I’ve finished reading the book Adaptogens Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by David Winston and Steven Maimes. It’s mainly about adaptogens, special herbs that have the following qualities (definition of the orginal Russian researcher who coined the term "adaptogen):
- An adaptogen is nontoxic to the recipient.
- An adaptogen produces a nonspecific response in the body – an increase in the power of resistance against multiple stressors including physical, chemical, or biological agents.
- An adaptogen has a normalizing influence on physiology, irrespective of the direction of change from physiological norms caused by the stressor.
In addition to that:
Adaptogens also may have amphoteric effects. An amphoteric is a substance that normalizes functions of an organ or system within the body. Think of amphoterics as “health food for an organ.”
Adaptogens mostly act on the nervous system, the immune system, and the endocrine system (the hormone system).
All adaptogens have antistress qualities that provide stabilizing effects on the neuroendocrine system, especially the HPA axis. All adaptogens help to modulate and enhance the immune system. All adaptogens provide antioxidant nutrients.
The adaptogens that Russians researched most extensively are:
- Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng)
- Rhodiola Rosea
- Rhaponticum
- Shisandra
Those adaptogens, plus the adaptogen licorice, become so popular that they started being used by many Olympian athletes, in Russia, the USA, and other nations.
The ability of adaptogens to increase resilience against stress is also important for immunity:
Any type of stress has a harmful effect on the ability to maintain optimal levels of natural killer cell activity. A severely stressful event can be associated with up to a 50 percent reduction of NK-cell activity.
The book isn’t particularly scientific. Insights from modern studies are combined with traditional knowledge from Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s not easily possible to entangle the sources of information that this book relies upon. That’s why the following lists are to be taken with a grain of salt. Cases in which there seems to be stronger emphasis on the usefulness for certain conditions are bold in the following, while conflicting information is denoted by placing the adaptogen in (parentheses). For completeness I’ve also included more exotic adaptogens, typically not used in the Western world, which typically have a Chinese name. Feel free to ignore those.
Some preliminary notes about names:
- Asian ginseng is often sold as red Korean ginseng. That’s a good form of Asian ginseng.
- Eleuthero is also called Siberian ginseng
- Holy basil is also called “tulsi”
- What’s called “jiaogulan” here, is more often called “gynostemma”
The following is a list of conditions for which specific adaptogens are often used advantageously – according to the book
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
- eleuthero
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Adrenal fatigue / Addison’s disease
- American ginseng
- ashwaganda
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Aging?
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- eleuthero
- jiaogulan
- lycium
- he shou wu
- reishi
- rhodiola
- shilajit
Anxiety
- ashwagandha
- jiaogulan
- reishi
- shisandra
Asthma
- amla
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- prince seng
- reishi
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Autoimmune diseases
- American ginseng
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- eleuthero
- gudichi
- holy basil
- licorice
- reishi
- shilajit
- licorice
Bacterial infections
- astragalus
- (eleuthero increases effectiveness of mycin-class antibiotics)
- holy basil
- licorice
- shatavari
Beta-endorphin deficiency
- Rhodiola
Cancer
- American ginseng
- amla
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- guduchi
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
- shatavari (breast cancer)
- shilajit
Cancer treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy) side effects
- American ginseng
- amla
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- guduchi
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- lycium
- prince seng
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Central Nervous System Overstimulation
- ashwagandha
- cordyceps
- eleuthero
- jiaogulan
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Central Nervous System Understimulation
- Asian ginseng
- rhaponticum
- shisandra
- shilajit
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
- astragalus
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- licorice
- prince seng
- rhodiola
- shisandra
- shatavari
Depression
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- holy basil
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Diabetes
- American ginseng
- amla
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- guduchi
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- licorice
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shilajit
Endothelial problems (e.g. cold hands and feet, elevated blood pressure, varicose veins, artherosclerosis)
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- lycium
- reishi
- shisandra
- shilajit
Eye problems
- amla
- eleuthero
- lycium
- shisandra
Fatigue
- American ginseng
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
- shatavari
Fibromyalgia
- ashwagandha
- rhodiola
Fungal infections
- ashwagandha
- astragalus
Gut Dysbiosis
- lycium
Hypothyroidism
- ashwagandha
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- rhodiola
Inflammation in general and arthritis in particular
- amla
- ashwaganda
- Asian ginsgeng
- cordyceps
- eleuthero
- guduchi
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- reishi
- rhodiola
- shisandra
- shilajit
Immune system weakness (general)
- Asian ginseng
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- eleuthero
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- lycium
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
- shartavari
Liver damage
- amla
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- guduchi
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
- licorice
- lycium
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- shisandra
Male fertility issues
- American ginseng
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- he shou wu
- lycium
- rhodiola
- rhaponticum
- shatavari
- shilajit
Mitochondrial hypoactivity (contributing to fatigue)
- eleuthero
- rhodiola
- shisandra
Muscle weakness
- American ginseng
- ashwagandha
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- eleuthero
- (he shou wu)
- lycium
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shisandra
- shilajit
Natural killer cell hypofunction
- Asian ginseng
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- jiaogulan
Osteoporosis
- amla
- rhaponticum
- shilajit
Overweight
- American ginseng
- amla
- Asian ginseng
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- eleuthero
- guduchi
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- licorice
- reishi
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- shilajit
Oxidative stress
- holy basil
- jiaogulan
Skin, hair, and nail conditions
- amla (especially useful for broken bones and tooth decay)
- astragalus
- he shou wu
- holy basil
- licorice
- reishi
- shisandra
- shatavari
Sleep disturbances
- American ginseng (especially in CFS)
- (ashwagandha)
- Asian ginseng
- eleuthero
- jiaogulan
- rhaponticum
- rhodiola
- (shisandra)
Urinary issues
- amla
- Asian ginseng
- astragalus
- cordyceps
- dang shen
- guduchi
- holy basil
- he shou wu
- licorice
- lycium
- reishi
- shisandra
- shilajit
Viral infections
- amla
- astragalus
- holy basil
- licorice
- reishi
- rhodiola
Some adaptogens in detail
Astragalus
The effective part of astragalus membranaceus is its root. Its main power is boosting the immune system. There is good evidence that it can increase immunity quite a bit. It’s supposed to be stronger than echinacea, while it can actually be taken long-term without serious problems (except for maybe a loss of efficacy).
Caution is necessary for:
- Pregnant women
- autoimmune diseases
- when taking immune suppressing drugs
- when combined with lithuim