Info center Answers To Your Questions About Health

Rhodiola rosea - stress killer and natural antidepressant

Rhodiola rosea - stress killer and natural antidepressant

Rhodiola rosea is also called root of rose. It is a plant that likes to grow in the cool, preferably in Siberia. For us humans it is an adaptogen: a remedy that makes you stress-resistant. Stress can now be tolerated much better. Rhodiola also helps with depressive moods and anxiety. She takes chronic fatigue and makes more powerful - even in sports. Rhodiola rosea is one of those plants that makes one wonder: why only now have I met her?

Rhodiola rosea - Natural remedy for mental disorders

Rhodiola ( Rhodiola rosea) - also called rosaceae - rarely appears in German-language literature. Quite different in the English-speaking. Dr. Richard P. Brown, Professor of Psychiatry, has dedicated a whole book to the plant: The Rhodiola Revolution.

In it he describes - in addition to many background information - countless case studies with Rhodiola rosea from his practice and the practice of his wife. Patricia L. Gerbarg (also psychiatrist).

Dr. Gerbarg first experienced the effects of Rhodiola rosea on her own (thanks to Rhodiola she recovered from a chronic fatigue caused by borreliosis), before the two physicians integrated the Rhodiola extract into their everyday clinical routine and thus achieved astonishing healing success.

As psychiatrists, they were used to prescribing side-effect psychotropic drugs. They are all the more excited about Rhodiola, a remedy that can not only improve the mental but also the physical health of the patients so well - and all without showing any side effects.

Although they combine Rhodiola rosea if necessary, with other medicinal plant preparations or with drugs. But this does not change the fact that the plant affects almost every therapy extremely positive - whether alone prescribed or combined by other means.

Mood elevator

effective nature
Mood elevator

Vitality⟩ mood

Shopping now

Saffron extract capsules

effective nature
Saffron extract capsules

Vitality⟩ vital substances

Shopping now

Rhodiola rosea - case studies from the field

For example, Rhodiola helped overcome onepost-traumatic stress syndrometo a doctor who had served in Afghanistan.

A 45-year-old teacher sufferedFinding wordsand was already afraid of Alzheimer's diagnosis and the loss of her job. Rhodiola improved the woman's memory and helped her regain her vitality. She no longer thought of Alzheimer's.

A 79-year-old formerly very successful businessman, after a few strokes even the Parkinson's disease was barely able to walk and relied almost entirely on his wife. His medication also made him tired during the day, but kept him awake at night.

When he took 200 mg of Rhodiola rosea per day, his energy and mobility returned. His sleep disorders were also a thing of the past.

The 14-year-old Alice suffered ADHD, With 300 mg Rhodiola per day improved her academic performance. She was able to make friends and stopped running around constantly.

Even adults can be ADHD sufferers. Because the problem does not always grow out after childhood. That's what happened to 27-year-old Jeremy. He was easily distracted, could not finish work, and was unable to relate. Depressed now, he was looking for Dr. Brown up. Then he took Rhodiola along with SAM-e (see here, point 7) and quickly recovered, finding work and the happiness of a lasting relationship.

A 45 year oldMarathon runnerswas looking for a nutritional supplement that could naturally increase his stamina and speed. He made a trial with Rhodiola and - after some time of taking - could improve his time by 20 minutes.

Jack, an enthusiasticclimber, wanted to climb the Cerro Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America at almost 7000 meters. Having heard that Rhodiola was able to protect rosea from altitude sickness, he took 300 mg of it every day weeks before.

After just a week, he noticed that he was five minutes faster in his daily 5-mile run, and while he usually had to struggle for minutes at a time after the run, he was able to breathe fully normal again after just 60 seconds. So he was in good shape as he set off for Aconcagua.

At 1200 meters from the summit, Jack realized that he would not be able to do it. Severely disappointed, he gave up.

One month later he received the diagnosislymphomain the fourth stage and had - so the prognosis of the doctors - only one to a maximum of three years to live.Realizing that he had almost conquered the Aconcagua with this terrible disease in his body, he no longer felt his premature return as defeat. On the contrary, he felt the power in his body and set about defeating the cancer.

Jack took megadoses of antioxidants, immune boosting herbs, Chinese anti-cancer herbal blends, and Rhodiola rosea to make his body strong for his thriving school medical therapy. He received chemo, whole body irradiation and a bone marrow transplant.

During this ordeal Jack broke all records. His body was the highest number of stem cells doctors ever experienced in a patient, and was released more quickly than any other fellow sufferers before him. More than three years later, though he should have been dead long ago, he still ran and climbed and still took Rhodiola rosea. There were no signs of cancer in Jack anymore.

It was not quite as dramatic with Maria, but still bad enough. For 20 years, the housewife suffered depressions, At some point, the simplest tasks became a fight. She avoided other people, isolated herself and spent half the day only dozing on the sofa. She tried a number of antidepressants, but they did not work.

It was not until her husband left her that she started looking for alternatives. She came across Rhodiola rosea, taking 100 mg three times a day - and after a few weeks, the darkness of her depression began to lighten.

Yes, even Dr. Brown, although perfectly healthy, started a trial and took Rhodiola rosea. He almost immediately saw a clearer head, a higher energy potential and the feeling of being less stressed. After a few days, he noticed that he recovered much faster after exercising. With Rhodiola he could work much harder without feeling exhausted.

And it is this anti-stress effect that is the specialty of Rhodiola rosea. It is a plant that ensures that stress no longer stresses and the organism is not overwhelmed by stress. Medicinal plants that are stress-resistant in this way are called adaptogens

The criteria for an effective adaptogen

How must a plant be knitted to be accepted into the circle of adaptogens?

Dr. Lazarev and dr. Brekhman stated this as early as the 1950s, when she was working with a research team of the Siberian Academy of Sciences Nearly 160 medicinal plants from the Soviet Union, Europe and Asia were examined in order to finally be able to name the four criteria that a plant adaptogen must meet:

  1. The plant confers nonspecific resistance: that is, the plant increases the body's resistance to many different stressors - whether heat, cold and physical exertion, chemicals (poisons and heavy metals), attacks of cancer cells or pathogens such as bacteria and viruses.
  2. The plant normalizes bodily functions that are out of balance during periods of stress: Take the thyroid gland as an example: whether there is a transient (!) Hypofunction or an overactive function, a true adaptogen will help to regulate thyroid function and into its own healthy middle finds.
  3. The plant ensures that the body reacts to the stress situation accordingly, so does not overreact, which consume too much energy, reduce the energy level of the cells and make people sick in the long term.
  4. The plant itself must be completely harmless and may have no or minimal side effects.

Only four of the 160 plants studied managed to meet these criteria:

Simple Clean - the colon cleansing

The best adaptogens

  • Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus)
  • Asian or Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng)
  • Maral Root (Rhaponticum carthamoides)
  • Rhodiola rosea

A little later, the following two medicinal plants were added to the list of true adaptogens:

  • Schizandra (Schizandra chinensis)
  • Ashwagandha or Sleeping Berry (Withania somnifera)

Rhodiola rosea - the best of all adaptogens

After reviewing the currently available scientific findings, Dr. Brown, however, concludes that not all of these adaptogens are truly equivalent or equally effective.

For the adaptogenic effect, ie for the anti-stress effect, only Rhodiola and Eleutherococcus had sufficiently convincing studies in high quality.

In terms of promoting mental and physical performance, most of the positive studies were for Rhodiola, while for the other adaptogens, the study was rather sparse.

Omega-3 EPA & DHA

Vegetology
Omega-3 EPA & DHA

Vitality⟩ Essential fatty acids

Shopping now

Combi Flora ProbioStress

effective nature
Combi Flora ProbioStress

Vitality⟩ mood

Shopping now

Rhodiola rosea: the effect

But how does an adaptogenic plant work? How does Rhodiola rosea manage to make people stress-resistant?

Rhodiola rosea

  • increases energy production directly in the cell.
  • increases the level of serotonin and dopamine.
  • promotes the repair of the DNA (thus preventing mutations of the cell and thus reduces the risk of cancer).
  • has an antioxidant effect, protecting both cell membranes and mitochondria from oxidative stress and free radicals, which protects against chronic inflammation and thus against chronic diseases.
  • has an anti-cancer effect.
  • improves the oxygenation of the body

Rhodiola rosea does all this without negatively affecting the body's processes.

All of these properties now cause the following health effects in humans:

  • Rhodiola rosea alleviates stress reactions of all kinds, so that stress no longer harms the body so much.
  • Rhodiola rosea improves performance at work and in sports.
  • Rhodiola rosea promotes concentration and coordination.
  • Rhodiola rosea improves the memory.
  • Rhodiola rosea combats insomnia.
  • Rhodiola rosea improves headache and fatigue.
  • Rhodiola rosea has an anti-depressive and mood-enhancing effect.
  • Rhodiola rosea relieves anxiety.
  • Rhodiola rosea increases sexual vitality.
  • Rhodiola rosea supports weight loss.
  • Rhodiola rosea strengthens the immune system.

The main active ingredients in Rhodiola rosea

Rhodiola rosea works so well because it contains very special ingredients, including:

  • Rosavine: Rosavin, Rosin and Rosarin
  • Salidrosid
  • Flavonoids, monoterpenes and much more.

It was once thought that salidroside was the only bioactive substance in Rhodiola responsible for all the fabulous effects of the plant. However, recent studies have shown that not only the Salidrosid acts in Rhodiola, but also the Rosavine belong to the main active ingredients.

Rhodiola preparations: It depends on the right quality

Rhodiola rosea preparations are usually in capsule form and should be standardized in each case. This means that they contain guaranteed amounts of active ingredient. Otherwise, it could also be counterfeits (eg other Rhodiola species), which of course do not work as expected.

High-quality Rhodiola preparations consist of root extracts, not just from the powder of the ground root. They must be standardized to 0.8 to 1 percent salidroside and to at least 3 percent rosavine. The Salidrosid-Rosavin ratio should be at least 1: 3, if you want to achieve the effects mentioned with Rhodiola rosea.

Rhodiola rosea: The ingestion

The recommended daily dose is between 200 and 600 mg standardized Rhodiola extract, which can be divided into two doses / capsules per day. The first dose should be taken in the morning before breakfast, the other before lunch.

Although you can take Rhodiola with food, the absorption and effect seems to be better if you take it 20 to 30 minutes before meals.

Because Rhodiola has a stimulating and encouraging effect, it can lead to insomnia if taken until the evening.

It is recommended to start with small doses (eg with 100 mg). In this way, the body can slowly get used to Rhodiola. On the other hand, it is best to recognize the individually appropriate dose. Because only very few people need 600 mg. Usually one is already well supplied with 300 to 400 mg.

To prevent tiredness and premature exhaustion in everyday life should already be 50 mg per day.

For the treatment of fatigue symptoms and fatigue, 300 to 600 mg are recommended. More than 680 mg should not be taken.

For athletes Dr. Brown twice daily per 100 to 200 mg Rhodiola rosea extract.

Rhodiola rosea: The side effects

Rhodiola extract is considered to be absolutely safe and - in contrast to many stimulating or antidepressant drugs and in contrast to nicotine and caffeine - no addictive potential.

The side effects observed in some cases (nausea, nervousness, insomnia, intense dreams) are usually due to a too high dose or the unfavorable combination with other herbs or even medications.

Also, you should not consume sugar, coffee or other caffeinated drinks before, during or after taking Rhodiola extract. This could lead to hyperactivity or anxiety. Caffeine pushes the stimulating effect of Rhodiola very strong. Similarly, sudden blood sugar peaks behave.

Rarely, headaches can occur.

Rhodiola rosea should not be combined with antidepressants (SSRIs) without the doctor's consent. This can lead to dangerous serotonin syndrome.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not take Rhodiola unless there are adequate safety studies available.

The recipe against stress: sauna, eat less and Rhodiola

Of course, Rhodiola rosea is not the only way to be better prepared for stress in the future. Dr. Brown also describes the sauna followed by cold casting as a way to harmonize the body's stress response system and better protect the body from stress.

The reduction of the daily calorie intake to no more than 1600 to 1900 kilocalories with optimal supply of vital substances strengthens the organism, so that he can better deal with stressors, becomes less susceptible to diseases and ultimately lives longer - as various studies z. B. of National Institute of Aging long ago show.

And Rhodiola rosea helps. The plant is a powerful "antidote" in today's often stressful, hectic and often scary world.

Anyone who, moreover, can treat his organism to periods of recovery during periods of stress, will be able to cope with the stress very well.By contrast, deadly is the chronic stress that no longer gives the body the opportunity to recharge its batteries in between.

Inca Gold

effective nature
Inca Gold

Vitality⟩ mood

Shopping now

Probiotics Combi Flora

effective nature
Probiotics Combi Flora

Digestion⟩ Probiotics & Cures

Shopping now

The recipe against stress is:

  • Eat less,
  • take care of an optimal vital substance supply incl. Omega-3 supply,
  • go to the sauna more often,
  • Pay attention to regular breaks and
  • herbal adaptogens, such. B. Rhodiola use.

Scientific evidence for Rhodiola rosea can be found below in the citation or in more detail here: Rhodiola rosea - the plant protection against stress

What foods and vital substances also help against stress or strengthen the nerves, we have described here: Nervenahrung against stress

Your training as a holistic nutritionist

Healthy diet is your passion? You love the surplus base, natural diet? You would like to understand the connections between our food and our health from a holistic perspective? You want nothing more than to make all your knowledge about health and nutrition your profession?

The Academy of Natural Medicine trains people like you in 12 to 18 months as a consultant for holistic health. If you want to know more about the distance learning at the Academy of Natural Medicine, then you will find here all the details and feedback from current and former participants.

Rhodiola rosea - stress killer and natural antidepressant

FAQ - 💬

❓ Can you mix rhodiola and antidepressants?

👉 Rhodiola can be combined with tricyclic antidepressants. A mild serotonin syndrome reaction can occur when Rhodiola is combined with paroxetine and other SSRIs. Consult your healthcare provider if you're interested in supplementing your treatment with Rhodiola rosea.

❓ What should you not take rhodiola with?

👉 Medications for high blood pressure (Antihypertensive drugs) interacts with RHODIOLA. Rhodiola might lower blood pressure. Taking rhodiola along with medications that lower blood pressure might cause blood pressure to go too low.

❓ Does Rhodiola rosea help with depression?

👉 Research has shown that rhodiola may help improve some symptoms of depression. Similar to antidepressants, it may positively influence neurotransmitters that affect mood and emotion.

❓ How long does it take rhodiola to work for depression?

👉 Rhodiola can work within 30 minutes of administration and continue for at least 4-6 hours. Acting on a part of the body's stress-system, the sympatho-adrenal-system (SAS), Rhodiola provides a rapid response to a stressor. It sustains levels of neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.

❓ Does rhodiola increase serotonin?

👉 Health Benefits Rhodiola rosea has been classified by some researchers as an adaptogen, meaning that it helps to make you less prone to physical and emotional stress. Research has shown that this natural medicine may stimulate serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine activity.

❓ Can rhodiola make anxiety worse?

👉 Dr. Sahelian states that rhodiola can have stimulant-like effects and may worsen the symptoms of anxiety for some individuals. Use rhodiola with caution if you are prone to "jitters" from stimulants such as caffeine and ephedrine.

❓ How much rhodiola should I take for depression?

👉 Dosing. Clinical doses are commonly 200 to 600 mg/day. For depression, doses of 340 to 680 mg/day of R. rosea extract (as SHR-5) have been evaluated for up to 12 weeks.

❓ Does rhodiola rosea increase serotonin?

👉 Health Benefits Rhodiola rosea has been classified by some researchers as an adaptogen, meaning that it helps to make you less prone to physical and emotional stress. Research has shown that this natural medicine may stimulate serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine activity.

❓ What does rhodiola do to the brain?

👉 Influences Mood-Boosting Brain Chemicals Studies on rhodiola have shown that the root enhances the body's tolerance to stress by influencing key brain chemicals such as serotonin and norepinephrine, and natural feel-good opioids such as endorphins.

❓ Does rhodiola increase dopamine or serotonin?

👉 Rhodiola has a profound effect on neurotransmitter balance. In laboratory studies, it has been found to increase the sensitivity of neurons to the presence of dopamine and serotonin, two prominent neurotransmitters involved in motivation, focus, enjoyment and mood.

❓ Can I take ashwagandha with antidepressants?

👉 Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) root extract is statistically efficacious at 1 gram per day after 2 weeks and even more so after 6 weeks of treatment. It has also been found to be safe to use while on SSRIs.

❓ Is Rhodiola rosea an effective antidepressant?

👉 Background: Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea) is a botanical adaptogen with putative anti-stress and antidepressant properties. Evidence-based data supporting the effectiveness of R. rosea for depression in adults is limited, and therefore a comprehensive review of available animal and human studies suggesting a putative antidepressant action is warranted.

❓ What is Rhodiola rosea good for?

👉 — All rights reserved Rhodiola rosea, also known as golden root, rose root, or arctic root, is a plant from Siberia that grows well in dry and cold arctic climates. The medicinal compounds of rhodiola rosea come from the root of the plant and have been used to help treat occasional stress, anxiety, mental and physical fatigue, and depressed mood. 1

❓ Does Rhodiola have any negative interactions with anxiety?

👉 The effects of rhodiola that leads some to suspect a risk of negative interactions with anxiety are as follows: Stimulating Beta Waves In some people, high doses of rhodiola rosea causes higher levels of beta waves in the brain.

❓ What is the scientific name of Rhodiola?

👉 Rhodiola is also known as arctic root or golden root, and its scientific name is Rhodiola rosea. Its root contains more than 140 active ingredients, the two most potent of which are rosavin and salidroside. People in Russia and Scandinavian countries have used rhodiola to treat anxiety, fatigue and depression for centuries.

.

Related Articles

Comment