Adaptogens and How Do they Help Deal with Everyday Stress

What is Stress? What Are Adaptogens and How Do they Help Deal with Everyday Stress?

Do you find yourself often going through life chasing one obstacle after another looking for some relief? the relief of finally reaching your desired destination. This gives rise to all sorts of emotions and stress that prevents you from making the best of the journey.

How is it that we consistently fall victim to this stress cycle when we are well aware that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side? In terms of dealing with stress there seems no end in sight.

Stress is defined as a mental, physical, and/or emotional reaction to a certain situation or event. There will always be another roadblock to overcome, need for sacrifice, and time/labor intensive tasks to complete. Vehicles malfunction, relationships get bumpy, and our jobs sometimes require extra effort that may leave us drained of energy. Instead of peddling harder to get over the hurdles life throws at us. Focus needs to be directed at switching gears to allow for efficiency as we transition into an enjoyable ride.

Meditation, yoga, and exercise are common techniques of alleviating and training ourselves to cope with life’s stressors, but adaptogens such as Rhodiola Rosea are of great importance. Adaptogens are a group of natural herbs that help the body adapt to stress, and they truly don’t get the recognition they deserve.

The Link Between Stress, Weight Gain and Hormonal Balance

With a decrease in stress, the body cuts back on its release of leptin and cortisol, which are known to contribute to the production of fat, especially when the body begins to develop a leptin resistance. The increased release of cortisol was a biological adaptation that we have evolved with in order to store energy in times when food may be scarce. As hunters and gatherers our only concern was our next meal. Today, we are surrounded by stressors.

Because most situations and outcomes are outside of our control, it is necessary that we take control of the chemical cascade occurring within. In doing so, supplementation of Rhodiola Rosea can help to avoid weight gain and promote weight loss, addressing and putting a stop to the link between stress, weight gain and hormonal imbalance.

How Does Rhodiola Rosea Help Athletes?

Although exercise is required in maintaining optimum health, it is still a form of stress that is followed by the cascade of chemical reactions discussed earlier in this article. As a result, athletes should consider including this herb in their regimen in order to maximize performance and results

Roussell (2014) mentioned that the stress hormone cortisol mediates muscle breakdown. By inhibiting the release of the cortisol hormone, Rhodiola helps to protect muscle tissue for athletes looking to gain or maintain muscle mass.

Considering it has also been found by Wu (2019) that the herb exhibits anti-inflammatory effects, it can help you recover faster after a tough workout, reduce fatigue and boost endurance during a workout. Rhodiola also helps protect muscle tissue by preventing muscle wasting with salidroside, an active compound in Rhodiola Rosea.

Other Benefits of Rhodiola Rosea

Anghelescu (2018) highlights energy enhancement as one of the proven health benefits of Rhodiola Rosea, which serves to verify the Battistelli (2005) confirmation that Rhodiola can increase antioxidant levels, specifically in red blood cells, protecting them from oxidative stress.

As a result, we can also conclude that Rhodiola Rosea effectively supports heart vitality. Improving your cardiovascular function may increase your overall output during exercise.

There is always some distance between where we are and where we want to reach and mastering a skill or sport or any life purpose is a challenge. Anything we can do to increase our output and level of success is of real importance. Getting out of the stress cycle there could definitely be an end in sight where the grass is greener on the other side.

REFERENCES

1. Anghelescu IG, Edwards D, Seifritz E, Kasper S. Stress management and the role of Rhodiola rosea: a review. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2018 Nov;22(4):242-252. doi: 10.1080/13651501.2017.1417442. Epub 2018 Jan 11. PMID: 29325481
   
2. Battistelli M, De Sanctis R, De Bellis R, Cucchiarini L, Dachà M, Gobbi P. Rhodiola rosea as antioxidant in red blood cells: ultrastructural and hemolytic behaviour. Eur J Histochem. 2005 Jul-Sep;49(3):243-54. PMID: 16216810.
3. Wu C, Tang L, Ni X, Xu T, Fang Q, Xu L, Ma W, Yang X, Sun H. Salidroside Attenuates Denervation-Induced Skeletal Muscle Atrophy Through Negative Regulation of Pro-inflammatory Cytokine. Front Physiol. 2019 Jun 25;10:665. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00665. PMID: 31293430; PMCID: PMC6604664.