The people of the Caucasus mountains have long been famed for their longevity and healthy aging. Russian, and later Soviet census data consistently found that this region produced a disproportionate number of octogenarians, due to factors including the clean environment and traditional diets. In the Republic of Dagestan, this diet includes urbech- a finely milled flax butter produced in stone mills, which dates back at least to the early 18^th century. The high content of healthy proteins and fats was valued by Chabans – the local term for shepherds, as they traversed the mountains with their herds, while Djigit highland warriors used it for rations to survive campaigns in this harsh and unforgiving climate. Today, Dagestan’s famous Olympic wrestlers and mixed martial artists consume urbech as a tasty yet filling snack in between their training regimens.

Traditional stone mills from Dagestan use carefully sourced quartz sandstone from the mountains. Each set of mill stones is cut from around 20 metric tons of boulders. These boulders are trucked from isolated sites, to avoid possible microfractures as is common from quarry-sourced stones. Sandstone is preferred because it imbues the milled produce with trace amounts of healthy minerals, while not naturally emitting radiation like granite. Each of our mill stones comes from rock that has been laboratory analyzed and certified by the Academy of Science (Geology) in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.