8 Adaptogen Herbs to Heal Adrenals and Reduce Stress

Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe here. Welcome to Ancient Medicine Today. Today I'm going to be talking about 8 adaptogen herbs to help you heal your adrenal glands and reduce stress. And listen, the number of people today that are struggling with adrenal fatigue is mind-boggling.

In fact, I've seen recent evidence that shows over 80% of people struggle with fatigue, being overly tired on a regular basis, and you might be that person watching to where You get tired, maybe at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, you hit that 2 o'clock coma, you just lack energy, lack motivation is another warning sign, maybe you feel overwhelmed and frazzled or brain fog sometimes.

All of those are warning signs that you can have adrenal issues. So today I want to specifically talk about the 8 herbs, these are called adaptogens, that can most help your adrenals and also really help any of you that are feeling stressed out. And I absolutely believe this is a message that Yeah. And this is something that everybody needs to know about.

So hey, help me spread this message right now. Take a second and punch your share button. Let's help spread the word and save lives by teaching people how to use food as medicine. And I'll tell you, the thing I love about adaptogens is, remember this, adaptogens help your body better deal with stress. When you get emotionally stressed, what happens is your cortisol levels raise.

When cortisol stays up high, For a long period of time, that's your adrenals. Your adrenals are working to produce adrenaline and cortisol and a lot of these hormones. And when they are too high for too long, it eventually can burn out your adrenals. Sometimes then actually your cortisol can get too low and stay too low because your body has just shut down.

And so what we really want to do on this episode is I want to teach you the best herbs to really start to support and rejuvenate those adrenal glands that may be taxed that you have. And so the first one here I'm going to talk about is rhodiola rosea. This is an incredible adaptogenic herb.

Listen to this, there was a study done recently on mice and they found that mice that supplemented with rhodiola rosea actually had a major increase, I believe about a 30% to 40% increase in endurance while swimming. So listen, if you're an athlete especially, maybe you're a swimmer or just in general, you need more endurance. And let me give you an example of endurance.

You wake up in the morning, you feel okay, by afternoon, every afternoon, you are just wiped out, you're tired, that's an example of you not having enough endurance or stamina. Same thing, you get in a workout and you're just— you can't keep going. Rhodiola rosea is the type of adaptogen that's been shown to improve endurance by the body.

And so again, an incredible adaptogen here in rhodiola rosea, very famous in Ayurvedic medicine in India, one of the absolute best for fighting fatigue. Adrenal fatigue. Let me share with you, we're going to jump into Shasandra here, but some of the biggest warning signs you may have adrenal issues or are overstressed, here are some examples.

If you have dark-colored circles under your eyes or any sort of eye issues, that's a big warning sign that your adrenals are being affected. If you are a person who has major sugar cravings, that's a big warning sign.

If you're a person who Gets a good night's sleep and you wake up the next morning and you are still tired and feel like you need to keep sleeping in, that's a big warning sign you have adrenal fatigue. If you just get rattled easily, if you sort of have outbursts and that type of thing, that can mean you have adrenal fatigue.

And again, that 2 o'clock coma, every— you know, after lunch you're tired almost every day, that's a big warning sign. And a lot of times also if you have thyroid problems, oftentimes thyroid and adrenal issues Are absolutely interconnected. Those are some warning signs you may have adrenal issues or overstressed as well. And another one is lack of motivation.

If you just really are not motivated in life, it can be because your adrenals and some of these organs are just absolutely overwhelmed. Now, schisandra, one of my favorite— actually, it's schisandra berry, one of my favorite Chinese medicine supplements. Now, schisandra is really unique in that it not only supports the adrenals and the kidneys, it also supports the liver. Yeah.

And I really believe if you are under a high amount of stress and your adrenals are fatigued, this might be my favorite adrenal supplement. Again, it's called schisandra. Sometimes it's actually spelled with a Z there, sometimes an S there, but schisandra is a fantastic supplement to use as part of Chinese medicine.

And you can look at an adrenal formula, some adrenal formulas, if it's a really good one, will oftentimes have schisandra in it. In there as well. Again, a fantastic adaptogen. Now, another adaptogen I love is holy basil. Now, this isn't like regular basil. Oftentimes you'll see with holy basil, it'll actually have a purple to it.

Sometimes it's all purple, sometimes it's green, but a lot of times it has just a little bit of a purple mix to it. But holy basil is an herb, another one that's famous in Ayurvedic medicine, and it's also known as tulsi. And this can oftentimes be taken as a tea. Okay. Also, it's oftentimes used as an essential oil.

So again, holy basil, really powerful adaptogen that is used quite frequently in Ayurvedic medicine. And the thing I love about holy basil as well is it's good not just for adrenals, it's good for your hormones of your entire body. If you have PCOS or PMS or going through menopause or any of those issues, holy basil is a great herb to do for your adrenals.

But also for your entire body's naturally balancing out hormone production. So again, you can do it as a tea, you can do several drops on your neck as an essential oil, or take a straight holy basil supplement, or sometimes holy basil is found in blends, different adrenal or thyroid supportive blends there as well.

Another one of my favorites, so we've talked about Ayurvedic medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine, we have another famed adaptogen in Chinese medicine here And it's called reishi mushroom. Now, so reishi is a fungi, it's not necessarily an herb, but it is absolutely an adaptogen. And reishi is known as the mushroom of immortality.

It extends life, supports anti-aging, and helps balance out those cortisol levels. Also, reishi is a cancer fighter. It's one of the most powerful anti-cancer mushrooms, probably the most powerful anti-cancer mushroom. That's available today. So again, reishi, you can do it as a tea, you can do it as a supplement. And I want to mention this with your body's fight-or-flight response.

When you get emotionally worked up, here's what happens, or really stressed out. This would happen in the past, let's say a bear was chasing you. It puts your body in something called fight-or-flight response. Either you're going to fight or you're going to fly from the response. But in a fight-or-flight response, your sympathetic nervous system gets high. And your cortisol level is raised.

Now, a lot of us, we don't have bears or lions or tigers chasing us, but what we do have is stress at work, stress at home, stress, stress, stress. We have visual stimulus of computers and cell phones and all of these things that keep our cortisol and our sympathetics really high. And remember, it's supposed to be an ebb and flow and a balance in your life.

For a lot of us, we live in that state so much, we never get brought down to balance. So it wears out our body over time. You want to increase your parasympathetic nerve system and response. Adaptogenic herbs help increase that parasympathetic nerve system. Now, the king in Ayurvedic medicine for the thyroid, now this is good for adrenals as well, but it's ashwagandha.

And I'll say this, if you have a thyroid problem, ashwagandha is the number one herb you should be taking on a regular basis or a blend of both ashwagandha And other adaptogenic herbs. Ashwagandha is amazing for both the thyroid and the adrenals together. So thyroid and adrenal issues, especially if you have both, ashwagandha is one of the most powerful.

I mean, the studies on ashwagandha as well for anti-aging of your joints, for fighting autoimmune disease, a number of conditions, ashwagandha is powerful at endurance and stamina. It is the king of adaptogens in my book. Number 6 here is licorice root extract. Now, licorice root specifically supports the stomach and digestion.

Actually, it's been shown to— if you have ulcers which are due to stress, right? So if you get emotionally stressed and you get an ulcer from all the stress, licorice root is the number one herb to help with ulcers. But in general, it helps as an adaptogen for lowering stress but also supports your upper GI system, your stomach and your small intestine area.

Licorice root, an incredible herb used in Chinese medicine. Number 7 here is ginseng. Ginseng is probably known as the first and most well-known of all the adaptogenic herbs. And this is the biggest one. If you need an energy boost, ginseng is probably the best for noticing an improvement in your energy immediately. So this is great to do like pre-workout.

You want to really get energized before a workout, ginseng is great, but specifically if you struggle with low energy all day, Ginseng is the most powerful adaptogenic herb. And last but not least is astragalus. Astragalus is for those who get too damp in the body.

If you have a loose stool, if you have Candida issues, white coating on your tongue, and you just really feel— I'm going to use the word sluggish. If you feel sluggish and lethargic and have any of those issues like Candida, astragalus helps nourish the spleen. It works as an adaptogenic herb. It works as a natural immune booster.

But also helps dry up that excess mucus and fluid and Candida and those types of things in the body as well. So astragalus, powerful herb used in Chinese medicine to reduce dampness and reduce stress on the body, especially with the digestive system. Now, I want to mention this, guys. I want to encourage you, get some of these powerful adaptogenic herbs in your diet.

And listen, I also want to recommend reducing stress. That's another big one. So listen, you can't just take adaptogens. And if you've got this really stressed life, all of a sudden everything gets better. You really want to practice spending more time outdoors, working out, doing lunch with— really scheduling in things you love to do and you love to reduce stress.

Schedule those in, schedule a healing bath in, you know, some Epsom salts and some lavender oil. Just start incorporating things to reduce stress. And then in addition to that, start consuming some of these adaptogenic herbs. You're going to notice a big difference. And I want to mention this finally, there are so many people today who are overstressed.

Think about the most overstressed people in your life, whether it's a parent or a spouse or a friend or relative, somebody that's just really high-strung. Share this message with them. Take this video, email it to somebody, share it with them on their phone, send them a text. But more people need to know this information on how to overcome adrenal fatigue and stress. By using adaptogenic herbs.

Hey guys, this has been me, Dr. Josh Axe, talking about how to overcome adrenal fatigue. I'll be back tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Central Time. Thanks for watching. Hi, Dr. Axe here.

I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video and also don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies, and how to use food as medicine. As medicine. Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.