The Tamesis
“Have you tried adaptogens like saffron?” my psychiatrist asked me during our quarterly check-in after I explained that I’d been experiencing some pretty depressing mood changes, jittery nerves, and task paralysis due to the mounting stress I was feeling. My normal “reset and recalibrate” method doesn’t work like it normally does.
Even though I wasn’t specifically looking for adaptogens at the time, as someone with a decade’s worth of health and wellness reporting under my belt, I was more than willing to give any one a try. On the advice of my doctor, I started incorporating adaptogens (specifically Ritual’s Stress Relief Bioline) into my daily routine. While I can’t say it completely eliminated my stress (I’m a perfectionist, an older daughter, a people pleaser, and a Pisces – stress is pretty much woven into my DNA), I able Say I feel noticeably clearer, lighter, and more open to accepting it. When my boredom becomes my biggest obstacle, adaptogens help clear my way out of the situation.
fashion magazine Favorite adaptogen supplements:
Pure Encapsulations Energy Supplements
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Ritual Stress Reduction Supplement
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Athletic Greens AGZ Night Rest Recovery Powder
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Thorne Rhodiola Rosea Supplements
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Gaia Herbs Stress Response Supplement
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Alice Mushroom Brainstorm Chocolate
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Four Sigma Original Mushroom Coffee
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Plant People WonderDay Mushroom Gummies
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If adaptogens seem to be everywhere, it’s definitely not your imagination. Grand View Research says the U.S. adaptogen market will grow steadily through 2030, driven in part by rising consumer awareness and a desire to find natural solutions to daily stressors. Adaptogens do just that (as their name suggests) – they help the body adapt to stress. Chronic stress can disrupt the balance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, our brain’s “power grid.” How this works is that adaptogens may help reduce what’s called dynamic load, which, says Taylor Fazio, a registered dietitian and wellness consultant at The Lanby in New York, “is essentially the wear and tear that accumulates in the body when the stress system is activated too often or for too long. Depending on the herb, this may look like modest changes in cortisol patterns, improvements in subjective stress, sleep, fatigue, focus, or recovery,” she says.
However, adaptogens modulate pathways beyond cortisol levels. “Cortisol gets the most attention because it’s easy to talk about and easy to measure,” Fazio said. “But adaptogens appear to interact with a broader network that includes the sympathetic nervous system, inflammatory signaling, oxidative stress pathways, immune function, and in some cases neurotransmitter systems such as GABA.” But keep in mind that not all plants and mushrooms are adaptogens. “Adaptogens must meet certain scientific criteria to be considered an adaptogen,” says Erica Casavecchia, MS, an integrative nutritionist in New York and founder of Casawell Health. “Adaptogens must not impair the body’s normal functions, they must maintain homeostasis and help the body return to balance, and they must improve the body’s ability to handle various stressors.” Some popular examples are ashwagandha, rhodiola, ginseng, saffron, reishi mushrooms, and more.
While they can be an incredible tool, it’s important to keep your expectations realistic. “Rather than resetting the nervous system, adaptogens serve as support tools within the broader context of lifestyle and healthcare,” says Fazio. “Currently, there remains a gap between the potential of adaptogens and the strength of the evidence.”
