Some of the most important health discoveries start quietly.
A single plant. A scientist who can't stop asking questions. A nutrient profile so extraordinary that even the most seasoned researchers had to stop and take a second look.
Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat has existed for thousands of years. This ancient plant thrived in some of the harshest conditions on earth and spent centuries quietly producing one of the most diverse collections of polyphenols ever found in any food source. Up to 80 phytonutrients. Compounds that science now understands are critical to the way the body ages, the way the immune system stays balanced, and the way the brain performs across a lifetime.
But knowing a food holds extraordinary potential and actually knowing how to unlock that potential are two very different things.
That gap is exactly what the last eight years have been about closing.
What follows is the full story of an ancient plant meeting modern science at exactly the right moment. A timeline of soil discoveries, sprouting breakthroughs, regenerative farming, and a clinical trial involving hundreds of participants that is changing the conversation around what food can actually do for the human body.
It didn't happen all at once. Real science rarely does.
It happened layer by layer, question by question, with each discovery making the next one possible.
This is food as medicine. Proven.
2018 — A Big Bold Idea
Dr. Jeff Bland, a renowned nutritional biochemist and widely known as the Father of Functional Medicine, has a special talent for connecting the dots between food and human health. He starts by reading the latest scientific and medical articles every week. On a day in 2018, this is how an ancient plant called Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat came to his attention—particularly because of a nutrient profile more powerful than any other he had seen before. He didn’t know it at the time, but he was about to start a new journey that would bring a superfood to the world and Food is Medicine to the forefront of research.
2020 —The Seed
An heirloom strain of Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat, growing quietly on a small US farm, is identified as carrying up to 80 phytonutrients including polyphenols — far more than most food sources. Shortly after Big Bold Health formed a co-op to continue growing organic HTB, using regenerative techniques. The foundation is set. This is the beginning of Big Bold Health integrating with small farmers to bring this incredible crop back to the US food supply chain.
2021 —The Soil
Soil scientist Dr. Emily Reiss discovers the soil itself can make the plant more nutritious. Beneficial soil microbes being used in regenerative farming were introduced, measurably increasing the plant's rutin output before the seed is even harvested. HTB gets more powerful at its roots. That same year, small-batch artisanal HTB flour launches, milled by hand.
2022 — The Connection
Research confirms what leading scientists had suspected: balanced immune function is a hallmark of healthy aging. Dr. Jeff Bland connects this directly to HTB, establishing the ingredient not just as food, but as a tool for longevity. The science now has a target.
2023 — The Sprout
The biggest discovery yet. Sprouting HTB at its peak moment of germination triggers a concentrated surge in polyphenol output. A plant already extraordinary becomes supercharged. Sprout Powder launches. A new standard for nutrient density is set.
2024 —The Proof
The HTB Longevity Study links Immune Rejuvenate to the slowing of biological rate of aging by up to 47% in some trial participants, in just 90 days. This was a study where participants were not asked to change their diets or any other daily habits. That result is strong enough to launch the next phase of research as Big Bold Health continues to unlock the science behind food is medicine
2025 —The Certification
All of our HTB products containing flour transition to HTB Sprout Powder. With this brings another layer of certifications; Regenerative, Certified Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified. The HTB Immunity Chews launch with huge fanfare, and Big Bold Health products hit the retail sheves at select stores. The Chews were later awarded a Nexty and the Natural Products Expo West in March of 2026.
2026 — THE CULMINATION: HTB Activ™
Introducing HTB Activ™ a sprouted superfood, clinically studied in one of the largest gold standard trials to date on a single food aimed at brain health. The study applies the same rigor to that of a pharmaceutical trial, but on a real food, 662 people, double blind-placebo controlled. The results are in, and so is the answer to a question that is years in the making: how much can food change the way the body and brain perform?
