Category: TCM

Increasing Shen – How to Enhance Learning, Beat Depression, and Chill Out

Within Traditional Chinese Medicine lies a fundamental and unique concept, that of the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures lay at the foundation of how TCM works – build up your Jing energy for a long life and strong resilience; improve your Qi so as to have plenty of day to day energy; and enhance and build up your Shen energy, that faculty of mind that leads to wisdom, peace and tranquility.

We already discussed one of them, Jing, in some detail, but what I want to focus on today is Shen, that faculty of your higher mind. Shen can be defined in many ways, but is commonly described as being the seat of the higher mind, your spirit, consciousness, and the domain of thought, memory and emotion. To have strong Shen is to be mentally quick, happy, joyful, and content, and to not be forgetful, lethargic, depressed, angry or anxious.

What I find really interesting about things like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, the equivalent Indian system of healthcare, is how they are able to understand all the effects a substance is having on the body, without ever being able to isolate certain compounds or measure acute changes within a person’s biochemistry.

Luckily for us today, we are able to accomplish this and measure all the minutia within a substance and the subsequent changes occurring in our body. This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Reishi Mushroom

Red Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma Lucidum)
Red Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma Lucidum)

Reishi is the star of the show when it comes to Shen substances, and in fact is the number 1 ranked herb out of 365 medicinal substances within TCM. First described over 2,400 years ago, it was said of Reishi that “if eaten customarily, it makes your body light and young, lengthens your life and turns you into one like the immortal who never dies.”

Of red Reishi, it was said that “it is good for the Qi (functional activities) of the heart including mental activities, it tonifies the Spleen, increases wisdom, improves memory so that you won’t forget, long-term consumption will lighten your body, you will never become old, it lengthens years, it has spiritual power, and it develops Shen so that you become a ‘spirit-being’ like the immortals.”

That’s some lofty descriptions of a mushroom, I’d say.

So I dug deeper. On PubMed alone, there are 1,195 studies on Ganoderma Lucidum, and that’s just one strain of reishi mushroom. And while it has proven benefits on everything from the liver, to the immune system to allergies, we’re here to focus on its possible Shen-enhancing effects.

Reishi mushroom has BDNF- and NGF-like effects within the brain. Both BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and NGF (nerve-growth factor) promote the growth of new brain cells, enhance synaptic connections between existing neurons, and serve to protect neurons from damage. Both BDNF and NGF enhance learning and memory. Further, many studies show a link between low levels of BDNF and depression.

So from Reishi’s BDNF- and NGF-like effects alone, it’s able to help with depression, memory, and learning, as well as help prevent damage to the brain from stress, drugs or alcohol, and help ward off cognitive decline as we age. Not bad.

A simple hot-water extract of reishi exhibited anti-depressant effects in mice, as well as helped to prevent freezing up in the face of fear, and pretreatment of a hot water extract proved to be neuroprotective.

All in all, I’d say reishi mushroom fits the bill of a Shen-enhancing substance, and remember, this is all in addition to proven anti-cancer, anti-allergy, liver-protective and immune-enhancing benefits. I’ve used plenty of reishi products over the years – I suggest getting a liquid dual-extracted tincture, so that you get both the water- and the alcohol-soluble components, as they all have different functions in the body. You can also get a powdered extract that contains reishi mushroom spores – these spores have the same effects as the alcohol-soluble constituents, but are hundreds of times more potent.

When it comes to Reishi supplements, you really get what you pay for. Dragon Herbs carries some really interesting Reishi products, all of which are also concentrated to be even more potent –

  • they have a dual-extracted Purple Reishi, as the purple variety is said to have the most Shen energy;
  • a dual liquid extract of 22 different varieties of reishi, which I promise you can not find anywhere else;
  • a Wild Reishi dual-extracted tincture – this is cool because wild herbs are almost always more potent than those grown by humans, but are much more difficult to collect;
  • as well as an extremely potent bottle of Reishi Spore Oil – if anyone really likes my website, feel free to buy me some of this, as it is not cheap.
Count the Reishis
A Chinese painting honoring Reishi mushroom

Polygala

Polygala is another premier Shen-enhancing herb. It has sometimes traditionally been called the “Will Strengthener“, helping both spiritual practitioners and common folk alike increase their will power. What biological effects this herb would have to have upon the body to increase will power, alas, I do not know.

It’s also traditionally been said to be able to connect the sexual energy of the reproductive system with that of loving, altruistic energy of the heart. As such, polygala has been used as one of the premier Shen-enhancing herbs used throughout the ages. Does it hold up to Western scientific scrutiny?

One 2009 study concluded that treatment with polygala led to improved memory and learning, and even ameliorated some of the deleterious effects of the amnesia-producing drug scopolamine. The authors noted that “the expression of BDNF was also greatly enhanced in the hippocampus.”

A 2014 study found strong anti-depressant effects, noting that the main constituent studied, Yuanzhi-1, had a stronger affinity to dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine receptors in the brain than a commonly prescribed pharmaceutical anti-depressant. This means it improves depression through 3 distinct pathways more effectively than a drug approved by the FDA, without side effects.

Do you often have trouble finding motivation to get things done, even if they are activities that should excite you? Another 2014 study found that polygala administration not only had “rapid-onset anti-depressant” effects, but also that it helped reverse anhedonia, the scientific term for having a lack of motivation for, and lack of pleasure in, common every day activities.

Polygala is neuroprotective; enhances memory; attenuates beta-amyloid plaque build up (one of the main factors in Alzheimer’s disease) and promotes neurite growth; and also improves synaptic transmission, or the ability of cells within the brain to communicate effectively.

Polygala is a bit harder to find than reishi mushroom, but don’t despair – Dragon Herbs offers a very nice product I’ve used in the past called Will Power. Polygala is the main herb used, but the product also has a number of other Shen-enhancing herbs.

If you’re looking for straight polygala, you can buy 100 grams of a 5:1 extract here, which is the product I’m currently using. I gotta say, things have been looking bright since I started taking it.

In conclusion, it seems those ancient Chinese sages were on to something when it comes to “Shen” substances that improve emotions and enhance the intellect. There are plenty of other Shen herbs out there as well – pearl and dragon bone, which have Shen-grounding effects, albizzia flower, which is one of the most uplifting herbs I’ve ever used, spirit poria, and more – I’ll try to have more info up soon about some of these herbs.

For now, get your hands on some reishi and polygala, and let me know what you think in the comments below. And don’t forget to contact me if you’re interested in learning how to take a multi-targeted approach to beating depression and anxiety, or how to enhance learning, memory and mental acuity.

Cistanche – One of the Most Versatile Jing Herbs in all of TCM

Which would you rather have? More beautiful skin, more energy, better cognitive abilities or (drum roll please) a stronger libido?

If you answered all of the above, Cistanche is the herb for you.

I’ve been wanting to do a post on Cistanche for a while now. Cistanche is considered a Jing-enhancing substance within Traditional Chinese Medicine. To enhance Jing means to delay aging, improve fertility, enhance cognition, boost the immune system and optimize hormones – you can read more about Jing here. It’s considered a Yang Jing herb, which means it’s energizing and increases drive and motivation.

Cistanche_3

Studies are starting to back up the traditional claims of Cistanche being a Jing-enhancing herb. Cistanche is hepatoprotective, analgesic and anti-inflammatory, and possesses anti-fatigue effects.

This study found that Cistanche increased sperm count and sperm motility by up to 2.7-fold and 1.4-fold, respectively. “The serum level of progesterone and testosterone in rats was also increased by CTE administration (p < 0.05)… Our results suggest that the increase in sex hormone levels could be mediated by the induction of testicular steroidogenic enzymes.” This is great news for men whose hormone levels are dropping or for those who are looking to have children.

Cistanche may even promote the growth of hair and prevent baldness.

Then there’s the study Cistanches Herba enhances learning and memory by inducing nerve growth factor. It concludes that cistanche  “also stimulated NGF secretion in the cortex and hippocampus of the mouse brain at 5 and 20mg/kg/day (3 days, p.o.). Furthermore, CHE increased neuronal cell differentiation, neurite length, and synapse formation in the mouse hippocampus. CHE significantly enhanced learning and memory.. These results suggest that CHE is useful for improving memory function via its action in upregulating NGF.” This translates to a boost in memory and enhanced learning, and I’m not sure I know anyone who wouldn’t want to be smarter and quicker on their feet.

In this study they concluded that “Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results showed that serum containing Herba Cistanches or Herba Epimedii increased the expression of nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in injured MES23.5 cells… These findings indicate that Chinese medicines used to tonify the kidney can protect nerve cells by regulating the expression of apoptosis-related factors and neuro-trophic factors in MES23.5 cells.” Again, it’s like steroids for your brain.

What’s interesting is that in the above mentioned study, cistanche and epimedium, two Jing-boosting herbs, increased neurotrophic factors to a substantial degree, even more so than selegiline, a pharmaceutical marketed for cognitive decline. These two herbs are used traditionally for this exact purpose. You can buy quality epimedium here. Fair warning – it’s a very potent aphrodisiac.

This single herb not only delays fatigue and enhances fertility but also enhances memory, learning and improves cognitive function, giving it nootropic properties.

Finally, two companies joined forces with Peking University to study Cistanche, with many interesting results. They found that cistanche increases the body’s production of SOD (one of our most powerful endogenous antioxidants), inhibits hylauronidase and elastase thereby improving the plumpness and appearance of the skin, prevents photo-aging of the skin, increases amounts of neurotransmitters, improves learning and memory, is an aphrodisiac and more.

I can only agree with the above statements in terms of Cistanche’s subjective effects. It’s awesome that I only need one herb to improve mental performance, improve skin quality, increase energy and improve my mood. I don’t mind the uptick in libido either.

I’ve been using Jing Herbs’ Cistanche  to good effect in my daily “Jing Drink”, though I’ll probably be trying Dragon Herb’s Desert Cistanche Drops soon.

A Day in the Life

For the sake of transparency and because I like to check out how others approach health, I thought I’d post a normal day in the life for me, focusing on food, supplements and health promoting activities.

Let me be very clear by saying that by no means should everyone be doing this much in their day to day lives in the name of health – and every so often I have days where I don’t do much. It’s also important to note that most health coaches or fitness enthusiasts don’t do quite this much – it just so happens I personally love to experiment and tinker around,  and with this regimen I’ve found massive benefits from the supplements and procedures listed below. And while it may sound like a lot, it takes very little time out of my day.

Remember, this is on top of an already very nutritious diet. For the vast majority of us, simply eating right, getting plenty of physical movement, practicing stress reduction and using a supplement or two is plenty in order to improve your health.

A Day in the Life

Wake Up – Anywhere from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. I like to wake up semi-early to get a head start on my day, but some days I’ll just let my body catch up on sleep and wake up naturally.

Upon waking –

  • Glass of room temp water, mainly because I’m thirsty and because it helps to get the digestive system going
  • Morning supplements – the standards of which are a half-capsule of highly-absorbable B-Vitamins, Boron and half a teaspoon of magnesium citrate
  • Morning caffeinated beverage, which is either a half-caff coffee with added L-theanine, or green tea with gynostemma. The caffeine has obvious mental benefits, while the L-theanine, either in supplement form or naturally found in green tea, helps improve focus and enhances the brain’s alpha waves, increasing creativity
  • Usually a nootropic, or cognitive enhancing substance – I’m currently using oxiracetam, a piracetam derivative that has a little more “kick”. This, combined with the caffeine and L-theanine, provides quite the boost in focus and mental energy

Total Time = 3 minutes

At this point I get to work on my business. In the winter I’ll use a Verilux “Bright Light” to help ward off the winter time blues, and also to help set my circadian rhythm – this is key for everything from energy levels to proper hormone release. The bright light is also quite energizing. I’ll use this light occasionally in the warmer months as well, especially when it’s too hot in the summer to sit outside in the sunlight.

After coffee or tea – A drink of adaptogens and Chinese herbs. These help improve hormone levels, delay aging, boost immune function, improve fertility, and prevent burnout and adrenal fatigue, as well as having a myriad of other benefits.

My current cocktail is centered around increasing Jing, and includes he shou wu, cistanche, ashwagandha, schizandra, shilajit, and cordyceps, as well as a formula called Restore the Jing. Most of these are mixed into one bag, so I just scoop some into warm water and mix.

Substances that increase Jing, a term from Traditional Chinese Medicine roughly translated as “Regenerative Essence”, have been found to improve hormone levels, delay aging, increase mental performance, enhance fertility, bolster the immune system and leave you feeling invincible. They’ve made a huge difference in my energy levels, confidence and ability to just get shit done.

Total Time = 2 minutes

~ 11 or 12 – Work out 5 or 6 days out of the week. Some days I work out fasted, with no food in the stomach, or some days I’ll have a small snack prior.

  • I make a home made pre-workout beverage that contains Betaine, BCAAs, Beta-Alanine, Creatine, and sometimes L-Glutamine. These all improve performance in the gym, enhancing muscle growth and improving energy levels. Betaine is also a superb liver detoxifier, beta-alanine increases the brain-growing, anti-depressive protein BDNF, and L-glutamine is great for digestive health
  • Some days I take adaptogenic herbs that specifically improve workouts. It may be rhodiola, cordyceps, a nice Asian ginseng extract, or some combination therein. These don’t have so much of muscle building effects as they do increasing drive and endurance within the gym
  • My workout may be lifting weights, going trail running, doing sprints in my neighborhood, etc.
  • Immediately after I workout I down a protein shake with either unsweetened almond milk or grass-fed dairy, whey protein powder, and sometimes some extra BCAAs and L-Glutamine, depending on workout intensity. This helps my muscles recover from the strain I just put on them

Within an hour of my workout – I have my first real meal of the day. It’s usually a big salad with plenty of greens, a protein source, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and some source of slow-digesting carbs, such as beans, squash, carrots, etc. Immediately post-workout is known as the “anabolic window”, so food consumed at this time is preferentially used to repair muscle tissue and won’t be stored as fat.

If it’s a “Re-feed Day”, this will be a high carb, high protein meal. Re-feed days help reset my body’s sensitivity to key fat-burning and hunger-controlling hormones, including insulin, leptin and ghrelin, as well as helping to build muscle.

Supplements, anyone?
Supplements, anyone?

~ 3 times a week – Hyperthermic Conditioning and Cold Thermogenesis – After workouts I’ll sometimes hit the sauna for a good 20 minutes. It’s more than just a way to relax, as saunas

  • Increase the release of fat-burning, muscle-building Growth Hormone
  • Resensitize the brain to endorphins
  • Improve insulin sensitivity
  • Release Heat Shock Proteins, which have immune-boosting and longevity-enhancing effects,
  • Help to release stored toxins through sweating
  • Increase BDNF, a protein that promotes growth of new neurons and protects existing ones, and an increase in which is thought to be responsible for enhanced learning. It’s also a potent anti-depressant

All of this combines to allow my body to easily repair muscle damage from my workout, boost my immune system, improve my mood and cognitive performance from the BDNF, detoxify and possibly enhance longevity, all from just sitting in a warm room for 20 minutes.

I follow this up with an icy cold shower, the combination of which leaves me feeling giddy as a schoolgirl for the rest of the day. Exposure to cold has been shown to

Again, I’m reaping massive benefits by just sitting in a hot box for 20 minutes and following that up with 5-10 minutes of a chilly shower.

~ 12 p.m. on days I don’t work out – First meal of the day, usually a low-carb salad with plenty of greens and a protein source. I also consume high quality fish oils with lunch and dinner.

Additional supplements consumed around lunch time – Vitamins D and K2, as well as Vitamin A extracted from cod liver oil, 4-5 times a week. These are fat-soluble vitamins that have a plethora of effects, ranging from being precursors to hormones (Vitamin D), improving androgen levels and androgen receptor sensitivity (Vitamin A), neuro-protection and neurogenesis (all three) and ensuring that calcium gets deposited in bones and not in soft tissue (all of them, especially K2). You can buy well over a year’s supply of Vitamin D/K2 here.

~ Notice that I don’t have breakfast? I loosely practice Intermittent Fasting (IF), where you allow certain periods of the day to be food-free. Considering I usually have dinner around 7, and don’t eat my first meal till around 12, I’m giving myself 17 hours of fasting each day.

This gives you most of the benefits of real fasting, without the discomfort that sometimes accompanies real fasting (which I also do once every month or two). IF helps to reset your sensitivity to insulin and other hunger-controlling, fat-burning hormones, as well as enhancing autophagy, the process by the which your cells “take out the garbage”, and is another potent inducer of the brain-growing, mood-enhancing protein BDNF.

That said, if I wake up feeling particularly hungry for some reason, I’m not afraid to listen to my body and eat breakfast. It’s important to be regimented and disciplined with your diet, but at the same time you need to give yourself breaks and be balanced.

~ Throughout the day – Multiple cups of green tea and gynostemma. You can either carry some tea bags with you in your car, or brew a big thermos with a few bags of each in the morning.

  • the combo is a powerful antioxidant one-two punch
  • the green tea contains EGCG, which helps the body burn fat through multiple pathways
  • green tea contains small amounts of caffeine as well as L-theanine, which work in concert to improve mental functioning
  • gynostemma improves insulin sensitivity
  • gynostemma is adaptogenic, helping the body cope with all the stressors of modern life, and also significantly increases Superoxide Dismutase, or SOD, another of our body’s powerful endogenous anti-oxidants

~ Most days – A serving of greens powders. I’m a big fan of Vitamineral Green as well as Green Vibrance, although sometimes I’ll switch it out and do just spirulina or chlorella. These greens are insanely nutrient dense, helping to fill in the gaps in my diet and bolster my nutrition, which is important considering most food today is nutritionally inferior to what it once was, and because I spend five days a week working out hard and pushing my body. The mixed greens also contain probiotics.

~ Hiking and Yoga – I hike about twice a week, more for personal enjoyment than anything else. But it’s a great way to catch up with friends and as I stated in my previous post on meditation, just being in the woods has been proven to lower stress levels. Yoga is possibly the most healing activity one can do, improving everything from stress levels, hormone levels, depression, fatigue, even boosting the immune system. I aim for 2-3 sessions of yoga a week, each session lasting only 20-30 minutes each.

~ Sometime in the afternoon/evening – a few more adaptogenic/Jing boosting herbs. Usually around this time of day it’s just the use of tinctures and possibly some ashwagandha to help keep cortisol low during my stressful job.

Dragon Herbs Tinctures
Dragon Herbs Tinctures

 

~ Meditation in the evening – Currently 20 minutes a day. The benefits are endless – Read about them in my first and second posts on meditation.

~ Dinner roughly 3 hours before bed – Dinner is almost always lower in carbs, not too big and consumed early, to keep insulin low by the time I go to bed. If you have too much insulin floating around the bloodstream when you put on your night cap, a whole cascade of fat-burning, muscle-building and tissue-repairing hormones won’t be released while you sleep.

Evening supplements 4-5 days a week – One capsule of kelp, mainly for the iodine, which improves thyroid function and detoxifies toxic halogens such as fluoride from the body. Zinc and selenium as well, as both are essential for proper androgen levels, and selenium also helps boost thyroid function, keeping my metabolism buzzing like a caffeinated humming bird. If it’s your first time taking kelp or an iodine supplement, I suggest taking it in the morning as it can provide quite the boost in energy levels.

~ A few hours before bed – Reduce the use of blue light coming from cell phones, computers and tvs. This wave length of light has been found to suppress melatonin release and shift circadian rhythms, pushing them back. You can download a free app called f.lux for your computer and smartphone that gradually tints your screen more and more red as the sun begins to set, blocking blue light.

~ Twice a week 30 minutes prior to bed – A few times a week I hit the hay early (9-10 pm) and use 1.5 – 3 mg of melatonin a half hour prior to bed. Melatonin is the main hormone your body produces to help you fall asleep; it also entrains your circadian rhythm, meaning that when melatonin is consistently produced (or consumed) at the same time, you will naturally and easily fall asleep at this hour.

According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences,

Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature and other important bodily functions. They have been linked to various sleep disorders, such as insomnia. Abnormal circadian rhythms have also been associated with obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder.

Further,

A Harvard study shed a little bit of light on the possible connection to diabetes and possibly obesity. The researchers put 10 people on a schedule that gradually shifted the timing of their circadian rhythms. Their blood sugar levels increased, throwing them into a prediabetic state, and levels of leptin, a hormone that leaves people feeling full after a meal, went down.

In other words, having a properly tuned circadian rhythm is pretty damn important. The use of occasional melatonin along with exposure to a bright light source in the morning, either to outdoor sunlight on a bright day or a Verilux lamp, helps to entrain a healthy circadian rhythm.

The majority of people shouldn’t use melatonin every night however – it is a hormone after all, and if you continuously consume exogenous hormones, your body will stop producing it’s own.

And that about does it. Remember, this is all in the name of experimentation and seeing how far I can take things. I want to see just how much energy and motivation I can have. I’ve tried hundreds of different supplements and protocols in the past, and this is the cream of that crop. I’m sure in the future I’ll be able to narrow this list down even more but in the mean time, this is giving me the best results.

I encourage you to try some of this out and see how it effects your day to day life, and feel free to contact me to get a highly effective, personalized plan.

Adaptogens, Pt. 2

In case you missed it, here’s Pt. 1, which covered Panax Ginseng, Ashwagandha and Tulsi. This post on Jing also talks about the adaptogenic properties of Cordyceps, Rehmannia and Deer antler extract, and I wrote a whole post on one of the best yet least known adaptogens Shilajit as well.

As a brief rehash, an adaptogen is any substance that delays fatigue, helping you adapt to the stressors of every day life. This is different than say, caffeine, which puts your body into overdrive followed by a crash, and is actually draining on the body. Adaptogens almost always boost the immune system, increase libido and fertility, and are homeostatic, meaning they bring the body back into balance.

Adaptogens make the difference between coming home at the end of the day feeling exhausted and vegging in front of Netflix, and coming home at the end of the day and still having the energy to work out, go out or do whatever it is you actually want to be doing.

Rhodiola Rosea – Great for energy and depression

Rhodiola is a root that comes from the arctic and higher altitude regions. It was one of the Soviet Union’s secret weapons, being doled out to athletes in the olympics as well as cosmonauts in the great Space Race. It is probably the best anti-fatigue substance I’ve come across, and the science seems to agree. A good rhodiola extract results in insane workouts and longer runs, even more so if combined with cordyceps.

Rhodiola Rosea
Rhodiola Rosea

This meta-analysis, or a study of multiple studies, showed that rhodiola was associated with improvements in cognitive fatigue, reductions in processing errors, enhanced attention span, enhanced reaction time and improved general well-being.

Rhodiola is neuroprotective, anti-depressive, and improves time to exhaustion in cycling tests. 

I highly recommend anyone dealing with fatigue or looking for a boost try out some quality Rhodiola. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for with Rhodiola – I’ve had some extracts that did almost nothing, while others turned me into the energizer bunny. Gaia herbs always makes good extracts, and their Rhodiola is quality, as is Jarrow’s Rhodiola extract. Rhodiola Recharge is another great product, containing a fair amount of standardized Rhodiola extract, as well as other adaptogens like Ashwagandha, and even some L-Tyrosine to help power you through the day.

Chyawanprash – Great as a general tonic, digestive aid and longevity promoter

A staple in Ayurveda, Chyawanprash is a jam made out of anywhere from 20-80 different adaptogenic/medicinal substances, and it tastes way better than it sounds.

As the legend goes in the ancient texts of India, two physicians to the Devas, or gods, specially prepared a jam for the elderly sage Chyawan who was growing weak with age as a means to rejuvenate him. The earliest written recipe for Chyawanprash is found in the Charaka Samhita, one of the first texts on the science of Ayurveda, dating back to 900 BCE.

The Sage Chyawan
The Sage Chyawan

The main ingredient in Chyawanprash is the Amla berry, which is extremely high in vitamin C and is believed to prolong life, enhance memory and generally tone the body. Other ingredients include ashwagandha (boosts memory, enhances fertility and relieves stress), arjuna (one of the single best tonic herbs for the heart), bacopa (a well known medhya-rasayana, or mind tonic, improving memory and protecting neurons) ginger (anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, improves digestion), black pepper (enhances the absorption of other herbs), honey, shatavari (an excellent herb for women), ghee (clarified butter, which is said to be extremely Sattvic, promoting peace and happiness), tribulus (great for fertility and hormonal balance), and sometimes saffron (decreases appetite and wards off depression). The benefits of consuming such a wide variety of medicinal and tonic herbs over a long period of time, even in such small amounts, are innumerable.

Chyawanprash is widely used throughout India – most people typically consume a tablespoon twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening – it’s almost their equivalent of a multivitamin. Many children have toast with Chyawanprash for breakfast, or dissolved in some warm milk. The Himalayan Institute has a good variety of Chyawanprash, as do Dabur and Organic India.

Astragalus – Great for Energy, Immunity and Anti-Aging

Astragalus is the immune boosting herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s also one of the most common Qi, or energy, boosting herbs within TCM, as it is inexpensive, effective and mild enough to be used by everyone – it’s a favorite amongst martial artists, athletes, Qi Gong practitioners as well as everyday folk as a means to keep energy levels up and illness at bay.

astragalus root
Astragalus root

While many adaptogens have immune boosting or regulating effects, Astragalus is a step above most. Astragalus is also the source of a compound called cycloastragenol, which has been found to increase the length of telomeres. Telomeres are essentially end-caps on sequences of DNA – each time our cells replicate, our telomeres shorten, and they can also be shortened by stress, toxins and oxidative stress. When the telomeres get too short, the cell can no longer divide, and thus has reached its last limb. Those with longer telomeres get sick less often, are more robust and generally live longer than those with shortened telomeres, and thus Astragalus and cycloastragenol are at the forefront of some current anti-aging strategies.

Because Astragalus is so common and easy to grow, it’s one of the cheaper adaptogens. Try Gaia’s extract or Jing Herb’s extract, which is concentrated to be 10 times stronger than just the plain herb.

In summary, it’s safe to say that I will continue to use adaptogens on a daily basis. They help me get through long work hours with energy to spare for friends and workouts – try some out and see what they can do for you.

Interested in other ways to increase your energy, decrease your stress, and lose some weight? Contact me.

Adaptogens, Pt. 1

Let’s say you’ve got your diet nailed down, and your exercise routine is going along great, and you’ve even started taking a few supplements to fill in some gaps. You have more energy and hey, you’ve even lost a few pounds without trying, you sly dog you.

But then you hit that wall. It could be that 3 pm, post-lunch-take-a-nap wall, or the wall you hit when you get home from work that turns you into a zoned out zombie. It could be that wall you hit each time you try to go to the gym only to find you don’t have any energy.

Hitting the Wall

The wall has been hit

You realize there’s something missing, something more you could be doing. And the truth is there is more, a lot more you could be doing – small tweaks you could be making that will make a big difference. One of which is making use of adaptogens.

No doubt about it, getting your diet honed in and specified to your goals, getting a healthy dose of exercise and improving your sleep habits are the foundation of any health promoting regimen, and the cornerstone of your success. But once that’s in place, how do you take it to the next level?

The Missing Link in Your Life

Today’s world is a high-stress world – we’re actually built to handle, even thrive, on small doses of stress, but chronic stress? Thats a killer. Good news is, nature has once again provided us with all we need, this time in the form of adaptogens.

An adaptogen is any substance that improves our ability to handle stress. Many of them lower or modulate levels of cortisol, our main stress hormone. Some adaptogens help us to actually rebuild our over-worked adrenal glands, helping to prevent or reverse adrenal fatigue. They provide us with sustained, jitter-free energy throughout the day, many improve libido, and they work in too diverse a way to sum up in this little paragraph.

Further, some help us to relax, much as a glass of wine does after work. Others can be more stimulating, great for the start of the day or before the gym, and yet others are neutral and balanced, while still being strongly anti-fatigue. I recommend picking either one neutral adaptogen to try out, or one that is stimulating and one that is relaxing, so you have one for day time use and one for the evenings.

Ginseng – This is the big boy on the block, the granddaddy of all adaptogens. Ginseng is the highest ranked herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for a reason, and that’s because it is so broad-spectrum in its actions, and because it’s the primary Qi tonic, it increases energy levels and stamina tremendously. Ginseng normalizes the activity of both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, meaning it brings you into balance between your “rest and digest” mode and your “fight or flight” mode. Ginseng also regulates your endocrine system, helping to keep your hormone levels in check.

Chinese changbai mountain White ginseng Root slice (2)

Ginseng root looks like a human body

In addition to being strongly anti-fatigue, Ginseng is also

  • Neuroprotective
  • Cognitive Enhancing
  • Immuno-regulatory (increases immune response in those with low immune function, and decreases response in those with over-active immune systems)
  • Anti-diabetic
  • Anti-cancer
  • Pro-libido
  • Hormone-regulating

It should be noted that true Asian ginseng, called Panax Ginseng, is a different plant than either American Ginseng or Siberian Ginseng, although all three have similar effects. Panax Ginseng is generally more stimulating than the others, with Siberian Ginseng being neutral, neither stimulating nor relaxing, and American Ginseng being ever so slightly relaxing. Further, when it comes to buying ginseng, you get what you pay for. Higher quality roots will produce much better results, and will cost more, with some very mature and potent roots easily reaching close to a thousand dollars. I personally have used Dragon Herbs products with great results. Their House Ginseng and Ginseng Sublime are excellent choices.

Ashwagandha – This bad boy, sometimes referred to as Indian Ginseng, is a helluva plant. A mainstay in Ayurvedic medicine, the ancient healing system of India, Ahswagandha is my top pick in terms of relaxing adaptogens, and may well be my favorite adaptogen overall.

It has been proven to lower cortisol, our main stress hormone, in a dose dependent manner, making it a gift for today’s fast-paced, highly strung world. It excels at treating anxiety, as it actually works on the same receptors in the brain as pharmaceutical anxiety meds, without addiction or side effects. For this reason, it can be used in smaller doses throughout the day as a calming agent, and in larger doses in the evening to relax, much the way you would drink a glass of wine.

It provides a nice big boost to the libido, enhances fertility in both women and men, and boosts thyroid function, aiding in weight loss, as well as being anti-fatigue and immuno-regulatory. 

But perhaps it’s greatest benefit is that it’s been shown to enhance the release of BDNF within in the brain. BDNF stands for Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, which protects brain cells from stress and toxins, repairs damaged brain cells and even promotes the growth of new brain cells! For this reason it deserves a place in anyone’s medicine chest, and especially for those who may be worried about cognitive decline. For this benefit to bear fruit Ashwagandha must be taken continuously over long periods of time.

ashwagandha3
                         ashwagandha

 

Yeah, it makes you smarter, thinner and more fertile

Tulsi – Also called Holy Basil, this herb is known as the “Queen of Herbs” in Ayurveda (ashwagandha is sometimes referred to as the king). Tulsi is a highly revered medicinal plant that is found in almost every home in India, and for good reason. It’s said to be the most Sattvic of all herbs, meaning it promotes a sense of ease, peace and clarity and benefits spiritual practice.

This 2014 study sums Tulsi up quite nicely – “Tulsi has been found to protect organs and tissues against chemical stress from industrial pollutants and heavy metals, and physical stress from prolonged physical exertion, ischemia, physical restraint and exposure to cold and excessive noise. Tulsi has also been shown to counter metabolic stress through normalization of blood glucose, blood pressure and lipid levels, and psychological stress through positive effects on memory and cognitive function and through its anxiolytic and anti-depressant properties… Cultivation of tulsi plants has both spiritual and practical significance that connects the grower to the creative powers of nature, and organic cultivation offers solutions for food security, rural poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and climate change. The use of tulsi in daily rituals is a testament to Ayurvedic wisdom and provides an example of ancient knowledge offering solutions to modern problems.” Bolds and Italics my addition.

Tulsi is a calming herb, but not as relaxing as Ashwagandha. It promotes feelings of peace and well-being more than anything, and is a solid choice for evening or morning use. This product has been the most potent form of Tulsi I’ve yet to try, though it’s very common in tea form as well.

Which adaptogens have you tried, and which of these sound most interesting to you? Keep your eye open for more posts on adaptogens in the near future.