbs’ into formulas that deliver synergistic effects greater than those possible from taking individual herbs. All of our formulas are based on Jing or essence tonics, commonly referred to as “anti-aging” herbals and taken to prolong “the years of life without aging.”

Tonic herbs, also referred to as “superior herbs” in Traditional Chinese Medicine, are an “elite class” of about 60 of the approximately 3,000 herbs currently used in traditional herbal medicine. By definition, tonic herbs can be taken continuously over long periods of time for cumulative, long-term benefits free of unwanted side effects. The core tenet of tonic herbalism is that regular consumption will aid the body in maintaining its self-regulatory capacity for optimal health.

Safety and Efficacy

The surprising safety and efficacy of Tango formulas derives from our innovative approach of combining time-proven herbal ingredients with modern, state-of-the-art manufacturing, testing and quality control standards to unleash the restorative powers of these time-honored herbals.

In the United States new drugs typically undergo three to five years of human clinical testing before being approved for sale by the FDA. Unfortunately, serious side effects often don’t appear until a new drug has been taken by larger numbers of people, over longer periods of time. By comparison, herbal tonic formulas have undergone a constant state of development and refinement over periods stretching back thousands of years, contributing to a large and sophisticated body of empirical knowledge, gathered over countless generations, that reveals which herbs are safe and most capable of supporting human health.

All Tango herbal formulas are put through an exhaustive, multilayered analytical testing program overseen by Dr. Richard Ko, former senior research scientist with the California Department of Health Services, Food and Drug Branch for 16 years, and currently a senior FDA consulting scientist. Dr. Ko has been actively involved in regulating dietary supplements and investigating issues related to herbal products, as demonstrated by his numerous published peer reviewed papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet and the Journal of Medical Toxicology.

Dr. Ko brings his unique perspective and guidance regarding herbal safety and efficacy, assuring that all of our herbal formulas meet or exceed FDA and U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) safety standards for purity and quality.

About the Founders

• Jim English is a widely published nutritional-science editor and author of several books and articles on nutritional supplements. In 1991 Jim founded Smart Products, a unique company that introduced America to a number of novel supplements — many previously unavailable at the time — such as DHEA, melatonin and pregnenolone. In 1992, Jim appeared on Nightline with guest-host Barbara Walters to address a number of topics, including smart drugs, energy drinks, and cognitive-enhancing supplements such as ginkgo biloba (read interview here).

In 1993 Jim launched his first newsletter, IntelliScope. Dedicated to consumer education, IntelliScope published fully referenced articles, product reviews, and ground-breaking interviews with leading antiaging researchers, such as Durk Pearson, Sandy Shaw, and Ward Dean, MD.

Jim has also served as editor of Focus on Health (Allergy Research Group/NutriCology), senior editor and writer for Vitamin Research News, and contributing writer for Life Extension Magazine. Recent publications include A Users Guide to Ginkgo Biloba, A Users Guide to Vitamin C, and several anthologies of collected articles (2000 and 2001), co-authored with Ward Dean, MD.

• John Steinke began his medical career as an acupuncturist and herbalist specializing in sports medicine, trauma care and performance enhancement. In his practice John noted that many of the elite athletes he was working with were showing signs of premature aging. Football players and other contact sports athletes were suffering from chronic pain disorders caused by frequent injuries, and distance runners and triathletes were developing chronic fatigue and immune disorders from overtraining. To aid his clients John developed a series of advanced healing programs based on antiaging “Essence Formulas” to help both groups of athletes with a great deal of success.

John’s work is highlighted in Total Impact, the autobiographical story of San Francisco 49er Ronnie Lott’s playing career. (Click here to read John’s inteview on the Cary Nosler Show regarding the history and antiaging benefits of Essence herbal formulas).

Recognizing that everybody eventually suffers from premature aging related to poor blood circulation and weak energy metabolism, John began to offer his sports programs to the general public.