Hey, guys, Dr. Josh Axe here.
Welcome to Ancient Medicine Today.
Today I'm going to be talking about eight adaptogen herbs to help you heal your adrenal
glands and reduce stress.
And listen, the number of people today that are struggling with adrenal fatigue is mind
boggling.
In fact, I've seen recent evidence that shows over 80% of people struggle with fatigue,
being overly tired on a regular basis.
And you might be that person watching to where you get tired, maybe 2:00 in the afternoon,
you hit that 2:00 coma, you just lack energy, lack motivation is another warning sign.
Maybe feel overwhelmed and frazzled or brain fog sometimes.
All of those are warning signs that you can have adrenal issues.
So today I want to specifically talk about the eight herbs, these are called adaptogens,
that can most help your adrenals, and also really help any of you that are feeling stressed
out.
And I absolutely believe this is a message that everybody needs to know about.
So hey, help me spread this message right now.
Take a second and punch your Share button.
Let's help spread the word and save lives by teaching people how to use food as medicine.
And I'll tell you, the thing I love about adaptogens, remember this, adaptogens help
your body better deal with stress.
When you get emotionally stressed, what happens is your cortisol levels raise.
When cortisol stays up high for a long period of time that's your adrenals.
Your adrenals are working to reduce adrenaline and cortisol, and a lot of these hormones.
And when they are too high for too long, and eventually can burn out your adrenals, sometimes,
then your cortisol can get too low and stay too low because your body has just shut down.
And so what we really want to do on this episode is I want to teach you the best herbs to really
start to support and rejuvenate those adrenal glands that maybe [inaudible 00:01:51] that
you have.
And so the first one here I'm going to talk about is rhodiola rosea.
This is an incredible adaptogenic herb.
Listen to this, there was a study done recently on mice, and they found that mice that supplemented
with rhodiola rosea, actually had a major increase, I believe about a 30 to 40% increase
in endurance while swimming.
So listen, if you're an athlete, especially, maybe you're a swimmer or just in general,
you need more endurance, and let me give an example of endurance.
You wake up in the morning, you feel okay.
By afternoon, every afternoon, you are just wiped out, you're tired.
That's an example of you not having enough endurance or stamina or same thing, you get
in a workout and you can't keep going.
Rhodiola rosea is the type of adaptogen that's been shown to improve endurance by the body.
And so again, an incredible adaptogen here in rhodiola rosea, very famous in Ayurvedic
medicine in India, one of the absolute best for fighting adrenal fatigue.
Let me share with you.
We're going to jump into schisandra here.
But some of the biggest warning signs you may have adrenal issues are overstressed.
Here are some examples, if you have dark colored circles under your eyes or any sort of eye
issues, that's a big warning sign that your adrenals are being affected.
If you are a person who has major sugar cravings, that's a big warning sign.
If you're a person who gets a good night's sleep and you wake up the next morning and
you are still tired and feel like you need to keep sleeping in, that's a big warning
sign, you have adrenal fatigue.
If you just get rattled easily, if you sort of have outbursts and that type of thing,
that can mean you have adrenal fatigue.
And again, that 2:00 coma.
After lunch you're tired almost every day, that's a big warning sign.
And a lot of times also if you have thyroid problems, oftentimes thyroid and adrenal issues
are absolutely interconnected.
Those are some warning signs you may have adrenal issues, are over stressed as well.
And another one is lack of motivation.
If you just really are not motivated in life, it can be because your adrenals and some of
these organs are just absolutely overwhelmed.
Now, schisandra, one of my favorite.
Actually, it's schisandra berry.
One of my favorite Chinese medicine supplements.
Now schisandra is really unique, in that it not only supports the adrenals and the kidneys,
it also supports the liver.
And I really believe if you are under a high amount of stress and your adrenals are fatigued,
this might be my favorite adrenal supplement.
Again, it's called schisandra, sometimes it's actually spelled with a Z there, sometimes
an S there, but schisandra is a fantastic supplement to use.
It's part of Chinese medicine and you can look at adrenal formula.
Some adrenal formulas, if it's a really good one, will oftentimes have schisandra in there
as well.
Again, a fantastic adaptogen.
Now, another adaptogen I love is holy basil.
Now, this isn't like regular basil.
Oftentimes you'll see with holy basil, it'll actually have a purple to it, sometimes it's
all purple, sometimes it's green, but a lot of times it has just a little bit of a purple
mix to it.
But holy basil is an herb, another one that's famous in Ayurvedic medicine and it's also
known as tulsi, and this can oftentimes be taken as a tea.
Also, it's oftentimes used as an essential oil.
So you get a holy basil, really powerful adaptogen that is used quite frequently in Ayurvedic
medicine.
The thing I love about the holy basil as well is its good not just for adrenals, it's good
for your hormones of your entire body.
If you have PCOS or PMS or going through menopause or any of those issues, holy basil is a great
herb to do for your adrenals, but also for your entire body naturally balancing out hormone
production.
So again, you can do it as a tea, you can do several drops on your neck as an essential
oil or take a straight holy basil supplement or sometimes, holy basil is found in blends,
different adrenal or thyroid support of blends there as well.
Another one of my favorite, so we've talked about Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine.
We have another famed adaptogen in Chinese medicine here.
And it's called reishi mushroom.
Now reishi is a fungi, it's not necessarily an herb, but it is absolutely an adaptogen.
And reishi is known as the mushroom of immortality, it extends life, support anti-aging, and helps
balance out those cortisol levels.
Also, reishi is a cancer fighter, it's one of the most powerful anti-cancer mushrooms,
probably the most powerful anti-cancer mushroom that's available today.
So again, reishi, you can do it as a tea, you can do it as a supplement.
I want to mention this with your body's fight or flight response.
When you get emotionally worked up, here's what happens, or really stressed out.
This would happen in the past, let's say a bear was chasing you.
Put your body in something called fight or flight response.
Either you're going to fight or you're going to fly from the response.
But in a fight or flight response, your sympathetic nervous system gets high and your cortisol
level is raised.
Now, a lot of us, we don't have bears or lions or tigers chasing us, but what we do have
is stress at work, stress at home, stress, stress, stress.
We have visual stimulus of computers and cell phones and all of these things that keep our
cortisol and our sympathetics really high.
And remember, it supposed to be an ebb and flow and a balance in your life.
For a lot of us, we live in that state so much we never get brought down to balance.
So it wears out our body over time.
You want to increase your parasympathetic nerve system and response.
Adaptogenic herbs help increase that parasympathetic nerve system.
Now, the king Ayurvedic medicine for the thyroid.
Now, this is good for adrenals as well, but it's ashwagandha.
And I'll say this, if you have a thyroid problem, ashwaganda is the number one herb you should
be taking on a regular basis or a blend of both ashwaganda and other adaptogenic herbs.
Ashwaganda is amazing for both the thyroid and the adrenals together.
So thyroid adrenal issues, especially if you have both, ashwaganda is one of the most powerful.
I mean, the studies on ashwaganda as well for anti-aging of your joints, for fighting
autoimmune disease, a number of conditions.
Ashwaganda is powerful, and endurance, and stamina, it is the king of adaptogens in my
book.
Number six here is licorice root extract.
Now, licorice root specifically supports the stomach indigestion.
Actually, it's been shown to, if you have ulcers which are due to stress, right?
So if you get mostly stressed and you get an ulcer from all the stress, licorice root
is the number one herb to help with ulcers.
But in general, it helps as an adaptogen for lowering stress but also supports your upper
GI system, your stomach and your small intestine area.
Licorice root, an incredible herb used in Chinese medicine.
Number seven here is ginseng.
Ginseng is probably known as the first and most well-known of all the adaptogenic herbs.
And this is the biggest one.
If you need an energy boost, ginseng is probably the best for noticing improvement in your
energy immediately.
So this is great to do like pre workout, you want to really get energized before workout,
ginseng is great.
But specifically, if you struggle with low energy all day, ginseng is the most powerful
adaptogenic herb.
And last but not least is astragalus.
Astragalus is for those who get too damp in the body.
If you have a loose stool, if you have candida issues, white coating on your tongue and you
just really feel, I'm going to use the word sluggish, if you feel sluggish and lethargic,
and have any of those issues like candida, astragalus helps nourish the spleen and works
as an adaptogenic herb.
It works as a natural immune booster but also helps dry up that excess mucus and fluid and
candida and those types of things in the body as well.
So astragalus, powerful herb used in Chinese medicine to reduce dampness and reduce stress
on the body, especially with the digestive system.
Now, I want to mention this guys, I want to encourage you.
Get some of these powerful adaptogenic herbs in your diet and listen, I also want to recommend
reducing stress, that's another big one.
So listen, you can't just take adaptogens, and if you've got this really stressed life,
all of a sudden everything gets better.
You really want to practice spending more time outdoors, working out, doing lunch, really
scheduling in things you love to do and you love to reduce stress, schedule those in.
Schedule a healing bath and some Epsom salts and some lavender oil.
Just start incorporating things to reduce stress.
And then in addition to that, start consuming some of these adaptogenic herbs, you're going
to notice a big difference.
And I want to mention this finally.
There are so many people today who are over stressed.
Think about the most overstressed people in your life, whether it's a parent or a spouse
or a friend or relative, somebody that's just really high strung.
Share this message with them, take this video, email to somebody, share it with them on their
phone, send them a text, but more people need to know this information on how to overcome
adrenal fatigue and stress by using adaptogenic herbs.
Hey, guys, it's been me, Dr. Josh Axe, talking about how to overcome adrenal fatigue.
I'll be back tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., Central Time.
Thanks for watching.
Hi.
Dr. Axe here.
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