So... What are they?
A herb or medicinal mushroom which greatly enhances your responses to any influence or stress. Stabilising your physical function. Adaptogens or adaptogenic substances are used in herbal medicine for the claimed stabilisation of physiological processes and promotion of homeostasis.
Effects on the Body
Adaptogenic substances are specifically known to affect one or more areas that include sexual virility, athletic ability, heightened energy and physical beauty. They allow your body to naturally regulate itself by normalising over-activity of the organs and glands.
Distinct from other substances in their ability to balance endocrine hormones and the immune system and they help the body to maintain optimal homeostasis. Adaptogens are proposed to have a normalising effect on the body and to the capable of either toning down the activity of hyper functioning systems, or strengthening the activity of hypo functioning systems. Adaptogens encompass a wide variety of different natural medicines from all corners of the globe that have a few things in common: They are generally safe and they have a balancing effect on something called the hypothalamic-pituitary-endocrine axis. This is the delicate dance between your brain and hormone system, and include your brain-adrenal (HPA) axis, brain-thyroid (HPT), and brain-gonadal axis (HPG). You need all these communication systems working in perfect harmony for a healthy mood, metabolism, energy, immune system, and sex drive. When your HP axis is unbalanced it leads to hormone problems like adrenal fatigue, thyroid problems, and libido issues. And nobody wants that.
History
Adaptogens are not a western Concept. The class of major Chinese tonic Herbs, are known as “adaptogenic herbs” and have been used for close to 5,000 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine. There extracts, teas and herbs can play a major role in toning vital organ strength and naturally help to increase our ability to move through life with visor, untouched by change or stress.
The concept of adaptogens was originally created in 1947 to describe a substance that may increase resistance to stress. Adaptogenesis was later applied in the former Soviet Union to describe remedies thought to increase the resistance of organisms to biological stress. Another definition for an herb to be considered an adaptogen requires that it must be nontoxic, nonspecific, and thought to affect physiology of the organism.
They modulate your response to stress or changing environment.The main action is in helping the body deal with the physiology of stress. (Physical, environmental, emotional)
Help the body “adapt” to stress factors brought on by external environmental influences or internal imbalance. Referred to as rejuvenating herbs, chi tonics, rasayanas or restoratives, they are specifically known to increase the body’s resistance to trauma, fatigue, toxicity, external environmental or internal stress, anxiety, fear and insomnia.
In many studies adaptogens have been shown to protect against cancer, reduce the side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs and increase resistance to the effects of radiation and chemical carcinogens.
Increase physical and mental stamina, anti-inflammatory and greatly support the immune system functions, while protect the liver, heart and revitalise the nerves.
Let’s learn what these Plants can do for us by rejuvenating the body and the mind.
Nature’s Gift to Combat Stress.
Comments