Hi, I'm Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, an integrated medical physician and herbalist. You know,
if somebody was to ask me "what would be the most important group of plants for
modern times?" I'd probably say the adaptogens. Adaptogens are plants that
help our bodies adapt to stressful environments, to a changing environment,
and they do this in very nonspecific ways. You know, the first
adaptogen that was ever really investigated was ginseng, and in the
1940s and 50s, Soviet scientists were researching ginseng trying to
figure out like, why is it such an expensive herb and why does it have all
these claims behind it that people thought it was just this amazing plant?
And these researchers found that ginseng seemed to have a normalizing effect when
you gave it to animals or to people. Didn't matter sort of what was out of
balance it brought it back into balance in this very gentle way: That was where
the term 'adaptogen' was actually coined, was from original from Soviet
researchers. Since that time we've learned a lot about ginseng and other
plants that have this normalizing effect, this sort of protective effect on the
body. Today, you know, so many the people that come in to see me are feeling
the effects of stress: they're feeling the effects of worry, and stress, and long
hours at work, and you know, and not to mention things that they can't really
control a lot of the environment. You know, the quality of the air, or air
pollution, or noise pollution, light pollution, many of the things that
are just sort of surrounding them. And it causes the body's physiologic
homeostatic mechanisms to become challenged, or out of balance. Adaptogens,
and there's a number of them, rhodiola, ashwagandha, you know, maca, ginseng,
eleuthero, there's a number of these adaptogens that have a normalizing
effect on our physiology. Some are quite stimulating. Rhodiola, for example
is quite stimulating when you give it to individuals they feel very energized. So
people who feel, you know, really tired and they feel a lot of just you know
fatigued rhodiola can be a wonderful adaptogen for them. For somebody like me,
rodeo is way too stimulating, right? So I'm more drawn to ashwagandha for myself.
Ashwagandha is the most calming or relaxing of the adaptogens that comes to
us from the subcontinent of India, and it's been used in their system of
medicine in Indian medicine (Ayurvedic medicine) for a very, very long time to
sort of nourish and strengthen the nervous system. So, I think many people
benefit from ashwagandha today. Ginseng is another interesting one. We have an
American ginseng and then there's an Asian, there are a number of Asian
species of ginseng as well, ginseng is interesting. I learned about
panax ginseng or Asian ginseng and when I was doing martial arts many, many years
ago and they would make the tea like in a double boiler and in the top they
would make they would take the root and cook it until it was sort of a golden
yellow, and they would drink it. And they would drink it to really strengthen the
"chi" or really strengthen the body. Contrary to what most people think in
the United States, ginseng was not typically used for young warriors, it was
often used for people who were convalescing, people who were getting
older, who were feeling kind of weak. So when I think of adaptogens and I think
of modern living, I think this is a class of herbs that could be so beneficial to
us in our lives. There is no pharmacologic equivalent. We do not have
a tonifying group of pharmaceuticals that you sort of take to normalize your
physiology. I think there's a tremendous amount of interest in adaptogens, I think
we're learning much more of how they're used, and I would invite
you to consider adaptogens in your own life to find the one that might work for
you. You don't have to take adaptogens all the time, adaptagens are not
necessary to take all the time. Many of us take them you know for a four six
week period, maybe eight weeks when we're feeling sort of tired or really stressed.
I take mine during the holiday season when I know that I'm gonna be very busy,
and we're going to be inundated with family and friends, and nobody's going to
get a lot of sleep. Those are the times when I use it to sort of just give my
immune system and my nervous system and all of my physiology just a little
extra added protection. So, there are a lot of good books.
David Winston has an excellent book on adaptogens that I highly recommend if
you want to learn more about it. And, of course, I talk about adaptogens in my
own book, Healthy at Home. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I'm telling
you there's a lot that you can do to help yourself thrive in
these modern times. From my house to yours, in good health.