ADAPTOGENS EXPLAINED: Ginseng, Ashwagandha, Rhodiola + Science of Stress

Adaptogens are herbs which fight stress, and can have powerful physical and mental benefits. In this video we explore the science behind Ginseng, Rhodiola, & Ashwagandha.

If you’ve been feeling over stressed and burnt out lately, you’re not alone. Not even close.

In fact according to one yearly poll, 2018 saw Americans reach their highest reported stress levels in over a decade.

With talk of stress related diseases and reports of work related burnout on the rise, it’s no surprise that people are showing increased interest in herbal supplements which are said to reduce stress and improve health.

While the idea of using herbs as medicine is gaining traction in America, in the rest of the world it never left. Just ask the World Health Organization, who report that 75% of the worlds population depend on botanical medicines for their basic healthcare needs.

While China and India are some of the largest users of these medicines, herbal medicines are widely used in Europe as well. Take Germany for example, where they classify medicinal herbs as phytomedicines, all German medical students learn about them, and regularly prescribe them to their patients.

In this video, we are going to look specifically at Adaptogens.What are adaptogens? This family of herbs are said to carry a wide range of benefits, mostly centering around adapting to stress, supporting metabolic and immune function, and restoring hormonal balance.

While many people swear that they have seen major improvements to their physical and mental wellbeing, on this channel we like to dive a bit deeper.

I also want to take a deeper look to really understand and explain our body’s physical and mental stress pathways, where they go wrong when we get burned out, and how adaptogens can help us get back to our best physical and mental performance.

Specifically we’ll look into Ginseng, Ashwagandha, and Rhodiola. These Adaptogens have received some of the most praise for their supposed benefits on stress, immune function, longevity, mental performance, and even physical performance.

So beyond just providing a broad overview of adaptogens, we’ll also look at their history and science backed benefits behind some of the most well known ones.

I’ve included timecodes for everything on the screen and in the description, so if you only clicked this video to learn about a specific one of these herbs, you can skip right to it.

So the question is, are these claims just hype?

Well the first clue might be just how long people have been using these herbs.

The history of humans using these adaptogenic herbs goes back far. While we are going to cover the modern science behind them, and the science of stress, let’s first investigate what the people who discovered their health effects thought of them.

Thousands of years before russian scientist Nikolai Lazarev would first coin the term adaptogen to describe the shared properties of these herbs, ancient cultures around the world were already discovering their effects for themselves. If you aren’t interested in any of this history, you can skip ahead to the research backed effects, personally though I find the history adds some great context.

Lazarev and Brekhman the russian researchers claimed adaptogens could prolong the duration of the resistance to stress phase and diminish the magnitude of the alarm phase.

And sure enough, search the literature and countless researchers have pointed to a calming and balancing effect on the HPA axis as the explanation for how they are able to alleviate general stress.

As their research into Adaptogens continued, they searched for new herbs to study. To fit their criteria as an adaptogen an herb had to be absolutely safe with no side effects especially when used long term. It had to have a broadly positive impact on the body, and have a normalizing effect.

But how exactly are plants able to do all this, and what’s the mechanism?

Well as it turns out plants have an incredibly diverse chemical makeup. Hundreds of thousands of primary and secondary metabolites, which are unique chemical compounds exist within them to do everything from, supporting energy generation and storage, to providing resistance to environmental stressors, such as the stress of attacking pests, or a frigid winter.

Two classes of these secondary metabolites have been found to be especially active in humans, polyphenols, which typically carry antioxidant properties, and terpenes, which generally exist to help the plant survive in its own unique and often harsh environment, interestingly these compounds often carry structures very similar to hormones within our own bodies.

[kittiescorner]

Rhodiola is literally a miracle to me. I went from being extremely anxious to having mild or no anxiety.

[malcolmmazon]

I'm not even mad at your ads. The amount of research and work you put on your every videos are remarkable!!

[tjn]

Rhodia History 3:00 Ginseng History 6:00 Ashwagandha History 8:40 Adaptogen modern history 11:00
Ginseng benefits 14:20 Ashwagandha Benefits 22:00 Rhodia Benefits 26:00
Stress response explained 29:45 Adaptogens effect on stress 38:35

[peterpemrich]

I've tried them all and rhodiola, lion's main, cordyceps and shilajit are amazing while at work and ashwaganda, L-Theanine and reishi are perfect for unwinding. Throw in some magnesium glycinate and your stresses will fade into the background.

[semeunacte]

Man, this is truly a work of art. Really interesting, really useful. This should be taught in schools.

[yannickmauget]

As usual, an exceptional content delivered just "in front of our door". So clear and helpful. You must have spent hours doing it but the result is worth it and awesome. Thank you for all your work Dorian.

[ldad]

Working out got me out of a hard depression

[kamilkaufman]

Rhodiola has changed my life! Instead of a supplement, I get it through my coffee and the company I use is Krios coffee. Tastes delicious and is effective for my focus and stress.

[fluid]

The problem with adaptogens and nootropics is that they do not have the proper research for people to safely use them because the research just isn't there yet. They could possibly cause problems for ones long term physical and mental health. They also could possibly cause toxicity with over the counter or prescription drugs, and other supplements, or in high amounts. Just because something come's from a plant, or has been used before, does not make it a healthy thing to ingest, or ingest regularly.

[peterwatts]

Wow man. Thank you for all the time you put into this video. Great info from start to finish

[Rafael-bjhc]

I took ginseng for some time. I was tired and sexually disfunctional. Made my research and concluded it was worth it to try ginseng, so I bought for 1 month. By that time I was still hustling but then I was feeling so much better than the month before. From time to time I was realizing I was more active, with disposition, with libido, feeling my heart pump strongly (but not in a worrisome way). I didn't continued because after that month my sexual function was restored; and then I decided to go back to my treatment with antidepressants, so I choose to avoid drug interactions. Ginseng did not cure my depression, but it surely gave me some energy and "inspiration" to continue the treatment I had quited, wich is tiresome but necessary. I feel almost full recovered right now and when I stop this meds I know I can count with ginseng to mental and physical health maintenance in the small relapses or stressfull moments in life.

[ftheman]

Would be interested to see you discuss the cellular/mitochondrial support that is said to come from resveratrol, CoQ10, and PQQ.

[MikaMD]

Well done man! Excellent content. This editing must take forever.

[anitacarrier]

Wow very well researched and informative video. Thank you. I've been struggling with severe fatigue for over 4 months now. I was taking Rhodiola rosea and notice the effects on my anxiety levels but energy wise no improvement, I was recently told nylon my GP I'm going through the menopause and discovered aswaghanda only been taking it for 2 days and I'm not saying I've recovered but I noticed I started to notice a glimpse of feeling like me again.

[babydeer]

I watched this on my friends phone. I had to jump on here and tell you thank you, thank you, thank you. I didn’t skip and I’m a skipper. This was so awesome. Thank you for your study, your visual cues, your presentation, and time. I learned so much and enjoyed it lol. Thanks again for not shorting the history and bringing us through the timeline to present day use. 👏

[SI-lntc]

You should also list the herbs in terns of costs/affordability.

In Asia the older the ginseng the more precious it it. It is said it has strong prenatal life force energy in it. Hence the cost goes up. The older it is the better. Size and appearance another factor. If its big its valuable. If the root looks more like a man's legs or a man the more valuable. Its complicated.

[PulseCodeMusic]

Wow that was far more in depth than expected... you sir may have a subscribe!

[ekaterinakoverga]

Your vid came suggested by the algorithm and, boy, am I glad it did! Halfway through listening to the content I found myself thinking : who is this guy? I should subscribe. ❤ Excellent work!

[GalacticGaming]

10 minutes in, I realized his is a 45 minute video. No complaints.

[MikeSmalarz]

I just recently started using Ginseng and Aaswagandha and notice a little boost in my energy at the gym.