Your Adaptogenic Allies
Let me tell you about my friends the adaptogens. Imagine the foods you eat as people – as actors in a play – the theater production of your life. What roles do they play in the unfolding of your health? If candy bars were characters, would they be faithful friends, or undermining enemies? What about French fries? Pineapples or popcorn? Blueberries or brussel sprouts? What information, what energy do these foods bring into your cells? Do they help or hinder your health and happiness, strengthen or weaken your bodily systems, shorten or lengthen your life?
We’re not taught to think about the effects of food after we swallow, but those effects trickle down every hour of our lives, forming the fabric of our being. Even the extras in your meals are not neutral; they all play a part. Every bite of food and sip of liquid we swallow is important. What we eat and drink becomes us, our organs, our tissues, our cells. Or it is eliminated as useless; taking up precious resources to get rid of it.
The Standard American Diet (SAD) is unfortunately composed of a cast of the most unsavory characters – foods and beverages that can’t create healthy cells, about as beneficent as an angry mob or a ship full of pirates. In their short-sighted swagger, they bring plenty of drama – but is this who you want to populate your personal play? Those refined and super-processed foods and fructose-sweetened drinks not only leave us lacking vital nutrients, they wear us down as we get rid of them.
Enter the adaptogens, quiet and unassuming, working behind the scenes to set the stage for good health and long life. Adaptogens rarely play a major role, and hesitate to take a bow. They may even spoil the drama by exerting a steady, patient influence on your long-term health. These supporting actors are there for you like a loving grandmother, a favorite aunt, a sympathetic teacher, or a compassionate friend. Personally, I want adaptogens involved in my lifelong production as much as possible, quietly backing me up so I can play my part with aplomb.
Adaptogens work gradually, cumulatively, incrementally nourishing the body’s resilience. They modulate metabolism and tonify tissues. They improve chronic conditions, helping to break the inertia and tip the balance in a new direction. Adaptogens create resilience, increase functional energy, and improve focus and awareness. They can even change what you desire to eat and drink, slowly shifting your preferences toward foods which build vitality and encourage longevity. They’re my best allies, steady and loyal – and they can be yours, too.
I first encountered adaptogens at the age of 30, not long after my second child was born. I was illustrating a children’s book – a Lakota folktale about two brave warriors – and working full time under deadline pressure while nursing my infant daughter round the clock. Sleep deprivation in breastfeeding mothers can lead to breast infection, which feels systemic, as the mammary glands are connected to the lymphatic system – much like the flu. I was knocked off my feet, and my production schedule. The remedy is total rest.
But the show must go on, and once I recovered I knew I had to do something to build my resilience, lest my health break down again. That was when an herbalist friend suggested a Chinese adaptogenic formula called Fu Zheng – a combination of dried roots, berries, leaves, and mushrooms that work synergistically to support immunity and core resilience. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), some adaptogens are used as chi (or qi) tonics – supporting the life force itself.1 In Ayurvedic medicine, they are analogous to Rasayana – herbs and foods that support vigor, clarity, and longevity.
Here in the West, the word adaptogen hails from Russia, as these plants and fungi help you adapt to the stresses of life, including toxins, infection, injury, and other hardships. Ginseng was the first named adaptogen, as perhaps the most well-known and widely sought-after root in the world, renowned for its healing and restorative effects. American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is arguably the finest ginseng on earth, but it’s expensive, growing sparingly in rocky mountainous forests. In their drive for progress and power, the Russian people sought an alternative, and found it in Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), also known by its genus name Eleuthero – and not a true ginseng. Yet its effects are similar: taken over time as a tincture or infusion, eleuthero is a great ally to the adrenals, nourishing your natural energy and helping you adapt to stress. Over the past century, many more adaptogens have been recognized.
After six weeks of drinking Fu Zheng, I had more energy (without caffeine) than I did before I got sick, and felt better than ever. Like the stealthy scouts in the story I was illustrating, the quiet effects of the herbs I was drinking worked backstage to support my stamina. I decided to stay on the formula for several months, making fresh brew every few days and storing it in my fridge. The taste of Fu Zheng was an earthy blend of roots with a sweet overtone of berries. Its unique flavor grew on me, and as the months passed I could feel its subtle effect as the polysaccharides, sterols, triterpenoids, beta glucans, polyphenols, anthocyanins, antioxidants, and other healing compounds slowly worked their magic, integrating into my organs, nourishing my blood, and making my bodily systems sing.
The most familiar adaptogens are berries, roots, mushrooms, and herbs. Chaga. Astragalus root. Blueberries. Goji berries. Reishi mushrooms. Holy Basil (Tulsi). Codonopsis root. Cranberries. Hawthorn berries. Stinging nettles. Maca root. Rhodiola root. Black currants. Solomon Seal Root. Elderberries. Shiso leaves. Shiitake mushrooms. Linden flowers. Burdock root. Dandelion root. Amla berries. Cordyceps mushrooms. Self-heal flowers. Ashwaganda root. These trusty friends renew my health every day, and have become a familiar part of my diet, each in its own time and season.
I could drill down into the science behind these foods and herbs and show you exactly how they work biochemically.2 But the truth is you don’t need to know, because adaptogens are non-specific in their actions. They are neither stimulating nor sedating, and have a gradual, normalizing effect on bodily systems, working from the inside out to establish homeostasis. Unlike drugs, adaptogens are non-toxic. These italicized words are their defining characteristics. You can’t overdose on an adaptogen, any more than you could overdose on berries. Nor would you want to, for slow and steady is their way, quietly enriching your vitality so you can shine.
Integrating adaptogens into your life is easy, for this is where the line between food and medicine blurs. In her online course, Adaptogens: Herbs for Energy, Longevity, and Optimum Health, herbalist Susun Weed suggests eating half a cup of dark-colored berries every day, or taking an alcohol-based extract of dried berries; including at least one serving of mushrooms in your diet each week (all of which are adaptogenic); drinking a daily cup or two of nourishing infusion of an adaptogenic herb such as linden or nettles (see my article Infuse Yourself With Liquid Nourishment to learn about nourishing infusions); as well as regular consumption of one more adaptogen of your choice – perhaps astragalus during tick season, as this well-known Chinese root helps ward off Lyme disease; or hawthorn berry for its anti-hypertensive and heart-enhancing properties. Or just do what you can to include these good friends in your diet. However you invite them in, they’ll be pleased to make your acquaintance.
Give your chosen allies time to work their magic in your life. The effects are subtle, but like a good supporting actor, can make a vital contribution to a successful leading role. These are the positive enablers in our lives – the answers to the stresses and toxins of our modern-day world. After a few months, you can move on to another adaptogen, and see what gifts it brings.
Lately I’m in love with a combination of eleuthero and dandelion root to support my adrenals, liver, and kidneys (among other benefits). I steep 1 ounce of the dried roots overnight in a quart-size canning jar, and strain the infusion in the morning. Then I reheat a large cup of this rich and satisfying brew which is ever so slightly sweet from the natural polysaccharides stored up in the roots; and add two dropperfuls of Reishi mushroom extract to modulate my blood pressure; and one dropperful of Solomon Seal root extract to help my chronic back ache. No side effects, no toxicity, and very little expense.
As the extreme cold of January sets in, I’ll switch to elderberry extract, put up a year ago from dried berries, to support my respiratory system through the long winter months. I think I’ll also try maitake mushroom extract to help balance my blood sugar, and tulsi tea for its subtle minty flavor and anti-inflammatory effects. In the spring I might go for six to twelve weeks of liver-nourishing burdock root infusion and energy-boosting cordyceps mushroom. And no matter the season, I always drink nettles infusion – the most common, local, and nutrient-dense ally of all.
Adaptogens can’t work alone, just as actors can’t put on a play without a stage, a script, and costumes. They are most effective when used together with an overall healthy diet, regular exercise, and sufficient sleep. You’re the casting director who matches the right actors to your desired roles, and the producer of the entire play.
When I think of food as people, I imagine adaptogens as patient, gentle folk – beautifully robed figures carrying baskets of good intentions. Like the lucky figure above with holy basil for hair, shielded by a reishi mushroom, bearing berries and flanked by ginseng, we are surrounded and supported by the healing gifts of adaptogens. However you imagine them, they’re a blessing.
To your good health –
Yael Bernhard
Certified Integrative Health & Nutrition Coach
Special thanks to Susun Weed for her editorial input on this article.
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Yael Bernhard is a writer, illustrator, book designer and fine art painter with a lifelong passion for nutrition and herbal medicine. She was certified by Duke University as an Integrative Health Coach in 2021 and by Cornell University in Nutrition & Healthy Living in 2022. For information about private health coaching or nutrition programs for schools, please respond directly to this newsletter, or email dyaelbernhard@protonmail.com. Her art newsletter, “Image of the Week,” may be found here. Visit her online gallery of illustration, fine art, and children’s books here.
Information in this newsletter is provided for educational – and inspirational – purposes only.
Note: Chinese herbs should be used with caution, as many are contaminated with heavy metals, antibiotics, steroids, or hormones. They may also be fraudulent. Vet your sources carefully!
Numerous studies on adaptogens have been done, for example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6358846/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00525/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8398443/