Vincent Ellwood

Discover all you need to know with this exceptional guide on Adaptogens Vincent Ellwood

Natural medicine has long appreciated the benefits of herbs and food as medicine. One such example of this is adaptogenic herbs, or "adaptogens." There is a good bit of science behind the benefits of adaptogen herbs that I'll share with you, all of which deal with their impact on the stress response. As you probably know, your body is built to release the hormone cortisol to respond to stress, but elevated cortisol levels over long periods of time and chronic stress can affect every physiological system in your body, including your thyroid and adrenal glands. Cortisol is also known as the aging hormone. When cortisol levels rise, you experience the "fight or flight" response, which stimulates your sympathetic nervous system and your adrenal glands. When this occurs, there is a decrease in your digestive secretions and an increase in blood pressure. In normal life, you experience this response, your body and brain respond to the stressor, your cortisol levels even back out and your body adapts back to normal. However, people who experience the fight-or-flight responses on a regular basis, many times a day, may experience a state of constant stress, which can burn out your adrenal glands, stress your digestive tract and cause you to age more rapidly. Some people at the highest risk for this include young parents, university students and primary caregivers, like nurses or family members who care for invalid relatives or patients. Long-term, chronic stress leads to adrenal fatigue and even more potentially dangerous problems, if left untreated. While most researchers and doctors agree that an approach to reduce chronic stress is many-layered, one powerful approach to naturally relieving stress as well as reducing long-term cortisol levels is by using adaptogenic herbs.