Dealing With Your Health Using Adaptogens

Adaptogen compounds may be particularly important in assisting the adrenal glands to maintain levels of the hormones it produces, which are the body's principal means of managing the various stresses to which it is subjected on a daily basis. These stresses include heat, cold, excessive noise and vibration, physical exhaustion, viruses, bacteria and pollution, as well as more self-inflicted varieties such as poor diet, lack of sleep, overwork and the excessive consumption of alcohol, tobacco and perhaps even more potent drugs, which for this purpose may include perfectly legitimate over the counter or prescription medications. 

Obviously you can't hope to avoid all of these stresses all the time; at least not unless you find a way to avoid twenty-first century life itself. And as attractive as that may sound, it's probably not a realistic option for most of us. So the urgent question is: just how are you going to cope with these stresses? 

Now to be sure, a good healthy diet, eight hours restful sleep a night, plenty of fresh air and exercise will help considerably. But how many of us can honestly claim this as an accurate description of our lifestyle? 

This is where adaptogens can be so useful. There's evidence that they may increase the production of energy within the body's cells, thereby optimizing the body's response to stress; maximizing the benefits obtained from the nutrients taken in, and helping maintain peak physical and mental performance.

Rhodiola Rosea also known as the herb "golden rod” which is considered an adaptogen herb with a whole lot of fat burning (for weight loss), along with energy enhancing, brain boosting power. Sounds like the perfect thing that most people need around mid-day, an extra boost of energy to get you through the rest of the day.

Numerous herbal compounds have now been recognized as possessing significant adaptogenic qualities, but amongst the better known are black cohosh, donq quai, ginseng, which may be Korean, American or Siberian (eleuthero), and yerba mate.

Currently, ginseng is perhaps the best known of all of these, and siberian ginseng, or eleuthero, in particular, which has long been extensively used in Russia, is rapidly becoming popular in the West. There are good reasons for this. 

Ginseng has been researched in depth by Soviet and Russian scientists since the early 1960's, and was approved for human use as far back as 1962. But the amazing powers of this extraordinary herbal weight loss ingredient have been well known in China for thousands of years, where it is still often taken as a remedy for bronchitis, circulatory problems, rheumatism and male infertility. Modern Russian studies have confirmed siberian ginseng (eleuthero)'s potential for helping to tackle cardiac and circulatory disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes and even some cancers. Of course, it is not suggested that ginseng can cure these diseases, but that it may assist by stimulating the body's natural healing processes to restore it to normal function.