NEW studies have shown how a combination of herbal extracts, vitamins, minerals and trace elements combat stress and fatigue successfully.
Also, recent research into stress has proven that the important functions and usefulness of adaptogens. Adaptogens are plants that help the body maintain homeostasis and balance in the endocrine and hormonal systems.
In a recently executed clinical double blind study about ways to fight the negative consequences of stress and fatigue, a scientist's team under the direction of Prof. Keith A. Wesnes of the University of Newcastle, United Kingdom, had astonishing results.
The scientists in the study published in Curr Top Nutraceut Res succeeded in showing how to fight against the process of decline in physical and mental performance and tiredness even under extreme stress.
32 healthy, approximately 30-year-old male and female nurses were examined over a period of 12 weeks.
For the study the test, subjects were randomly divided into groups: one group daily got tablets with a combination of special active substances with standardised ginseng extract G 115, vitamins, minerals and trace elements (Pharmaton), the other group was administered a placebo. Before and after a three nights lasting shift the participants were submitted to intense examinations in order to check powers of concentration, attention and memory performance.
The results of the study were significant. All the test subjects were generally healthy, but the vitality of the subjects taking the nutritional product combination plus the standardised G 115 ginseng extract increased enormously. The vitality and attentiveness of the group taking Pharmaton had clearly increased.
The subjects in this group felt less under time pressure, more relaxed and derived greater joy from life.
The evaluation of the data after the 12-week survey showed unambiguous results: Pharmaton, the combination of vital nutrients like vitamins, minerals and trace elements of plus exclusive G 115 ginseng extract, showed a noticeable reduction of physical and mental fatigue symptoms as well as a higher efficiency in improving concentration under stress situations in patients.
The results suggest that this specific combination of ginseng, vitamins and minerals is useful in counteracting not only self-reported increases in fatigue and decreases in calmness but also deficits on objective test of the ability to store and retrieve information in memory.
Russian scientists, Nicolai Lazerev and Israel Brekhman coined the word adaptogen in 1947. They discovered that, certain plants, starting with Ginseng, had the ability to resist chemical and biological stressors.
These plants had the ability to adapt to change and pass that ability on to humans. A study with Eleutherococcus, one of the earliest adaptogens studied, showed it to increase the body's resistance to stress by reducing the activation of the adrenal cortex, in other words, by sowing the release of flight or flight hormones. Adaptogens can also increase a person's ability to perform physical and mental work.
The herbs Eleutherococcus, Aralia and Shisandra have been studied in this regard. In a ten-year long study in Russia, workers were given Eleutherococcus. The workers reported a 30 per cent to 50 per cent decrease in influenza and reduced their absences from work due to sickness and disability by 20 to 30 per cent.
Studies of another adaptogen, Rhodiola rosea, demonstrated an increase of secretion of the hormone b-endorphon. This hormone is used to reduce the hormonal response to stress. The roots of the Codonopsis plant, another adaptogen, have been used in Chinese herbal medicine to increase the red and white blood cell counts and to strengthen the immune system.
The adaptogen Cordyceps is the source of the biochemical ciclosporin, which acts as an immunosuppressive drug, helpful in organ transplants. Shisandra is known as wu wei zi in Chinese medicine and has long been used to improve immune function. It has a protective effect on the liver.
In a recent trial, Shisandra demonstrated a healing effect on chronic viral hepatitis. The action seems to be caused by activating the glutathione producing enzymes.
Other adaptogens include Ashwagandha, Codonopsis, Cordyceps, Glycyrrhiza, Reishi, Rosa Majalis, Lepidium, Chaga mushroom and Rhaponticum. Many more plants have yet to be studied.
19 members of the plant genus of Shisandra alone are used in Chinese medicine and still need to be researched. With the increase of stress in today's industrialised society, further research in these adapting plants can offer their adapting and stress-reducing abilities to our bodies, minds and spirits.
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