By Sara Altshul
Adaptogens are herbs whose gentle effects on your body are tricky to measure scientifically. But adaptogens are infinitely useful nonetheless, because they perform in a way that no pharmaceutical drug does: They’re nontoxic, mostly side effect–free, and—get this—they help your body counter physical, chemical, or biological stress, says David Winston, the eminent herbal educator, in his book Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina and Stress Relief (cowritten with Steven Maimes, Healing Arts Press, 2007).
It’s impossible to fully cover the fascinating spectrum (wonk alert: fascinating to me, anyway) of adaptogens in this blog entry, so if you share even an iota of my interest, I urge you to get a copy of Winston’s book and give it a read. It’s really cool to learn, for example, that Soviet scientists amassed a team of more than 1,200 scientists to study adaptogens back in the 1940s because of the state’s desire to dominate everything from the military to chess to ballet.
But the Russians weren’t the first to discover adaptogenic herbs. Chinese physicians have used Asian ginseng (Panax quinquefolium), arguably our most famous adaptogen, for thousands of years. And ginseng is great. But this season, I’ve taken a particular interest in three lesser known adaptogens. If you have thoughts about these remedies or any others, please share them here.
Last Updated: February 19, 2009
Filed Under: Sara Altshul
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