Stephen and Jenny Morrissey

What Makes Plantiva Unique

Plantiva was founded by two natural medicine practitioners, Dr. Stephen Morrissey OMD and Jenny Morrissey L.Ac.

Jenny and Stephen met while teaching at Bastyr University and went on to run a busy healthcare practice in Seattle in the 1980s and 90s.

Plantiva formulas evolved out of a system they developed to optimize natural health products for their patients. Not being satisfied with the results from many of the existing products on the market, they used their system to create a wide variety of very effective and well tolerated formulas for specific targeted health conditions.  

Stephen in front of a wall of medical records with his daughter Kayla on his shoulder, 1992.

Our Formulas

Stephen has his doctorate in Oriental Medicine and Jenny is a licensed acupuncturist, but their studies have also included nutrition, homeopathy, kinesiology, functional medicine, and German biophysical medicine.

They synthesized this knowledge into an innovative system that allows them to screen hundreds of natural substances, individually and in combination, against specific therapeutic targets. This allows them to determine the optimal mixture of ingredients to address each health condition.

They test not only different ingredients, but also different variations of each ingredient – should this herb be extracted in water or alcohol? Should we use the fruiting body of a mushroom or the mycelium? All of these questions can be answered using this screening system.

Jenny and Stephen strive to ensure each formula will quickly provide tangible benefits, as well as address the underlying physiologic imbalances at the root of the health problem. They also keep a close watch on safety, adjusting and balancing each formula to ensure it will be well tolerated by the body over the long term.

The benefits of this system have been validated by the numerous research studies conducted on Plantiva formulas, which have consistently yielded strong scientific evidence to show the products work as intended.

Our staff has travelled thousands of miles to the areas where our botanicals are grown.

Our Sourcing and Quality

When Stephen and Jenny decided to bring their formulas to the broader public, they weren’t satisfied to simply buy ingredients from a broker or distributor. No, they wanted to make sure they had the best quality – and also consistency. That’s the only way they could be sure that every batch would work as intended.

So they founded a joint venture company that spent years evaluating various growing areas for each botanical ingredient, testing samples for contaminants and phytochemical richness. In this way they determined the best source for each botanical. We continue to purchase our ingredients directly from these growing areas rather than through brokers or other middlemen.

Next, they wanted to ensure we had control over the processing and extraction of the ingredients. They weren’t satisfied simply to trust a contract manufacturer to put the formulas together. Instead, we’ve partnered over the long term with selected manufacturing facilities whose staff are trained on our requirements and manufacturing processes. We also have our own staff who audit the facilities and review manufacturing batch records, as well as test each shipment of raw materials and each batch of finished product.

Our goal is to ensure every batch of product is consistently the highest quality.

Our Science

Humanity has a wealth of experience using herbs for healthcare, and the scientific literature is replete with studies demonstrating the health benefits of botanicals. These knowledge banks form the basis for most herbal products in the marketplace today.

But Jenny and Stephen weren’t satisfied with that. Their experience showed that every detail can make a difference in the way a product will work – different ingredient combinations, different processing conditions, and other factors can make or break the formula’s safety and efficacy. So we’re not comfortable relying on what’s known about individual ingredients or other people’s formulas. We care about OUR formulas made OUR way.

So even though Stephen and Jenny know from decades of clinical experience with patients that Plantiva formulas work, we also invest heavily in performing scientific studies to confirm it. We’ve now undertaken 9 controlled studies on Plantiva formulas, including clinical trials, gene expression research and mechanism studies. 

The results have shown time and again that Plantiva products really work!

Our Passion

Everyone at Plantiva is passionate about improving the health and the lives of our customers. We want our formulas to deliver the benefits you expect; but we also want to share Jenny and Stephen’s knowledge and experience as healthcare practitioners with you. There are many things you can do to improve your health with or without our products.

Everyone deserves to live a long, happy life filled with vibrant good health. We show up every day to provide you the knowledge and tools to achieve that!

Stephen and Jenny are pictured in their 60s as athletic as ever, due at least in part to their stringent attention to diet and exercise, as well as daily use of botanical formulas and acupuncture to fine-tune their bodies’ function. We can all aspire to such good health!