The Power of Adaptogens

Adaptogens function like stress vaccines to activate the body’s defense system and metabolic rate, reversing the adverse physical effects of stress and restoring the body’s balance and health.

Primary Key Points

Regulating Stress Response: Adaptogens help the body maintain balance and homeostasis by regulating stress responses, including reducing cortisol secretion and balancing the immune system and brain chemistry.

Enhancing Cognitive and Physical Performance: Adaptogens increase resistance to fatigue, improve concentration, and boost overall mental and physical performance by optimizing the body's natural defense systems.

Supporting Long-Term Health: Adaptogens help prevent chronic diseases associated with aging by maintaining cellular balance, preventing cellular damage, and promoting longevity.

Best Herbal Adaptogens: The top adaptogens with proven efficacy include Panax Ginseng for energy and cancer prevention, Rhodiola Rosea for reducing stress and enhancing cognitive function, Eleuthero for boosting energy and cardiovascular health, and Schisandra Chinensis for supporting the central nervous system.

What Are Adaptogens?

Adaptogen refers to certain plants' non-specific, endocrine-regulating, immune-modulating effects. These plants increase the ability to maintain optimal balance in the face of physical or emotional stress and provide the perfect antidote for deficiencies in vitality created by the demands of modern life.

Though the term adaptogen may be relatively new, the knowledge of herbs with adaptogenic qualities dates back hundreds and thousands of years.

This term was formulated by the Russian toxicologist Nikolay V. Lazarev at the end of the 1950s. (1) He used it to define the ability to increase the non-specific resistance to stress.

Later on, Brekhman and Dardimov (2) expanded Lazarev’s research and concluded that a compound should be considered an adaptogen when it meets the following three criteria:

Non-toxic: They cause minimal negative disturbances in the body’s physiological functions.
Generalized action: They are non-specific and increase the organism’s resistance to a broad spectrum of adverse biological, chemical, and physical factors.
Normalizing and balancing: They have a normalizing effect on the body, helping to restore balance and homeostasis.

Alexander Panossian and Georg Wikman added a more up-to-date definition, stating that adaptogens have been classified as herbal preparations that can increase resistance to stress and fatigue. (3)

Fatigue is a common health complaint defined as a lack of energy. However, fatigue can be physical or mental.

Physical fatigue is the inability to continue functioning at an average level of performance, while mental fatigue may manifest as decreased attention or reduced ability to concentrate.

This is where adaptogens come into play. Extracts from adaptogenic plants enhance stress resistance and increase concentration, performance, and endurance during fatigue. (4)

Adaptogens’ most significant selling point is that they’re safe for long-term use, with no possible side effects. As a result, they may be used both in self-care situations as a stimulant or tonic for fatigue and in medical situations as treatments prescribed by physicians.

Mechanisms of Action

The key to understanding adaptogens is their role in establishing and maintaining adaptive homeostasis by building the body’s natural resistance to stressors, which may be physical, chemical, biological, or psychological.

Adaptogens function like stress vaccines, activating the body’s defense system and metabolic rate, reversing the adverse physical effects of stress, and restoring the body’s balance and health.

If the immune system is not functioning correctly by overreacting or underreacting to challenges, adaptogens help restore the proper immune response.

Likewise, if brain chemistry is unbalanced, adaptogens can restore balance, profoundly affecting cognitive function, memory, and mood.

But the power of adaptogens goes far beyond the immune system. They can also correct the imbalances in cellular division cycles that cause cells to divide uncontrollably, eventually causing cancer.

Also, adaptogens can prevent or postpone chronic diseases associated with aging, keeping the body in balance and preventing the body’s functions from deteriorating.

But how do they do that?

Stress is an organism's defense response to external factors. It stimulates the formation of endogenous activating messengers such as catecholamines, prostaglandins, nitric oxide (NO), etc. These messengers, in turn, activate the organism’s energy and other resources, inducing diseases.

This " switch-on " process involves the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and various cellular and system-level meditators.

The stress-limiting “switch-off” system counteracts these switch-on signals, protecting cells and the whole organism from overacting to activate messengers.

In addition, this system includes some essential enzymes and mediators of intra-and extra-cellular communications at the cellular level. (5)

Adaptogens can thus be defined as agents that reduce the damaging effects of various stressors by decreasing the reactivity of the host defense system.

Additionally, adaptogens decrease stress-induced cortisol secretion. High cortisol levels are associated with depression, fatigue, and impaired cognitive function. (6)

Adaptogens also regulate the activity of glucocorticoid receptors (GR), the receptor to which cortisol and other glucocorticoids bind to exert their actions and influence cortisol secretion through feedback regulation. (7)

In short, adaptogens reduce the damaging effects of stress by balancing the activities of the body's switch-on and switch-off systems.

This helps improve bone and muscle function and regulates the liver, pancreas, and other bodily functions affected by stress.

The Best Herbal Adaptogens

Many plants were described as adaptogens, but they lack evidence-based reports of efficacy. On the other hand, a few adaptogenic extracts were studied in placebo-controlled, double-blind human trials. They have been proven effective in enhancing stress resistance, combating mental and physical fatigue, and increasing concentration and cognitive performance. (8)

Here are the best four adaptogenic plants.

1. Panax Ginseng

Panax Ginseng has been widely studied. Asian cultures have used Ginseng for thousands of years for conditions such as fatigue, mental stress, and supporting longevity. Modern clinical studies, on the other hand, focused on using Ginseng in cancer prevention, blood sugar regulation, and fatigue. (9)

2. Rhodiola Rosea

Rhodiola Rosea is an antioxidant-rich plant that has energy-enhancing and fatigue-fighting properties. It regulates the neuroendocrine stress response, mitigates the detrimental effects of stress, reduces stress-induced mental and physical fatigue, and promotes cognitive function. It’s also been shown to be beneficial for brain function and concentration. (10)

3. Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus Senticosus)

True to its adaptogen nature, Eleuthero can protect the body from various stresses as an antioxidant. As a result, it boosts energy, metabolism, and physical performance. It also has a positive effect on cardiovascular health. (11)

4. Schisandra Chinensis

Schisandra plays a role in central nervous system health. It increases neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. This critical aspect affects digestion, heart rate, muscle movement, and more. Also, Schisandra supports mental and physical performance. (12)

FAQ

What are adaptogens?

Adaptogens are natural substances, primarily plants, that help the body resist stress and maintain balance by regulating the stress response, supporting the immune system, and promoting homeostasis.

How do adaptogens work in the body?

Adaptogens balance the body's "switch-on" and "switch-off" systems, which manage stress responses. They help regulate cortisol levels, enhance immune function, and improve brain chemistry, reducing the adverse effects of stress.

Can adaptogens help with fatigue?

Yes, adaptogens are known for combating physical and mental fatigue by enhancing stress resistance, improving focus, and boosting overall energy levels.

What are the top adaptogenic herbs?

The best-studied adaptogenic herbs include Panax Ginseng for energy and longevity, Rhodiola Rosea for stress reduction and cognitive support, Eleuthero for boosting energy and cardiovascular health, and Schisandra Chinensis for central nervous system support.

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