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Adaptogens, Pt. 2

In case you missed it, here’s Pt. 1, which covered Panax Ginseng, Ashwagandha and Tulsi. This post on Jing also talks about the adaptogenic properties of Cordyceps, Rehmannia and Deer antler extract, and I wrote a whole post on one of the best yet least known adaptogens Shilajit as well.

As a brief rehash, an adaptogen is any substance that delays fatigue, helping you adapt to the stressors of every day life. This is different than say, caffeine, which puts your body into overdrive followed by a crash, and is actually draining on the body. Adaptogens almost always boost the immune system, increase libido and fertility, and are homeostatic, meaning they bring the body back into balance.

Adaptogens make the difference between coming home at the end of the day feeling exhausted and vegging in front of Netflix, and coming home at the end of the day and still having the energy to work out, go out or do whatever it is you actually want to be doing.

Rhodiola Rosea – Great for energy and depression

Rhodiola is a root that comes from the arctic and higher altitude regions. It was one of the Soviet Union’s secret weapons, being doled out to athletes in the olympics as well as cosmonauts in the great Space Race. It is probably the best anti-fatigue substance I’ve come across, and the science seems to agree. A good rhodiola extract results in insane workouts and longer runs, even more so if combined with cordyceps.

This meta-analysis, or a study of multiple studies, showed that rhodiola was associated with improvements in cognitive fatigue, reductions in processing errors, enhanced attention span, enhanced reaction time and improved general well-being.

Rhodiola is neuroprotective, anti-depressive, and improves time to exhaustion in cycling tests.

I highly recommend anyone dealing with fatigue or looking for a boost try out some quality Rhodiola. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for with Rhodiola – I’ve had some extracts that did almost nothing, while others turned me into the energizer bunny. Gaia herbs always makes good extracts, and their Rhodiola is quality, as is Jarrow’s Rhodiola extract. Rhodiola Recharge is another great product, containing a fair amount of standardized Rhodiola extract, as well as other adaptogens like Ashwagandha, and even some L-Tyrosine to help power you through the day.

Chyawanprash – Great as a general tonic, digestive aid and longevity promoter

A staple in Ayurveda, Chyawanprash is a jam made out of anywhere from 20-80 different adaptogenic/medicinal substances, and it tastes way better than it sounds.

As the legend goes in the ancient texts of India, two physicians to the Devas, or gods, specially prepared a jam for the elderly sage Chyawan who was growing weak with age as a means to rejuvenate him. The earliest written recipe for Chyawanprash is found in the Charaka Samhita, one of the first texts on the science of Ayurveda, dating back to 900 BCE.

The main ingredient in Chyawanprash is the Amla berry, which is extremely high in vitamin C and is believed to prolong life, enhance memory and generally tone the body. Other ingredients include ashwagandha (boosts memory, enhances fertility and relieves stress), arjuna (one of the single best tonic herbs for the heart), bacopa (a well known medhya-rasayana, or mind tonic, improving memory and protecting neurons) ginger (anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, improves digestion), black pepper (enhances the absorption of other herbs), honey, shatavari (an excellent herb for women), ghee (clarified butter, which is said to be extremely Sattvic, promoting peace and happiness), tribulus (great for fertility and hormonal balance), and sometimes saffron (decreases appetite and wards off depression). The benefits of consuming such a wide variety of medicinal and tonic herbs over a long period of time, even in such small amounts, are innumerable.

Chyawanprash is widely used throughout India – most people typically consume a tablespoon twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening – it’s almost their equivalent of a multivitamin. Many children have toast with Chyawanprash for breakfast, or dissolved in some warm milk. The Himalayan Institute has a good variety of Chyawanprash, as do Dabur and Organic India.

Astragalus – Great for Energy, Immunity and Anti-Aging

Astragalus is the immune boosting herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s also one of the most common Qi, or energy, boosting herbs within TCM, as it is inexpensive, effective and mild enough to be used by everyone – it’s a favorite amongst martial artists, athletes, Qi Gong practitioners as well as everyday folk as a means to keep energy levels up and illness at bay.

While many adaptogens have immune boosting or regulating effects, Astragalus is a step above most. Astragalus is also the source of a compound called cycloastragenol, which has been found to increase the length of telomeres. Telomeres are essentially end-caps on sequences of DNA – each time our cells replicate, our telomeres shorten, and they can also be shortened by stress, toxins and oxidative stress. When the telomeres get too short, the cell can no longer divide, and thus has reached its last limb. Those with longer telomeres get sick less often, are more robust and generally live longer than those with shortened telomeres, and thus Astragalus and cycloastragenol are at the forefront of some current anti-aging strategies.

Because Astragalus is so common and easy to grow, it’s one of the cheaper adaptogens. Try Gaia’s extract or Jing Herb’s extract, which is concentrated to be 10 times stronger than just the plain herb.

In summary, it’s safe to say that I will continue to use adaptogens on a daily basis. They help me get through long work hours with energy to spare for friends and workouts – try some out and see what they can do for you.

Interested in other ways to increase your energy, decrease your stress, and lose some weight? Contact me.

Shilajit – The Most Powerful Substance You’ve Never Heard Of

(photo cred : Super Man Herbs)

Looks delicious right? That right there is shilajit, a mineral pitch that oozes out of rocks in the Himalayas in the heat of summer. What actually is it? It’s thought to be an ancient ecosystem, a once-pristine forest that has been highly compressed and thoroughly decomposed during the formation of the Himalayan mountains.

Shilajit is one of the coolest substances in my eyes. As the story goes, thousands of years back in India, people noticed that monkeys would climb up to the rocks of the Himalayas in the summer time to consume a black, sticky tar that oozed out between the cracks. After consuming this gooey substance, the monkeys would be filled with energy, bouncing around like maniacs and making sweet, sweet monkey love.

Naturally, as is so apt to happen back in those days, the humans who saw this immediately became curious and decided to collect some and consume it themselves. Indeed, they too noticed an increase in energy, longer lifespans and the ever-sought after increase in libido. They named this strange new substance shilajit, literally “rock-invincible”, translated as “Conqueror of Mountains and Destroyer of Weakness”.

Within Ayurveda, India’s traditional system of health and medicine, shilajit is one of the most powerful known rasayanas, a substance which increases strength and is highly rejuvenating. It is said that there is no disease which shilajit cannot cure, and that it possesses a rare property known as yogavahi, meaning it helps make any other substance taken with it multitudes more effective.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s all just old wives’ tales,” I hear you thinking. Let’s delve into some facts about shilajit…

Let’s start with it’s claims of being a rasayana. According to Segen’s Medical Dictionary, a rasayana is “Any of a number of health-promoting regimens that a person uses regularly to maintain health and harmony, activate tissue repair and arrest or reverse the effects of aging.” Does shilajit fit the bill?

According to this study, “Shilajit is an important, known component of the ayurvedic medicine given its characteristics as a rasayana. In this context, health benefits such as an increase in longevity, rejuvenating, and arresting aging roles have been attributed to it.”

“The Sherpas [people who carry luggage for Westerners up Mt. Everest] claim to have shilajit as part of their diet; they constitute a population of strong men with very high levels of a healthy longevity. Our laboratory has found evidence on the high activity of the Andean form of shilajit in improving cognitive disorders and as a stimulant of cognitive activity in humans.”

So far so good. Shilajit has been found to be roughly 60% humic substances, a main component of which is fulvic acid. Humic substances are by-products of microorganisms’ decomposition of plant material and have profound health benefits. Unfortunately, ever since we humans switched from eating wild plants fresh from nature to growing our own crops, and especially with the widespread use of poor agricultural practices and over-sanitization of foodstuffs, modern humans are getting very little to no humic and fulvic acids.

Why are humic and fulvic acids so critical to health? Because “fulvic acid derived from humate usually contains 60 or more minerals and trace elements that are nutritionally essential for cell health and balance (including cell growth and replication)” They also help “transport minerals to living cells, catalyzing vitamins within cells, and metabolizing proteins, RNA, and DNA”. Fulvic acid also acts as a powerful organic electrolyte, antioxidant, and is a natural chelator, binding to and removing toxins from the body.

As this study states, “It is likely that the curative properties attributable to shilajit are provided by the significant levels of fulvic acids that shilajit contains, considering that fulvic acid is known by its strong antioxidant actions and likely has systemic effects.” Further, “considering the actions of fulvic acid in preventing tau self-aggregation into pathological filaments, this compound appears to be of interest for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”

I think it’s safe to say shilajit definitely fits the bill of a rasayana.

Because of fulvic acid’s ability to increase the bioavailability of nutrients consumed with it, it makes perfect sense that it would possess the quality of yogavahi, the quality attributed to shilajit that increases the potency of medicines consumed with it. Amazingly the ancient yogis and Ayurvedic practitioners recognized this ability long before fulvic acids were discovered.

How does shilajit hold up as an “energizer”? Turns out that one of the substances within shilajit, dibenzo-a-pyrones (DBP) boosts energy production at the cellular level. Fulvic acids whisk away DBP right into your mitochondria, those hard working little power plants in your cells, increasing the availability of electrons to be used for energy. Further, fulvic acids themselves speed and facilitate the flow of electrons into your mitochondria. The result? More ATP, the “currency of life” your mitochondria use to fuel your every action. (sources)

BONUS BIO-HACK – The combination of Shilajit with CoQ-10 resulted in a 144% ATP production with the muscle cells of mice, and a full 56% increase in ATP (energy) within the brain.. Yowza. A two month supply of highly absorbable CoQ-10 + Shilajit is available from Amazon.

And libido? Researchers at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in India gave shilajit to infertile men. After 3 months at 200 mg a day, total sperm count increased by a whopping 61.4% and testosterone rose 23.5%. While this was with infertile men and not healthy specimens, I’d say it was a pretty effective treatment.

Shilajit is rich in a variety of other healing compounds, including “eldagic acid, some fatty acids, resins, latex, gums, albumins, triterpenes, sterols, aromatic carboxylic acids, 3,4-benzocoumarins, amino acids, polyphenols, and phenolic lipids”. To the layman, a cocktail of healing and energy-promoting substances. It’s also chockfull of trace minerals, all in ionic form and bound to fulvic acids, which means they’ll actually be absorbed, unlike some common mineral supplements.

Finally, shilajit has been found to have/be a, “antiulcerogenic properties; antioxidant properties; cognitive and memory enhancer; antidiabetic properties; anxiolytic [stress reducing]; antiallergic properties and immunomodulator; anti-inflammatory; analgesic [pain relieving]; antifungal properties; ability to interact positively with other drugs; protective properties in high altitudes; neuroprotective agent against cognitive disorders”.

How’s that sound to you? Pretty extensive list of benefits going on there, and all from one ancient and natural substance.

As with so many other things in life, you get what you pay for. Good deals can be found, but there are a ton of poor quality and even fake shilajits out there. The highest quality I’ve found so far is Lotus Blooming Herbs’ Shilajit – it’s $60 for just ten grams, but you only need a pea sized amount dissolved in water 1-3 times a day. Super Man Herbs carries a very nice shilajit as well, in both powder and pill forms, and I’ve also used Dragon Herbs’ Shilajit, which is reasonably priced and comes in pill form.

Adaptogens, Pt. 1

Let’s say you’ve got your diet nailed down, and your exercise routine is going along great, and you’ve even started taking a few supplements to fill in some gaps. You have more energy and hey, you’ve even lost a few pounds without trying, you sly dog you.

But then you hit that wall. It could be that 3 pm, post-lunch-take-a-nap wall, or the wall you hit when you get home from work that turns you into a zoned out zombie. It could be that wall you hit each time you try to go to the gym only to find you don’t have any energy.

The wall has been hit

You realize there’s something missing, something more you could be doing. And the truth is there is more, a lot more you could be doing – small tweaks you could be making that will make a big difference. One of which is making use of adaptogens.

No doubt about it, getting your diet honed in and specified to your goals, getting a healthy dose of exercise and improving your sleep habits are the foundation of any health promoting regimen, and the cornerstone of your success. But once that’s in place, how do you take it to the next level?

The Missing Link in Your Life

Today’s world is a high-stress world – we’re actually built to handle, even thrive, on small doses of stress, but chronic stress? Thats a killer. Good news is, nature has once again provided us with all we need, this time in the form of adaptogens.

An adaptogen is any substance that improves our ability to handle stress. Many of them lower or modulate levels of cortisol, our main stress hormone. Some adaptogens help us to actually rebuild our over-worked adrenal glands, helping to prevent or reverse adrenal fatigue. They provide us with sustained, jitter-free energy throughout the day, many improve libido, and they work in too diverse a way to sum up in this little paragraph.

Further, some help us to relax, much as a glass of wine does after work. Others can be more stimulating, great for the start of the day or before the gym, and yet others are neutral and balanced, while still being strongly anti-fatigue. I recommend picking either one neutral adaptogen to try out, or one that is stimulating and one that is relaxing, so you have one for day time use and one for the evenings.

Ginseng – This is the big boy on the block, the granddaddy of all adaptogens. Ginseng is the highest ranked herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for a reason, and that’s because it is so broad-spectrum in its actions, and because it’s the primary Qi tonic, it increases energy levels and stamina tremendously. Ginseng normalizes the activity of both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, meaning it brings you into balance between your “rest and digest” mode and your “fight or flight” mode. Ginseng also regulates your endocrine system, helping to keep your hormone levels in check.

Ginseng root looks like a human body

In addition to being strongly anti-fatigue, Ginseng is also

Neuroprotective
Cognitive Enhancing
Immuno-regulatory (increases immune response in those with low immune function, and decreases response in those with over-active immune systems)
Anti-diabetic
Anti-cancer
Pro-libido
Hormone-regulating

It should be noted that true Asian ginseng, called Panax Ginseng, is a different plant than either American Ginseng or Siberian Ginseng, although all three have similar effects. Panax Ginseng is generally more stimulating than the others, with Siberian Ginseng being neutral, neither stimulating nor relaxing, and American Ginseng being ever so slightly relaxing. Further, when it comes to buying ginseng, you get what you pay for. Higher quality roots will produce much better results, and will cost more, with some very mature and potent roots easily reaching close to a thousand dollars. I personally have used Dragon Herbs products with great results. Their House Ginseng and Ginseng Sublime are excellent choices.

Ashwagandha – This bad boy, sometimes referred to as Indian Ginseng, is a helluva plant. A mainstay in Ayurvedic medicine, the ancient healing system of India, Ahswagandha is my top pick in terms of relaxing adaptogens, and may well be my favorite adaptogen overall.

It has been proven to lower cortisol, our main stress hormone, in a dose dependent manner, making it a gift for today’s fast-paced, highly strung world. It excels at treating anxiety, as it actually works on the same receptors in the brain as pharmaceutical anxiety meds, without addiction or side effects. For this reason, it can be used in smaller doses throughout the day as a calming agent, and in larger doses in the evening to relax, much the way you would drink a glass of wine.

It provides a nice big boost to the libido, enhances fertility in both women and men, and boosts thyroid function, aiding in weight loss, as well as being anti-fatigue and immuno-regulatory.

But perhaps it’s greatest benefit is that it’s been shown to enhance the release of BDNF within in the brain. BDNF stands for Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, which protects brain cells from stress and toxins, repairs damaged brain cells and even promotes the growth of new brain cells! For this reason it deserves a place in anyone’s medicine chest, and especially for those who may be worried about cognitive decline. For this benefit to bear fruit Ashwagandha must be taken continuously over long periods of time.

Yeah, it makes you smarter, thinner and more fertile

Tulsi – Also called Holy Basil, this herb is known as the “Queen of Herbs” in Ayurveda (ashwagandha is sometimes referred to as the king). Tulsi is a highly revered medicinal plant that is found in almost every home in India, and for good reason. It’s said to be the most Sattvic of all herbs, meaning it promotes a sense of ease, peace and clarity and benefits spiritual practice.

This 2014 study sums Tulsi up quite nicely – “Tulsi has been found to protect organs and tissues against chemical stress from industrial pollutants and heavy metals, and physical stress from prolonged physical exertion, ischemia, physical restraint and exposure to cold and excessive noise. Tulsi has also been shown to counter metabolic stress through normalization of blood glucose, blood pressure and lipid levels, and psychological stress through positive effects on memory and cognitive function and through its anxiolytic and anti-depressant properties… Cultivation of tulsi plants has both spiritual and practical significance that connects the grower to the creative powers of nature, and organic cultivation offers solutions for food security, rural poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and climate change. The use of tulsi in daily rituals is a testament to Ayurvedic wisdom and provides an example of ancient knowledge offering solutions to modern problems.” Bolds and Italics my addition.

Tulsi is a calming herb, but not as relaxing as Ashwagandha. It promotes feelings of peace and well-being more than anything, and is a solid choice for evening or morning use. This product has been the most potent form of Tulsi I’ve yet to try, though it’s very common in tea form as well.

Which adaptogens have you tried, and which of these sound most interesting to you? Keep your eye open for more posts on adaptogens in the near future.