Is It Time for Adaptogens?
You have seen adaptogens in various forms at your local health food store or vitamin shop. They range from capsules to powders, teas to juices, and can be added to smoothies or a favorite snack. But you may wonder to yourself, what are adaptogens and should I be using them? According to the National Institutes of Health, adaptogens are herbal medicinal and nutritional products promoting adaptability, resilience, and survival of living organisms in stress. In plain English, an adaptogen is simply a plant-based supplement that helps your body adapt to various types of stress, including biological (like raised cortisol levels which allow you to retain more fat), chemical (like when we ingest pesticides from a piece of unwashed, non-organic fruit), emotional (like anxiety or prolonged sadness), and physical (like after a strenuous workout). They help us to counteract the damage we have caused ourselves, or endured through our environment, and promote healthy functioning of our bodies.
In order to qualify as an adaptogen, a substance must consist of three main things. Firstly, it has to have nonspecific resistance. This means that adaptogens provide general support across the body systems and organs to adapt to what the body needs. Secondly, it should be innocuous, causing minimal (or no) disorders or harm to the body. Adaptogens are generally considered gentle and non-addictive. Thirdly, it should provide some type of stress support that lowers the damage that the stress creates (such as physical fatigue or depression).
Like powerful antioxidants such as polyphenols, adaptogens are a category of herbal products that can help assist good health and stress response, resiliency, boost immunity, and provide cognitive support.
So how do they work?
Our HPA axis is made up of the hypothalamus (part of the brain), pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. Our HPA axis allows the body to go into flight-or-fight mode to respond to stressful situations, such as meeting a deadline for work, steering your car to a nearby line to avoid a car that suddenly stopped in front of you, or getting surprised by someone who unexpectedly jumped from behind a couch in the room. Our bodies are equipped to deal with immediate danger. They will speed up our heart rate to increase oxygen and blood flow to the muscles and release cortisol to relieve pain. Perhaps most importantly, the fight-or-flight mode also deactivates our bodily functions that aren’t going to be important in that moment… like digestion!
The issue has become that our ever-busy lives are so jam-packed with these stressful moments that most of us are living in a state of chronic stress and trauma which creates disturbances in the HPA axis, leading to prolonged periods of increased cortisol levels and inflammation. This leaves us with a variety of disorders and harmful effects on the body, including high blood pressure and spiked heart rate.
As we continue in a state of chronic stress, it slows down the movement of our gastrointestinal tract to conserve energy. As a result of this and the increased cortisol from chronic stress, we have increased belly fat; poor blood sugar control; cardiovascular diseases; food intolerances and flare-ups; leaky gut; increased inflammation that impairs nutrient absorption and leads to anxiety and depression; decreased immunity; and an altered microbiome!
That’s a lot!
Here’s the Good News…
Adaptogens can stimulate your central nervous system (CNS) which allows us to recover from this physical stress and fatigue. Adaptogens have been successfully used for insomnia, weight loss, and gastrointestinal issues. They further can generate hormones that play key roles in metabolic regulation and homeostasis. Lastly, they can help as both prevention and treatment for stress-induced disorders that do harm to the body (including fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep-related issues, early diabetes, high blood pressure, and inflammation). This is able to work through the adaptogen’s ability to activate the defense system of the body and increase resistance to stress and our recovery to stress-related damages.
A few of my favorites are listed below…
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune supporting adaptogen that has soothing effects. It provides anxiety support, as well as support for your cognitive health, decreased cortisol output, and depression support.
Astragalus
Astragalus is an adaptogen used for fatigue, immune, and heart health support. It has been documented to support recovery from prolonged illnesses and chronic stress.
Ginseng
Ginseng has been linked to blood sugar support, enhanced work and physical performance, as well as support for fatigue, stress, and the immune system.
Holy Basil
Holy basil is an anti-inflammatory that has anxiety, blood sugar, and gut health support.
Heal Your Gut, Heal Your Life!
With Love,
Katherine
Is your gut causing you issues? Do you need help losing weight, or maintaining weight loss? Book an appointment with me to see if the Ahimsa Signature Plan can help you.
Disclaimer: Please speak with your healthcare provider before adding any new supplements including adaptogens to your dietary regimen. Consider any medications you are taking, if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant (including breastfeeding), and any health conditions.
Sources:
Panossian, A. G., Efferth, T., Shikov, A. N., Pozharitskaya, O. N., Kuchta, K., Mukherjee, P. K., Banerjee, S., Heinrich, M., Wu, W., Guo, D.-A., & Wagner, H. (2021, January). Evolution of the adaptogenic concept from traditional use to medical systems: Pharmacology of stress- and aging-related diseases. Medicinal research reviews. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7756641/
Priyanka, G., Anil Kumar, B., Lakshman, M., Manvitha, V., & Kala Kumar, B. (2020, September 29). Adaptogenic and immunomodulatory activity of Ashwagandha Root Extract: An experimental study in an equine model. Frontiers in veterinary science. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7552885/