Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Today, Jerry Hickey, Ph. discusses three scientifically substantiated adaptogens – Panax Ginseng, Rhodiola rosea, and L-Theanine – to help you handle stress, improve your energy, and support your immune system.
Photo by Vu Thu Giang on Unsplash In honor of National Relaxation Day, we’re bringing you some tips on how you can stay relaxed and focus today (and everyday)! Your life is hectic. You may be a busy mom trying to juggle a full time …
Rhodiola is a plant that grows in the northern-colder parts of Europe. It has been used for centuries to help cope with the cold winters in Norway, Sweden, and Iceland and was used by the Vikings to improve stamina, reduce symptoms of stress, improve fatigue, and help fight off infections. It is currently the best selling supplement in Norway where people use it to improve energy.
The word adaptogen in herbal medicine refers to an herb or plant extract that helps the body adapt to stress and fatigue, while promoting or restoring normal physiological (bodily) functioning. Rhodiola is just such an herb. It’s the root of the Rhodiola plant which contains the highest concentration of Rosavins and Salidroside that has the greatest impact on restoring or supporting wellness.
Rhodiola increases your energy and helps you handle stress, while improving your mood and reducing mental fatigue. It promotes a soothing, calming effect, while steadily improving a sense of wellbeing. This herb also supports endurance so you can achieve more with exercise or for sports performance. Rhodiola may also support healthy immune system function over the winter and during times of prolonged stress.
Stress is an unfortunate fact of life. Everyone experiences stress to some degree, but many of us are under very high amounts of stress on a daily basis. This excessive level of stress that so many people currently experience is not normal – it contributes to emotional overload, behavioral changes, and physical manifestations throughout the body. Poor quality of sleep, muscle tension, headaches, overeating or not eating enough, alcohol and drug abuse, and increased risk of infections and illness are just some unpleasant results of stress when it is not properly managed.
Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna tested the effects of Rhodiola rosea root extract on 118 burnt out people between the ages of 30 to 60. It was a 12 week study and the participants were given 400mg a day of Rhodiola every day. Improvements were measurable within the first week and over the study there was a good level of improvement in fatigue, emotional exhaustion, lack of joy, loss of zest for life, and depersonalization where everything seems flat, empty, and uninteresting. Compliance was high and the herb was very safe. The multicenter study is published in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment.
Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash A circadian Rhythm is the 24 hour cycle that determines when you should go to sleep and when you should wake up. It is basically the clock that runs your entire body, and is also known as your sleep/wake …
Photo by Kim Carpenter on Unsplash If there is one thing that we face daily, it is stress. Whether it’s rushing to get the kids to school on time in the morning, rushing through traffic to make it to your morning meeting or cramming for …
Self-care is simply practicing personal healthy habits that are crucial to how you function. Self-care practices can be different for everyone, but their benefits have been shown to help each individual with focus, mood, and stress relief.
You have a busy day ahead of you. Whether it’s a long day of classes with essays and tests stacking up or you’re overwhelmed at work, your to-do list seems to be bursting at the seems. To make time for it all, you skip lunch, skip your workouts or decide not to meet your friends for dinner. It’s a common thought that forcing yourself into whatever you need to do – like stay up all night to study for a test or stay hours late at work to finish that presentation – will pay off in the end. But what happens when you become so overwhelmed that these tasks begin to effect your health?
When you abilities become worn, your skills aren’t as sharp, you’re losing focus and sleep and you become stressed, you should turn to some healthy self-care habits to get you back to your best you. If you are feeling these symptoms, you may want to focus your attention on some healthy self-care tips –
Self-care is important in order to maintain a healthy relationship with your health, especially your self-esteem and confidence. Make time throughout the day for yourself – enjoy a bubble bath, read a book, learn a new language!
When you’re overworked, stressed and disorganized, you are less productive. Take breaks at work or school to decompress – grab a healthy snack, take a quick walk, read a book!
Smart self-care habits like eating healthy and practicing mediation can really help your stress management and can lead to increased energy and productivity levels.
You cannot be physically healthy if you aren’t mentally healthy first. Care for both your physical and mental health by eating healthy, making sure to get adequate sleep, and exercise regularly.
When you feel like you don’t have any energy left, you may want to look into a nutrient that has been proven to help your body adapt to daily stress and fatigue – Rhodiola. It is an ancient herb used to support energy and well-being, by modulating the body’s response to stress and helping to generate cellular energy. It has also been shown to enhance exercise performance, reduce fatigue, stress and anxiety, support the immune system and boost endothelial health and cardiovascular health.† Click here to read more about Rhodiola!