- If you've been feeling over-stressed and burnt out lately, you're not alone. Not even close. In fact, according to one yearly poll, 2018 saw Americans reached
their highest reported stress levels in over a decade. With talk of stress-related diseases, and reports of work related
burn out on the rise, it's no surprise that people are showing an increased interest
in herbal supplements, which are shown to reduce stress, and improve health. While the idea of using herbs as medicine is gaining traction in America, in the rest of the world, this idea never left. Just ask the World Health Organization, who report that 75% of
the world's population, depend on botanical medicines for their basic healthcare needs. While China and India
are some of the largest users of these medicines, herbal medicines are widely
used in Europe, as well. Take Germany, for example, where they classify medicinal
herbs as phytomedicines. All German medical
students learn about them, and regularly prescribe
them to their patients. In this video, we're gonna look
specifically at adaptogens. This family of herbs are said carry a wide range of benefits. Mostly centering around
adapting to stress, supporting metabolic and immune function, and restoring hormonal balance. While many people swear they
have seen major improvements to their physical and mental well-being, on this channel we like
to dive a bit deeper. I also want to take a deeper look, to really understand
and explain our body's physical and mental stress pathways. Where they go wrong when we get burnt out, and how adaptogens can help us get back to our best physical
and mental performance. Specifically, we'll look into ginseng, ashwagandha, and rhodiola. These adaptogens have received
some of the most praise for their supposed benefits
on stress, immune function, longevity, mental performance, and even physical performance. So beyond just providing a
broad overview of adaptogens, we'll also look at their history, and the science backed benefits of some of the most well-known ones. I've included time codes
for everything on the screen and in the description, so if you only clicked on this video to learn about a specific
one of these herbs, you can skip right to it. So the question is, are these claims just hype? Well, the first clue
might be just how long people have been using these herbs. The history of humans using
these adaptogenic herbs, goes back far. While we are going to cover
the modern science behind them, and the science of stress, let's first investigate what
the people who discovered the health benefits thought of them, thousands of years
before Russian scientist, Nikolai Lazarev, would first
coin the term adaptogen, to describe the shared
quality of these herbs, ancient cultures around the world were already discovering
their effects for themselves. If you aren't interested
in any of this history, you can skip ahead to the
research-backed effects. Personally though, I find the history adds some great context. Take rhodiola, for example. With traditional folk
uses including increasing physical and mental endurance, improving longevity and immune function, and treating fatigue, depression, and erectile disfunction, to name a few, it's true botanical
name is rhodiola rosea, and it belongs to the
class crassulaceae family. It is also considered a perennial, meaning the same plant will
live for multiple years, flowering each summer. What makes this so impressive, though, is rhodiola does this in some of the harshest
growing conditions on earth. Found primarily in the the
northern circumpolar regions, it's ability to endure
intense environmental stress, will become relevant later. Rhodiola actually originated in the southern Siberian mountains, before spreading far and
wide, through Iceland, Greenland, Northeastern Canada, and even remote areas of Northern Russia, where temperatures have been know to fall to a bone-chilling
negative 65 degrees Celsius. In mountain villages in Siberia, people began consuming rhodiola
thousands of years ago, when they discovered it
helped to prevent sickness and treat fatigue. To this day in many of these villages, couples are still given a
bouquet of rhodiola roots on their wedding day, owing to the belief that
it will enhance fertility. The first written record
of it's use in medicine, is in "De Materia Medica", a
guidebook of medicinal herbs, produced by the Greek
physician, Dioscorides, in the year 77 c.e.. He wrote that he found
it helpful in treating headaches and bruises. Although not native to Greece, the root made such an
impression on Greek traders, that they brought it back
from trading expeditions across the Aegean Sea, which occurred over 1,000
years before Dioscorides. Across the continent, rhodiola
was also used in Middle Asia, for nearly as long. The Chinese call it hong gi kin, they viewed it as an effective
remedy for cold and flu, during the harsh winters
of Northern China. It's arrival into China is
said to have been a result of Chinese emperors searching
for the secret to long life, sending envoys to trade with the Siberians for this golden root. Meanwhile, on the other
side of the continent, rhodiola had picked up a
very different group of fans, the Vikings, who felt
consuming it enhanced their physical and mental endurance. With this history, earning
a spot in the first ever Swedish pharmacopoea, published
all the way back in 1755. With so many different cultures having rich histories of rhodiola use, and all feeling it possessed
powerful properties, it's no surprise that
it grabbed the attention of 20th century researchers. And what they found, is nothing short of incredible. You'll see exactly what
I mean soon enough. Without giving too much away, I will say it is one of several adaptogens I take personally, if that means something to you, I'm gonna add a link in the description to the adaptogens combo I take, which will include all the
adaptogens covered in this video. Asian ginseng is considered by many, to be one of the prime
examples of an adaptogen. Like rhodiola, it is a perennial, and it's usage long predates
the use of the term adaptogen. Asian ginseng initially grew
in the mountainous forests of Eastern Manchuria, Northern China, and Korea, so to look at
it's history of usage, we'll focus in on
traditional Chinese medicine. The first written record
of humans using ginseng, appears in the Shennong Ben Cao Jing, a guide 252 Chinese herbal remedies, written nearly two millennia ago, in the year 220 a.d.. While some Chinese historians believe Asian ginseng was discovered just several hundred years
before that, in Shangdang, Korean researchers point out that because it started being used so suddenly, it instead may have originated
in Korea, as it's discovery lines up with the Chinese
advance into Korea. Ginseng is now a staple of
traditional Chinese medicine. It's Chinese name, ren shen, translating literally to man root. As with rhodiola, we will first see what the traditional
beliefs around it are, but to best understand the
traditional healing beliefs surrounding ginseng, it helps
to look at them in the context of traditional Chinese medicine, and the unique ways in
which it defines health. That's because while many dismiss terms like yin yang and chi, and say that they have place
in a science based video, if you take time to actually understand what these terms meant
to the people of the day, you can learn a lot about how they felt ginseng benefited them on
a very practical level. I'll show you just what I mean. Recognize this? Yin and yang is a key element
of Chinese philosophy. It's the concept of seemingly
opposite and competing forces, in fact being complementary, and often dependent on one another. Within traditional Chinese medicine, organs of the body are held to have either yin, or yang properties as well. In the Shennong Ben Cao Jing, published over 2,000 years ago, its' written that ginseng
supplements the yin organs, which includes the liver, heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys. Yin organs are believed to
produce and store blood, bodily fluids, and chi. So while simply saying that they felt their yin was being nourished might not mean much to a lot of us, feeling that their lungs were stronger and their heart was pumping better, might really mean that they felt like they had improved energy, lung capacity and endurance. Also yin organs are said
to be responsible for qi. Qi is often literally
translated to mean energy. So could that mean a reduction in fatigue? Well just what you wait 'til you see what the modern research has found. But first, ashwagandha. Ashwagandha is the third
and final adaptogenic herb I want to introduce you to, before we move on to the science of what makes you stressed out, and the modern evidence
behind how these herbs can make a meaningful improvement. I've chosen ashwagandha
for several reasons. For one thing, it's a powerful adaptogen, which, like the previous two, I do take myself. It has some very interesting effects on mood and physical strength. Working a little differently
than most adaptogens. Instead being said to
offer calming properties, versus Asian ginseng,
which is usually associated with increased alertness
more than calmness. Also though, since we covered ginseng, which over 2,000 years had
to beat out over 5,000 herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine to earn it's place near the top, within the ancient medical
traditions of India, ashwagandha has achieved
something similar, rising to prominence
over thousands of herbs to be named one of the most
important herbs of Ayurveda. So ashwagandha is here, in a sense, to represent India's answer
to the Chinese's ginseng. It's even sometimes called Indian ginseng. Ashwagandha, which is often referred to by its botanical name, Withania somnifera, like the others, is a perennial, with a hearty root. Ashwagandha grows in the hotter and dryer subtropical regions of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and parts of Africa. While it doesn't need
to endure extreme cold, like the others, it has to be incredibly hearty against the multitude of
pests which attack it, including fungus's and insects. Ayurveda, the traditional
system of medicine practiced in India, can be traced back to 6,000 b.c., and ashwagandha usage
dates back nearly as long. Ashwagandha, or as my
Indian bros may call it by it's Hindi name, asghanda, is primarily seen as a rasayana, which means they believe it has
the ability to prolong life, promoting a youthful state of
physical and mental health, while expanding happiness. Ayurvedic medicine also
classifies it as bhalya, signifying a belief it increases
strength and endurance, and as vagikarana, which makes
something an aphrodisiac, leading to the belief that ashwagandha can improve sexual function. Interestingly, completely independently, African tribes began using
it as a libido booster, as well as an immune system booster to help treat cold and flu. So it was for thousands of years, these herb existed within the medicine of their respective cultures, with significant overlap in their uses, revolving around enhancing health and immune system function, restoring energy levels,
improving cognition, and offering general performance benefits. It isn't surprising, that
eventually someone would take notice of these shared properties, and traverse cultural
boundaries and pick them out, and categorize them together, as one class of performance
enhancing herbs. Leave it to the Russians
to be those people. In the 1940s, the USSR, in their endless pursuit
of total dominance, ordered the Soviet Academy of Science, to develop a product that
would increase the performance of their elite personnel and athletes. To achieve this, the term
adaptogen by Soviet scientist, medical doctor, and
pharmacologist, Nikolai Lazarev, to describe substances that increase the body's non-specific
resistance to stress. Now stress can include everything, from the physical stress of a workout, to the mental stress of work, or the biological stress of being sick. Because as we will see,
though so different, all stressors activate the
same part of the brain, and the same stress pathway. Initially, Nikolai looked
to synthetic substances. It wasn't until his
colleague, Israel Burkham, realized that they were
looking in the wrong place. While synthetic stimulants could provide a huge burst of energy, they saw in World War II
soldiers given amphetamines, that over the long term, they tended to be counter-productive, and lead to burnout. Burkham realized that
the key might instead, lay not in the lab, but in nature, and the traditional herbs that
we now know as adaptogens. First they came upon Asian ginseng, but there was a problem, it wasn't found in Russia, and was expensive to import. So for much of their early research, they would instead use
eleutherococcus senticosus, which is often referred
to as Siberian ginseng, and shares many properties
with Asian ginseng. Their first research paper,
which was published in 1960, had a huge impact on the field. Two years later, extract
of Siberian ginseng was approved by the
USSR Ministry of Health, to be sold as a new type of stimulant. With the backing of
the central government, a study on the Soviet Olympic
team showed improved stamina and recovery, increased oxygen intake, and better performance. Followed by a study on
1,000 Siberian miners, which found that the
instance of cases during the influenza epidemic of the year, dropped by nearly two thirds in miners who consumed eleutherococcus senticosus. As their research into
adaptogens continued, they searched for new herbs to study. To fit their criteria as an adaptogen, a herb had to be absolutely
safe with no side effects, especially when used long-term. It had to have a broadly
positive impact on the body, and have a normalizing effect. This definition still stands today, with researchers around
the world joining the hunt, leaving us now with a solid list of well-researched adaptogenic herbs. Let's not look at some
of these modern studies, because along with their ability to help you adapt to general stress, research has also shown that many of these adaptogens
possess unique benefits, also. Starting with Panax ginseng, one of the most poplar benefits of ginseng is a supposed decrease in fatigue, and an enhancement of mental performance. To investigate this, let's look at a research study published in the "Journal
of Psychopharmacology". Researchers gathered a
group of male and female undergraduate students, and
gave them a series of tests designed to test their cognitive ability. These test will be done one after another, they also recorded their
self-reported fatigue after each test. The students would be required
to attend a practice day and then three study days. On each respective study day, they would be given
either four placebo pills, four pills amounting to
200 milligrams of ginseng, or four pill totalling
400 milligrams of ginseng, this way, researchers could
compare their performance on the same series of tasks, across the three different days, and three different intake levels. As well as check for differences in their feelings of fatigue. When it came time to check the data, something jumped out. The days the subjects consumed the 200 and 400 milligrams of ginseng, they reported significantly
less fatigue after the tests, then they did on the day
they consumed the placebo. With each task they had to do, fatigue naturally increased across the three different dosage groups, but when they took ginseng, the increase was lesser, sticking closer to the baseline. Now what about their
performance on the tasks? Well, on the two easier tasks, the difference wasn't
statistically significant, for the hardest task though, the serial seven subtraction test, which tested their ability
to do rapid mental math, the difference with the
ginseng was significant, versus baseline, they were getting significantly more correct answers. So during this study, they found evidence to support ginseng's fatigue beating effects,
that's not all though. The researchers also measured for evidence behind another claim, often
made in relation to ginseng, and that's it's ability to
help reduce blood sugar. Sure enough, mid-test and
post-test blood sugar results in the subjects on the days
they consumed the ginseng, dropped significantly,
with the greatest drop seen post-test in the highest dosage group. I'll get to why this was in a moment. While more human studies
have found similar results, with improvements in mood,
fatigue, and cognitive ability, there are also studies which have found no significant differences, and many more where there are positive
differences with ginseng, but it doesn't reach the level
of statistical significance. So personally, I'd like
to see more research conducted on these
topics, with an emphasis on larger sample sizes, before we can say it's
definitively proven. Another interesting study on
mice which were supplemented with ginseng extracts, tested
their physical endurance, and found that they
were able to outperform their un-supplemented counterparts
on a forced swim test. The forced swim test is
considered an effective way to measure fatigue in animals. Mice are put into a water container which they can't escape from. Researchers measure the
amount of time they spend attempting to get out, versus just aimlessly floating, over a six-minute period. They use this test to
evaluate the effectiveness of various anti-depressants. If the mice spend more
time trying to get out, it shows increased
energy and determination. In this study, the un-supplemented
mice spent on average, more than 225 seconds of the six-minute
session, simply floating. The mice which consumed the
ginseng polysaccharides though, spent significantly more
time trying to escape. With a difference of time
spent trying to escape of about 30 seconds in the highest dosed group. Not surprising, mice
that did the swim test, had reduced blood glucose
levels after the test, including mice that didn't
even get the ginseng. Which makes sense since they
were exercising, after all. What's more interesting though, is that levels of
triglyceride in the blood, were significantly lower after the swim, only in the mice which consumed
ginseng polysaccharides. Triglycerides are essentially the fat which circulates in the
blood to be burned as fuel, so lower levels indicate the muscles of the ginseng-fed mice, were burning more energy from
fat during their exercise. A similar result appeared
in a study which had mice exercise for 60 minutes, both
with and without ginseng. Mice consuming ginseng
burned more energy from fat during the same exercise. So how does this make sense? One study showed blood sugar dropped, but now we are seeing they
are also burning more fat. According to some researchers,
this is all because ginseng has a glycogen sparing effect, meaning sugar stored in
the liver as glycogen is breaking down less rapidly. Therefore releasing sugar
into the blood more slowly. The liver can store about a
thousand calories of energy from carbs you eat as a
complex sugar called glycogen. Usually, your body prefers to release this and burn it first, over using fat. As a side note, this is one reason people will often fast, or eat in a keto diet
low in carbohydrates, to deplete their liver's glycogen stores, in an effort to maximize their body's usage of fat for energy. Since normally, if the body
has glycogen available, pathways activate to limit the
body's usage of fat for fuel. This study which had mice
exercise for 60 minutes, showed on closer examination, that their livers were breaking down less of this stored sugar, explaining why they were
burning more energy from fat, and why blood-sugar levels sometimes fall after ginseng consumption. This is why it should come as no surprise why ginseng appears to
activate the AMPK pathway, a longevity pathway
which is often referenced as a powerful anti-aging mechanism. AMPK is normally activated when the body has less nutrients available, like when you haven't
eaten for a little while. It enhances the ability of muscle cells to take up and burn circulating
glucose, and triglycerides. Which is useful when there are
less nutrients circulating. AMPK also promotes autophagy, which is the process where cells respond to reduced nutritional availability by recycling the damaged elements within themselves into
new, healthy proteins. AMPK is also activated during fasting, once glycogen begins to run low. I'm actually not gonna
go to deep into AMPK and anti-aging here, I'll be making a complete video on anti-aging and longevity soon. For this video, we're gonna stick more to the stress pathways. But to summarize the
researchers conclusion, by partially blocking glycogen
breakdown into stored sugar, more fat is instead burned. Because cells think there
is less energy available, AMPK responds further
enhancing the ability of cells to burn fat and
sugar out of the blood. These findings are one of
the reasons why ginseng is something I often take
when I'm not fasting, if it can truly activate
AMPK and keep my body in a state of increased fat
burn, as the research suggests, all despite me having
glycogen still available, and eating carbs, then
it's well worth it to me. This effect is why you'll
often see it in pre-workout and fat burning supplements. I personally take my ginseng with a blend of other adaptogens that
complement it, like rhodiola, which also seems to have
similar effects on glycogen and fat mobilization. Both are included in the blend
I take and are linked below. Like I said, I want to keep
this video more about stress, but I may also make a
future video diving deeper into the metabolism boosting
effects and mechanisms of herbs like these. On to ashwagandha. Over the past few decades, a huge amount of research
has gone into ashwagandha, and its effects on muscle, mood, stress hormone levels, and libido. Since I've done an entire
video on it already, I'll be keeping it more brief here, but I encourage you to check that out, if you want more info. First let's investigate the claims regarding its impact on muscle. After all, it was classified as bhalya in traditional Indian medicine, signifying a belief that
it increases strength. And digging into it, several recent studies actually
seem to support this claim. In one of these studies, a group of recreationally active men had their one-rep max on the squat and bench press tested
to check their strength. In addition, their time
to cycle 7.5 kilometers on a stationary bike, was also recorded, to measure their endurance. They were then divided into two groups. One group would consume 500 milligrams of ashwagandha extract over
the duration of the study, while the control group would
consume a placebo capsule, filled with nothing but rice flour. For 12 weeks they all followed the same periodized
resistance training program, which was designed by a certified strength and conditioning specialist. The weights were set based on their individual one-rep
maxes to keep it fair. After the 12 weeks, researchers re-tested to
check for improvement. If the claims regarding
ashwagandha were true, they would expect the group
consuming it to have gained more strength than the group
consuming the rice flour, and that's exactly what they found. While the placebo groups
and the ashwagandha groups one-rep max strength on the squat was quite similar towards the start, averaging 103.8 and 105
kilograms respectively, after the 12 weeks, the ashwagandha groups average increase was over 10 kilograms more. The bench press was a similar story. Interestingly, the ashwagandha
groups initial numbers, were on average, several kilograms weaker, but by the end though, they were benching more
than the placebo group. Their 7.5 kilometer
bike times also improved versus the placebo, but the
improvement wasn't large enough to be considered
statistically significant. I go further into the mechanisms behind how it could be achieving this in my dedicated ashwagandha video. Now what about the claims regarding improvements in mood and anxiety? Well turns out there's been
research into these as well. In one study on stress, researchers gathered 64
subjects and put them through three tests designed to
measure their state of stress. Then over 60 days, like
with the last study, they would consume either
ashwagandha or a placebo. After the 60 days, they
administered the tests again, and found that on all
three, the ashwagandha group improved significantly over the placebo, with improvement in their scores across all the different stress
assessment scales. In addition, they checked
their blood-levels for the stress hormone cortisol, pre and post test. After 60 days on ashwagandha, serum cortisol levels
fell 27.9% from baseline, far more than the 7.9%
the placebo group fell by. This unexpectedly reveals
a potential explanation for the last study, which saw participants on
ashwagandha gain more muscle, that's because cortisol,
besides being a stress hormone, is well known to work against muscle gain, promoting instead the
breakdown of muscle protein. So reduced cortisol would
theoretically be putting the body into a more anabolic state. A lot of people also tout
the benefits to sexual health of ashwagandha, and for that matter, ginseng as well. A study on ashwagandha in men, saw increases in markers of sperm health. While a study in women
consuming ashwagandha, saw their scores on the female sexual function index increase, with specific increases across
several areas of the index. Meanwhile, several studies on ginseng have shown improvements
on erection quality and blood flow, on men
with erectile disfunction. What about rhodiola? The last of the three adaptogens
I wanted to focus in on. Rhodiola has been extensively studied, as both a mental and physical
performance enhancer. Multiple studies on rhodiola have found it appears to exert
an anti-depressant effect. In a phase three clinical trial, subjects currently experiencing a mild to moderate bout of depression were recruited to help test these claims. Over the six week trial period, overall depression, together with insomnia and emotional instability,
improved significantly in the subjects receiving rhodiola. Rhodiola's fatigue reducing
effects have also been tested on none other than doctors themselves. In a study measuring
fatigue during night duty, among a group of 56
young, healthy physicians, they measured fatigue
using the fatigue index, and found a statistically
significant improvement in the scores of the rhodiola group. Perhaps one of the most
interesting studies relating to rhodiola's mental effects, was published in 2000. It focused on international
medical students attending Volgograd Medical Academy. They tested rhodiola's
effect on the students physical fitness and mental performance during their stressful exam season. While rhodiola reduced fatigue
similar to the last study, it also improved fine motor skill, as measured by a speed maze test. The most interesting result
came after the study, though. When the researchers followed
up to see how the students actually performed on the exams which were stressing them out. While the average grade in
the placebo group was a 3.20, the rhodiola group had them beat, with the groups average
grade and impressive 3.47. As many of you know, I
co-founded a startup, meaning I work long hours and sometimes things can
get pretty overwhelming. One of the reasons I added rhodiola into my adaptogens stack, there are also some
purported physical benefits beyond fine motor control. But the research can
become tricky to navigate. See, back in the 1970s, the Soviet Ministry of Health commissioned extensive testing of rhodiola for their Olympic athletes. On one hand, some preliminary
research has stated that rhodiola has anabolic properties, and that it's able to up-regulate skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Well this could potentially mean improved muscle strength
and size over time, it wouldn't necessarily have an immediate performance benefit. I think more research needs to be done to see if this effect is repeatable. As far as exercise performance goes, research is conflicting. While a study on mice
showed a major improvement in swimming time to exhaustion, with the mice in the rhodiola group able to swim nearly 25% longer, and showing an apparent
increase in energy production in their muscles, shown by increased ATP, a detailed study published by the Biosciences and Protection Division of the US Air Force's research laboratory, found no improvement in performance. In this study, participants
performed wrist curls, while a machine was
used to monitor the ATP production in their forearm muscles, since enhanced ATP production is a common claim surrounding rhodiola. There was no significant
difference between the group that consumed the
rhodiola leading up to the test versus the placebo. While certainly thorough, my
main gripe with this study, is that they only
consumed it for three days prior to the test. Even creatine, one of the most
studied exercise supplements can sometimes take
weeks of supplementation to reach its peak benefits. So despite all falling into
the category of adaptogen, all three of these herbs have their own unique story and effect. Now it's time to get into
the ability they all share, which is to help the body
adapt to general stress. While we've seen evidence
of the effect already, with plenty of studies
showing participants do indeed feel less stressed
after taking these herbs, we still haven't really explained why. I think the best way to approach this, is to first investigate
the systems in our body which actually cause us to feel stress. By properly uncovering the mechanisms behind the stress response, and what can go wrong with
it when we get overstressed, we'll be able to actually see the pathways that adaptogens must act on. Once we know where to
look for their effect, it'll be easier to finally explain it. And once you see how the response works, you'll also be better able
to avoid reaching burnout. I'll even cover a couple
of additional techniques shown to help alleviate
stress beyond adaptogens. To best explain how stress works, I'm going to bring in the
work of Dr. Hans Selye, often called the "Father
of modern stress research". His three phase explanation of how people reach the point of being overstressed, turned out to be groundbreaking in the way we understand stress, it's purpose, and where it can all go wrong. The first phase is the alarm phase. This occurs when the body
recognizes a stressor, and results in the release of hormones, with physical and mental effects
designed to help you beat whatever is stressing you. The hypothalamus is the
brains representitive, in the three part hypothalamic,
pituitary, adrenal axis. The HPA is responsible for
much of the stress response. It connects the paraventricular nucleus which can recognize stressors, and is located in the
hypothalamic region of the brain, with the pituitary and adrenal glands, which have the ability to
release powerful stress hormones. These stress hormones are responsible for both the performance
enhancing response to short-term stress, like activation of the
fight-or-flight response, and the damaging long-term
effects of stress, like reduced muscle mass and anxiety. The HPA access releases stress hormones through something of a domino effect. Each member of the axis
releasing hormones, which trigger the next. Think of the PVN and the
hypothalamus as a command center, constantly monitoring all the physical and psychological triggers of stress. As soon as a stressor is detected, neurons in the PVM sound the alarm, secreting corticotrophin
releasing hormone. CRH is an intermediary stress hormone. It travels to the anterior
region of the pituitary gland, triggering the release of
adrenocorticotropic hormone, another stress hormone,
into general circulation. ACTH can then travel
through the bloodstream to the adrenal glands, where it triggers the release of perhaps the king of all stress
hormones, cortisone. While the term stress hormone
casts a negative light, the truth is, they aren't all bad. Their effects on us are
really designed to help us overcome the stressor,
and ultimately survive. Adrenaline released during a
stress response, for example, causes heart rate and
blood pressure increases, packing your muscles and brain with oxygen to help you get away. Cortisol is released
in a low-level pattern throughout the day. With the largest daily burst shown to occur like
clockwork every morning. This actually helps you wake up, but also could explain why some people feel a little more
agitated in the morning. These rhythmic daily
secretions of stress hormones trigger receptors in the brain, which control your alertness level. Without them, you'd be
exhausted all the time. So next time you feel wide
awake and full of energy, it's thanks to the normal rhythm of so-called stress hormones triggering the receptors which
stimulate brain activity. When suddenly confronted
with a stressor, though, it becomes a different story. During the alarm phase
of the stress response, stress hormone release shoots up, far exceeding the standard
daily levels necessary to simply keep you awake,
focused, and alert. In response to these sky-rocketing levels, receptors across the body
begin responding at once. Alertness immediately peaks, also, to increase the energy available for a sudden burst of physical activity, like what might be needed to run away, cortisol begins triggering
receptors on muscle cells, activating pathways which
break down muscle protein into amino acids, which the liver can convert into extra
glucose, spiking blood sugar. The liver is also stimulated
to start dumping it's own glycogen stores into the blood stream. This further raises blood sugar to fuel the brain and muscles. These effects combine to put you into an almost super-human state. This general state of resistance is designed to help you
overcome the stressor, no matter what it is. This is considered phase two. These hormones will keep pumping until the PVN stops signaling. With it monitoring so
many different things, stressors can also combine
in activating the PVN, piling on top of each other,
intensifying the response. Ever notice when you're
sleep deprived or hungry, small stressors feel more
urgent and dangerous. It's because of they accumulate, all triggering the PVN at
once, magnifying the effect. In order to prevent the stress response from getting out of control, other regions in the
brain like the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, can calm the PVN, acting kind of like a second
opinion to help determine whether a stress response
is truly necessary. They're able to have this
calming effect on PVN activity, and reduce stress hormone release, in part thanks to the
neurotransmitter, GABA. Many of the neurons which connect these calming regions
of the brain to the PVN, use GABA as their
primary neurotransmitter. As well, cortisol receptors
within the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenals, also work as a negative
feedback mechanism, to help keep things in balance. Once you escape the bear
or beat the sickness, the PVN stops activating stress signals. CRH release stops since
the pituitary and adrenals can detect the cortisol is still elevated, despite the stressor being gone, they immediately stop production to get cortisol back to baseline. However, what if the
stressor only get worse? Or new stressors keep piling on, as seems to happen in today's world, such as when you have a
demanding job with a barrage of new stressors coming
in every single day? That's when we eventually
hit phase three, exhaustion. Stress system is being in a
constant state of activation, result in consistently
high levels of cortisol, destroying the typical daily rhythm. Instead of a small burst in
the morning to wake you up, with levels just high enough to keep you alert during the day, and near zero at night, now levels are elevated all the time. At first you may feel like you have more energy than normal, higher levels at night will
keep your brain more alert, maybe feel like you need less sleep. It won't be long though, before the negative
consequences begin catching up, and this heightened state of performance plummets into exhaustion and burnout. Remember, cortisol pulls
nutrients into the blood in case a quick burst of energy is needed. Elevated cortisol over time, though, means blood sugar will stay high, a risk factor in developing
type two diabetes. And the muscle breakdown it causes, will also begin to become noticeable, and make it harder to
gain muscle in the gym, potentially even causing muscle loss. Studies not on confirm that
continual stress activations cause baseline daily cortisol levels to rise across the board, blunting out the rhythm, they also reveal something far worse. Without the typical daily rhythm reaching levels near zero at night, and giving the receptors a break, now receptors are in a
constant state of activation. In response, the glucocorticoid receptors begin down regulating, and disappearing. This is a standard response to a receptor to constant activation. The hope behind this mechanism, is that this will restore balance. But with the daily
rhythm still blunted out, this down regulation won't bring back the normal daily cycle. You'll begin to go from
feeling constantly high energy, to feeling constantly
low energy, and fatigued. Even the GABA receptors, and systems which allow
other brain regions to calm the PVN stress response, aren't immune to the effects of chronically elevated cortisol, and become disregulated
and less effective. Now the symptoms associated
with burnout make sense. Fatigue, anxiety, depression, weight gain, and muscle loss, all things which accompany overstress, all also related to the over-activation of the stress response. Lazarev and Burkham, the
Russian researchers claimed adaptogens could prolong the
duration of the resistance to stress phase, and
diminish the magnitude of the alarm phase. And sure enough, search the literature, and countless researchers
have pointed to a calming and balancing effect on the
HPA axis as the explanation for how they are able to
alleviate general stress. But how exactly are plants
able to do all this? What's the mechanism? Well as it turns out, plants have an incredibly
diverse chemical makeup. Hundreds of thousands primary
and secondary metabolites, which are unique chemical compounds, exist within them to do everything. From supporting energy
generation and storage, to providing resistance to
environmental stressors, such as the stress of attacking pests, or a frigid winter. Two classes of these secondary metabolites have been found to be
especially active in humans. Polyphenols, which typically
carry antioxidant properties, and terpenes, which generally exist to help the plant survive
in it's own unique, and often harsh, environment. Interestingly, these compounds
often carry structures very similar to the
hormones in our own bodies. In a journal article,
published to the annals of the "New York Academy of Sciences", researcher Alexander Panossian
points out that because adaptogens make contain
thousands of bioactive chemicals, the reductionist approach
used to explain a drug action, where a single receptor
and pathway is activated, is insufficient to explain
the effects of an adaptogen, since they are far more complex, and may activate multiple
pathways at once. So while there is plenty
of evidence that adaptogens can lessen the stress reaction, and shift the HPA back into balance, they don't just do it in one way. For example, research on ginseng
has found that it contains a special class of metabolites
called ginsenosides, and research shows
they're able to increase the sensitivity of cortisol receptors, like the ones that are designed to detect when cortisol gets too high, but stop working under chronic stress. In a study on female athletes
which logged reductions in their cortisol levels
after four weeks of ginseng, researchers pointed to its
calming effect on the HPA axis, as their explanation. Other researchers have put
forth the idea that ginseng is also upregulating GABA, the neurotransmitter which calms the PVN. Pointing to evidence in
rodents of this effect. A similar enhancement of GABA has been noted by researchers
studying ashwagandha, which is one way it could also be suppressing the stress response. The PVN is also sensitive to markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, and will trigger a stress
response if it detects them. Both ginseng and ashwagandha have been shown to lower markers of oxidative stress and inflammation. And remember, we've seen first hand that ashwagandha is able to reduce cortisol levels by nearly 30%. As Panossian emphasized in his paper, what sets adaptogens apart, is that they don't just have
one mechanism of action, but several, with many more pathways still to be discovered, I'm sure. This is why adaptogens work in contrast to caffeine
and other stimulants, which act by actually triggering the release of stress hormones, like norepinephrine and
cortisol, which we know, increases alertness and
energy in the short term, but with habitual use,
stimulants can lead to burnout. A lot of coffee drinkers keep needing to drink more and more, yet feel more exhausted than ever. Adaptogens like ashwagandha, instead lower baseline
stress hormone levels, as we've seen, keeping baseline levels low keeps receptors sensitive,
enhancing feedback, preventing over-release,
and eventual exhaustion. I'm also not saying stimulants are bad, I just don't think they
should be the only tool in our energy enhancement toolbox. That's why along with my coffee, I'll also take a blend of adaptogens. I used to purchase ashwagandha, rhodiola, and ginseng separately. It can get a bit pricey
though if you're like me, and prefer to buy from
certified manufacturers. I have trust issues, what can I say? Since then, I've started
taking a pre-mixed blend, which can be a good value option if you can find one that
has everything you want. Just first check that
they list their suppliers, to be sure of what you're getting. The blend I personally take is pre-mixed, and produced by the same site I would get my ashwagandha from. That's actually how I found it, and was pleasantly surprised
to see it contained everything I was already taking. It has a few extras in it as well, but I check out the sources, and everything seems legit. So I've referenced it in the description, if you're looking for a good option. And one last thing, during my research for this video, I also came across
another interesting tool to help produce HPA activation
of the stress response. And since I'm not sure when I'll make another video on stress, I wanted to add it in. So it turns out, there's
a lot of emerging research that social interaction,
and the resultant release of oxytocin, a hormone released when we spend time with
friends and loved ones, is actually able to have a tangible, stress dampening effect, on the PVN. The two main mechanisms for this appear to be neural priming
left over from our childhood, whereby the prefrontal cortex calms the stress response when
it detects oxytocin, in the same way a parent's
presence will calm a child, as well as the PVN having
it's own oxytocin receptors, which can calm it so social interaction,
hanging out with friends, it seems it can really make
a meaningful difference. And speaking of friends, if you've made it this far and you'd like to be friends with me, and keep up with my videos,
consider subscribing, or you may never see me again. Also, feel free to follow
me on my personal Instagram, shoot me a DM, like all my photos, it's up to you. Some pretty cool raving pictures on there. I hope you enjoyed that video. I know it ran a little long, but when I was doing my research there was just too much interesting stuff, and I wanted to include all of it. So I hope that's okay with you. I'll see you next time, and until next time, D-Man signing off. (relaxing music)
