Your Guide To Using & Understanding Adaptogens, From A Registered Herbalist 

What adaptogens are and aren’t, how they work and why we love them—though not more than any other classification of herbs, of course—is the single most common topic I’ve been asked to speak about in my career as an herbalist.

To be an adaptogen, a substance must be nontoxic in therapeutic doses, nonspecific, and systemically normalizing. The ingredients must also work through the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—the sort of master-control system that regulates the body’s response to stress, comprised of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands.

Research on adaptogens is extensive and accelerated after the 1940s, which is when the term originated (meaning that while the herbs have been used for thousands of years, the term itself is relatively new). Which herbs are classified as adaptogens is based on scientific research; that is, the descriptor of “adaptogen” isn’t and shouldn’t be applied subjectively.

Adaptogens are nontoxic in therapeutic doses, meaning that at levels considered medicinal or functional, the ingredient is safe. While this may seem obvious, many common spices—for example nutmeg, thyme, oregano, and cinnamon—are toxic at high doses.

Adaptogens’ nonspecific quality is especially notable because it describes their broad-acting and sometimes seemingly contradictory effects, meaning a single herb can be capable of both raising and lowering a certain hormone, according to the body’s specific imbalance in either direction.

For example, ashwagandha has a normalizing effect on cortisol: It will lower abnormally high levels of the stress hormone, but not lower it below what’s considered “normal” or healthy. In other words, adaptogens’ act a bit like internal thermostats. When the temperature is too high, they lower it; if too low, they raise it. They’ve also been compared with vaccines because part of their action involves mimicking stress, thus strengthening our ability to cope with it.

The primary function of adaptogens involves balancing our HPA axis, which results in enhanced energy flow and regulation, reduced external stress sensation, boosted resilience, sharpened mental focus, and improved quality of deep sleep following rest.They enhance mental and physical performance and may increase longevity, especially by mitigating the negative effects of stress, but by other actions as well.

These herbs also have a special relationship with cortisol and related stress mechanisms and mediators. They can prevent and resist strain by increasing the level of messenger substances that activate our response more efficiently, actually suppressing excess cortisol and increasing the capacity of our system to respond while maintaining a higher level of equilibrium.

In other words, adaptogens are best-self optimizers, not specific levers to pull for immediate and specific effects. Most re- quire several weeks of daily use before benefits are felt, and so are ideal to use for long periods of time. They’re great as assists through particularly difficult periods, which is how I tend to work with them—as potent plant medicines for particularly strenous times, or to support periods of recovery.

As always, adaptogens need to be paired with lifestyle adjustments to ensure we’re not prolonging, and thereby worsening, the inevitable: burnout.

Below, we’ll explore the most common and effective adaptogenic herbs, which represent the small group of “true” adaptogens.

In a world where adaptogens are everyone’s favorite herbs, ashwagandha is the world’s favorite adaptogen.

Its primary and globally beloved benefits include the ability to normalize cortisol levels (both those too high or too low), calm and strengthen an overwrought stress-response system, support muscle tone and strength, improve cardiorespiratory endurance, optimize immune system function, and even stimulate fertility.

Due to its popularity outsizing understandings about best use, ashwagandha is often underdosed and taken too infrequently to be fully beneficial. It should be dosed quite high—two to three grams per day, typically—and taken daily for long periods of time (several weeks or months) to reach full efficacy.

In herbalism, Cordyceps act as a calming adaptogen that we use to nourish endocrine, immune, nervous, and stress-response systems. Therefore, we love them for treating exhaustion, deepening recovery, and amplifying athletic performance.

Schisandra functions like the amino acid L-theanine (a calm-clarity-inducing amino acid) and so boasts an uncommon two-fold effect that sharpens alertness by both enhancing reflexes and mental and physical performance, and promoting calm and relieving symptoms of stress.

On the more energizing side of the spectrum we find ginsengs, which make up three of the nine adaptogens: eleuthero, American ginseng, and Panax ginseng, or “Asian ginseng.” They range from mildly stimulating to very stimulating, and that degree typically determines how we pair them with people at different ages or stages of life.

Like other adaptogenic herbs, rhodiola’s primary benefits are for mental and physical endurance, including treating chronic and stress-related fatigue, cortisol levels, and feelings of burnout.

It works by modulating the body’s stress- response system, regulating stress hormones, reducing the negative impact of stress on the body, and improving resilience. Additionally, rhodiola has been shown to enhance cellular energy production, improve oxygen utilization, and support the function of mitochondria.

In the right dose, it’s ideal pre- workout or for a boost during a focused work session. That said, too much can make some nervous types feel more anxious.

Shilajit has been used to enhance virility—especially when combined with ashwagandha, as both increase testosterone—and to lower blood sugar levels, making it highly beneficial for metabolic syndrome.

Adaptogens have their place, but their place isn’t everywhere.

As you’ve now learned, they shouldn’t be used as a substitute for lifestyle changes to remedy stress, nor are they the best herbs for anxiety.

Our mental perspective and nutrition, how often we move and how we manage our time, our priorities and purpose, how we live and why are what ultimately address the cause of imbalance–and help us reach the dynamic and desirable state of homeostasis.