Does wellness feel like an unreachable target? You are not alone! Complex health conditions like adrenal fatigue, autoimmune disorders, hormonal imbalances, and mental illness are becoming more frequent, especially as we age. Just look at the numbers!
1 in 10 people will experience an Autoimmune Disorder in their lifetime
1 in 10 women will experience Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in their lifetime
1 in 10 women will experience Endometriosis in their lifetime
1 in 5 seniors will experience Diabetes in their lifetime
1 in 2 people will have experience with a Mental Illness by the time they are 40
Complex health conditions are incredibly difficult to manage within our current healthcare system. When a Doctor is only allotted 15 minutes for each patient it doesn’t leave a lot of time to parse out the nuances of someone's past medical history and lived experiences to determine why a complex health condition would have arisen. Without knowing why these imbalances occurred it can be hard to create an approach that covers more than just the symptoms - leading to lifelong prescription use. Doctor’s are incredible resources to have, I absolutely adore my GP, but they are limited to the framework that they work within.
Herbal Medicine however excels at managing chronic or complex health conditions. Where drugs are created to have one intended action, herbs exist in their own complexity offering multiple actions through a single plant.
Why the rise in disease?
The short answer, STRESS, specifically chronic stress. Many of us no longer have the ability to remove ourselves from stress as it has become so ingrained in our life. Common things that lead to chronic stress can be: traffic, phone usage, working after hours, television content, lack of nature, minimal exercise, financial concerns, etc.
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on our body; consistently elevated cortisol levels impact widespread inflammation, central weight gain, blood sugar or hormonal imbalances, sleep quality, and more. This happens because stress forces our internal regulating system to always be playing catch up, for example cortisol uses up the base hormone pregnenolone, also required for progesterone synthesis, therefore elevated cortisol results in depleted progesterone.
When we leave our bodies in a perpetual clean-up mode there is little room to embrace the joys of life, leaving many of us to feel as if we are stuck in life’s rat-race without an escape. There is an alternative! Adaptogens can’t remove the stress from your life, but they can definitely help you respond better and come down from stress quicker, curbing the harmful side-effects of stress.
What are adaptogens? How can they help?
Enter Adaptogens; the name of the game is in the title! Adaptogens are incredibly effective at improving our ability to: adapt to, respond to, and return back to calm, following a stressful event. Many plants are able to support the body during stress, however, adaptogens must also be safe, act broadly on the body, and drive us toward homeostasis. This means that although there are energizing adaptogens like Ginseng you will never see a stimulant like Coffee listed as an adaptogen. Thus, adaptogens are often a safe option for people first starting out in their wellness journey. Keep in mind with adaptogens, due to their general and less intrusive action they will take longer to notice effects, give it at least two weeks before you start to expect to see any change, and three months for best results.
Interesting Fact! - Adaptogens were actually categorized by a Russian scientist Dr. Nikolai Lazarev during the second world war when the USSR was looking for safe and available alternatives to the stimulants that Germany was utilizing in order to improve the performance of soldiers!
Choosing Your Adaptogen
Selecting the best plant for yourself can be a challenge. I find it to be much easier to have someone who is experienced in herbs and knows your past medical history to choose the most appropriate plant for you. For example, when selecting herbs for my clients I consider many factors, including flavour preference, energetics of the plant (warming or cooling? Drying or moistening?), dosage, most effective preparation, medicinal actions, spiritual uses, sustainability, contraindications and drug interactions. It is no different with adaptogens, each plant performs many medicinal actions within the body and selecting the best adaptogen will be dependent on your current health status as well as past medical history.
However, I do have one adaptogen that is an absolute favourite when it comes to managing stress…
Tulsi or Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum)
Tulsi is in the mint family, grows incredibly well as an annual here on Vancouver Island and smells absolutely divine in the garden! After growing Tulsi and using the plant fresh I have come to see it as a beautiful combination of Basil and Valerian, adding more of a grounding experience than basil alone, however if you do not have access to Tulsi then using regular Basil will work as an alternative.
Tulsi is a top choice when looking to
Reduce cortisol levels
Improve sleep duration and quality
Manage blood sugar
Calm and uplift the mind
Improve digestive function
Support body during upper respiratory infections
As you can see adaptogens have varied actions on the body and are useful in many conditions. When looking for an adaptogen there may be more appropriate choices depending on your most prominent health concern for example: to support sleep Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) may be more appropriate or to support hormones Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) may be a better option.
If you are interested in adaptogens, or trying different ones check out my store page! I sell powder formulations specifically designed to manage stress, each powder contains at least one adaptogen and they only require hot or cold water, so even the most stressed, no-time-having person can achieve wellness for years to come!
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