6 Best Adaptogens For Stress Relief

Chronic stress is public enemy number one, and it can lead to serious health problems if not managed. Adaptogens may be part of the solution to helping you reduce fatigue and improve your mood.

- Steve Downs, MS, CSCS

If excessive stress is defining your daily life, you’re not alone. A recent Gallup poll shows that 80 percent of Americans say they are afflicted by stress.

Stress is an overarching term describing your body’s way of responding to demands (physical, work, mental, or emotional), good or bad. When you feel stressed, your body reacts by releasing chemicals and hormones into the bloodstream, which then causes various physical effects.

The problem with modern stress is that your neurological, endocrine, and immune systems are all adversely affected. This, in turn, causes problems with immunity, cognitive health, sleep, and mood, in addition to increases in body fat and catabolic muscle loss.

Adaptogens To The Rescue Aside from meditation, prayer, relaxation techniques, and exercise, one very powerful form of stress relief can be found in adaptogen supplementation. Adaptogens are a class of herbs that have been used to help the body “adapt” to stress by reducing its physical effects on the body, while also reducing fatigue, boosting vitality, and improving performance. These are natural agents that promote homeostasis (balance) and harmony in the body. They work at a molecular level to regulate stability through the HPA axis (via the hypothalamic, pituitary, and adrenal glands).