Why Dr. Hennen Does What He Does

A Personal Mission Born from Real Life

A Farm Boy’s Journey to Healing

“Since my earliest childhood, growing up on a farm, life and death, health and sickness have been part of my experience.”

Dr. William J. Hennen’s story begins not in a laboratory or lecture hall, but on a farm in central Minnesota as the oldest boy in a family of 10 children. From the age of five, when his father would put the tractor in low gear and low throttle so young Bill could guide it along rows of hay bales, he learned the fundamental rhythms of life.

“We grew up with the cycle of life. New crops, new calves. Failed crops and sick cattle. We saw birth and death and everything in between.” With their father working off the farm, Bill became the foreman, supervising his younger brothers and sharing the milking duties with his mother. Working hard wasn’t just expected—it was simply a way of life.

But it was in those early days, watching the natural cycles of health and sickness play out before his eyes, that Dr. Hennen’s calling began to take shape. “Given that my hands were not as nimble as my mind, the role of a surgeon seemed inappropriate to my skills. Yet my curiosity and compassion made health a natural career choice. I wanted to do good and to relieve suffering.”

The Family Story That Drives Everything

Dr. Hennen’s mission isn’t abstract—it’s deeply personal. Like most of us, he carries the weight of family health history:

“If you are reading this, I assume you have health concerns. Like most everyone, I have a family history of health issues. My grandfather died of a heart attack. My grandmother suffered for years with Alzheimer’s dementia. My other grandfather wasted away and finally died of cancer. My father died of cancer. My mother has eczema and I have passed that genetic deficiency on to some of my children and grandchildren.”

This isn’t the detached concern of a scientist in a lab coat—this is a father, grandfather, and husband who understands that every formula he creates, every product he develops, touches real families facing real struggles.

“When I create products, I really am formulating them for myself and my family.”

The Moment Everything Changed

During his thirteen years in pharmaceutical research, Dr. Hennen made discoveries that would change millions of lives. But it was also during this time that he began to see a troubling pattern in the industry that would ultimately redirect his entire career.

“It was also at the Cancer Research Center that I first began to recognize that natural products were examined for structure and function but seldom fully pursued because they could not be patented. Without patent control it was much more difficult for pharmaceutical companies to recover their research investments.”

Even more concerning was what he observed about the modification of natural compounds: “Many of the changes that we were making in the natural product structures were to ‘create’ a new substance that could be patented. This did not mean that it was more active than the natural product, but just that it was new and as such could be controlled through patents.”

The implications were profound. “The corresponding natural product may have required a higher effective dose; but it also was more manageable by, and less toxic to, the body.” Dr. Hennen had discovered that in the pursuit of patentability and profit, the pharmaceutical industry was often modifying natural products into unnatural substances that were less compatible with the human body.

“In 1989 I made a decision. After working on unnatural products (drugs) for 13 years it was time to return to Utah and work on developing the healing power of natural products.”

The Wisdom That Changed Medicine

It was Dr. Hennen’s wife Roberta who provided a moment of clarity that would shape his entire philosophy. When he came home excited about his first patent, announcing that he was “officially an inventor,” she asked a simple but profound question: “Had God not already known the content of his ‘invention’?”

When he admitted that was true, “she observed that then what I had really done was to discover, not to invent.” Though he felt deflated at first, “in the long run her wisdom has helped me keep a greater humility and reverence toward Nature. It did not lessen my commitment to science but it did put it in a proper perspective. I might not be a ‘creator,’ but exploring new paths and opening up new territory for the benefit of others is wonderfully exciting and rewarding”

This humility became the cornerstone of what Dr. Hennen calls Restoration Biology, built on four foundational principles:

Reverence for Nature and Dedication to Science
The body was designed to be healthy
Cells contain their own control mechanisms or intelligence
If the body is given the right nutrition, the cells can then effectively restore and maintain themselves

The Intelligence Within

Perhaps Dr. Hennen’s most revolutionary insight came from his work with the immune system, where he first recognized something that would change everything: “This is where I first recognized that the body has its own intelligence. Indeed every cell has intelligence it uses to make choices every minute of every day throughout our lives.”

“Realizing that every cell had its own intelligence was an important discovery for me. With drugs the intelligence is outside the body. It is in the mind of the chemist or the physician. Given that the intelligence is inside each cell, our role shifts from dictator to servant.”

This understanding led to a fundamental shift in approach: “This is the proper role of dietary supplements since by law supplements are supposed to strengthen or support a normal body function. Supplements are not to control nor cure. They are supposed to enable not compel. We, and our cells can do that wonderfully well.”

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Dr. Hennen’s humility extends to his appreciation for the countless people who have contributed to his understanding. “I must begin by thanking all the people who shared with me their health concerns and their successes with the products I have formulated in the past. Each of them has been a teacher to me and given a face and purpose to my work.”

He also acknowledges his scientific colleagues: “I would also thank all the dedicated scientists whose focus on the details of their specific areas has led to accurate data and clear descriptions of nature’s processes… Truly as Sir Isaac Newton said ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’”

The Teacher’s Heart

Despite his impressive credentials and groundbreaking discoveries, Dr. Hennen has never lost sight of his fundamental calling as a teacher. “Some say I am smart. I like what Einstein said: ‘Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.’”

“I see everyone else as a genius in their own areas. As others simplify the explanations of their areas for my benefit, I also try to find understandable ways of explaining the functions of the body to those whose genius is in music or mechanics.”

His greatest joy comes not from impressing colleagues with technical jargon, but from something much simpler: “As a father and grandfather, and as an instructor in the dreaded freshman chemistry courses, I have had the most joy in lighting the first candles of understanding in my children and students.”

A Vision for the Future

Dr. Hennen sees this moment in history as unprecedented in its potential: “We are at an exciting time in history. We can now draw together natural products from all over the world for the benefit of people. However, if we are to be successful, we have to remember what Sir Francis Bacon observed centuries ago ‘Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.’”

His vision extends beyond individual health to global impact: “We have the opportunity to understand nature and overcome many of our inherent genetic weaknesses. Intelligent application of our natural resources is the key to our individual and global health. It is our minds and the intelligence inside our cells rather than our medicines that will determine our health and even our survival.”

The Heart of the Matter

When asked why he does what he does, Dr. Hennen’s answer is beautifully simple and profoundly human:

“I wanted to do good and to relieve suffering. Chemistry was the path I chose, which has helped me get underneath the surface of the problems that were plaguing people. Seeking health solutions has been a fascinating adventure that has been both humbling and enlightening.”

“The more I dug into the body’s mechanisms, the more obvious it became that nature was a whole lot smarter than we were.” And in recognizing that wisdom, Dr. Hennen found his true calling—not as a creator of artificial solutions, but as a humble servant helping the body do what it was always designed to do: heal itself.

“In these last nearly four decades, I have been able to help more people in more ways naturally than I would have with all the synthetic compounds I could have ‘created.’”

“Most valuable to me over these decades has been all that I have learned from consumers of the products I have made. They have shared their stories and experiences, their hopes and disappointments… It is their dedication and determination to take responsibility for their own health that has been the most inspiring to me.”

This is why Dr. Hennen does what he does—because every face in every testimonial, every family seeking better health, every child who might avoid the diseases that claimed their grandparents, represents a life that can be touched by the simple wisdom of working with nature instead of against it.

Given the right raw materials, the body will produce miracles by the minute.