Adaptogens, Herbal Allies for Stressful Times
As a clinical herbalist, one of my favorite categories of herbs are the adaptogens. I love adaptogens because they help us to adapt to all kinds of stress, including physical stress, emotional stress, and environmental stress. This means that they help the human body to adapt and better handle the stresses we face everyday, from being stuck in rush hour traffic, to a fight with our boss, to being exposed to countless toxins in our food, air and water.
“Adaptogen” is a term that was coined by a Soviet scientists in 1968. At this time in Soviet history, the Soviet Academy of Science was given an assignment to create a product that would help increase the performance of its top athletes, dancers, cosmonauts and military class. Their research led to an extensive study of herbal medicines that could help optimize the potential of the human body.
The first modern definition of adaptogen, as defined by Soviet scientist Nikolai Lazarev is:
1. An adaptogen is nontoxic to the recipient.
2. The adaptogen produces a nonspecific response in the body- an increase in the power of resistance against multiple stressors including physical, chemical or biological agents.
3. An adaptogen has a normalizing influence on physiology, irrespective of the direction of change from physiological norms caused by the stressor.
Modern adaptogens include plants and fungi that have been held in highest regard in different cultures for thousands of years. They include Siberian Ginseng (eleutherococcus), Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum), Ashwaghanda (Withania somnifera), American ginseng (Panax quinqefolius), Asian Ginseng (Panax ginseng), Schizandra (Schisandra chinensis) and Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea).
An excellent book on adaptogens is Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief, by David Winston and Steven Maimes. They cover the history of adaptogens and the physiology of stress and how adaptogens work in the body. The book also covers in depth many of the modern adaptogenic herbs and talks about how to use them in clinical herbal practice. I love this book and consider it one of my most treasured herbal referenced.
Tags: Adaptogens, herbal medicine, stress
