All About Adaptogens

5 min read

All About Adaptogens

Hey there fellow foodies. We are sure by now you have seen our beautiful “elixirs of life”, AKA, our range of magical herbal tinctures. If you have ever been curious about how these beautiful blends work, and exactly why we are so obsessed with them, grab a hot tea, and tuck into this article with us. 

A quick disclaimer before getting into it: Please consult your healthcare practitioner if you have any complicated health conditions, or are taking medication. Although there are no recognized adverse health effects of taking these tinctures, some herbs may interfere with medication.

 

Why are adaptogens important?

It should come as no surprise that imbalanced lifestyles are a major issue that many of us are currently facing, and bearing the consequences of “Hustle culture”, financial stresses, overconsumption of social media, and everyday pressures taking their toll on our mental and physical wellbeing across the board. As hard as we may be trying, modern life is challenging and nobody can pour from an empty cup 

With an increase in mental illness challenges, physical fatigue, and the associated repercussions thereof, adaptogens, specifically in the form of tinctures, could offer some relief to our shared modern-day dilemma. 

Our range of Adaptogenic Tinctures makes implementing plant medicine into your daily life accessible, and easy to do, offering a plant-based solution to modern problems. 

Plant medicine has often been deemed to be a whoo-whoo approach to wellness, however, recent studies have yielded promising results from specific herbal adipogenic compounds, continue reading to understand adaptogens, their importance, and how they work. 

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Understanding Adaptogens?

To understand the benefits of using such tinctures, we need to understand what adaptogens are, and how they affect our bodies.

Adaptogens were recently defined as a group of herbal compositions that have been shown to improve endurance, fatigue, and mental stresses, by exerting a therapeutic effect on the neuro-endocrine systems involved in stress-signalling pathways.  

In simple terms, adaptogens are uniquely plant-based compounds that help the body respond to, or ‘adapt’ to stress and fatigue. They specifically act as mediators, restoring your body to a natural state of equilibrium. On a molecular level, these pharmaceuticals act on our adrenal glands, and hypothalamic and pituitary symptoms - all of which are involved in stress mediation.  

When we experience stress or anxiety, our bodies go into a state of imbalance, or ‘fight or flight. Along with an increased feeling of anxiety, when our bodies are in a state of stress we experience a plethora of additional symptoms. Some of these include difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite and hormonal dysregulation, just to name a few. 

Restoring our bodies' natural state of balance, therefore, becomes essential to managing all of the above, and to living a balanced and healthy life. 

When used in conjunction with traditional medicines to treat certain conditions, adaptogenic supplements have been shown to improve overall mental and physical wellness. 

The evidence: 

With a rise in interest in alternative plant-based medicines, we have seen an increase in high-quality research in the field as well. There are multiple published studies looking into the benefits that adaptogenic compounds have on different signaling pathways that are involved with stress, anxiety, and fatigue.
The most profound evidence has been obtained through studies investigating their unique neuroprotective qualities. The evidence overwhelmingly points to adaptogens' beneficial effects on depression, fatigue, and improved mental performance.

 

Tinctures Vs Extracts: What’s the difference?

Tinctures and extracts are often used interchangeably, however, there are a few distinguishing differences between the two that will impact their properties. To put it simply, all tinctures are extracts, but not all extracts are tinctures. The key difference here is that tinctures use alcohol as a method of extraction, whereas extracts use other liquid mediums. 

Tinctures are essentially a concentrated blend of herbal extracts which are used as a supplement. A blend of plant material, water and alcohol is combined in different ratios depending on the nature of the plant material being used. 

Our Nourish’d Adaptogenic Alchemy tincture was made using the hydro-ethanol extraction method. This method has been shown to provide the most potent form of extraction from our chosen plants. 

The hydro-ethanol extraction method uses food-grade ethanol as a solvent for the solution. The desired plant compounds are released from the plant and contained within the solution, where all of their powerful medicinal components can be bottled up and used by you. 

We offer a range of different blends to support specified elements of wellness. These blends are specifically curated with their properties and benefits in mind, working together harmoniously to exert their described effect. 

Choosing which tincture is right for you is simply laid out. Choose whichever resonates with you, and how you choose to navigate your daily life. 

Our Adaptogenic Alchemy Tincture is a blend of powerful plants, specially chosen to give you the most potent plant medicine in just a few drops. Each element of this tincture has been selected to offer you the widest range of health and wellness benefits possible. The active ingredients of the Adaptogenic Alchemy Tincture are plants that have been shown to hold healing potential, and that have been used for centuries in the world of plant medicine. 

These active ingredients include liquorice root, maca root, ashwagandha, Schisandra, and eleuthero - all of which have been shown through multiple studies, to possess great healing potential.  

Read more about Adaptogenic  Alchalemys' active ingredients here. 

Shop our range of tinctures here.

Using Tinctures

There are many different ways to incorporate your tincture into your daily routine. 

Some methods are more geared towards the brave - that being to take the tincture directly under your tongue. You can place the prescribed number of drops under your tongue, swirl it around in your mouth and allow the plant medicine to work its magic. This method allows the effects to be felt faster, as the medicinal components are allowed to absorb directly through your mucus membranes to start exerting their effects. 

I say this method is for the brave because many tinctures may not taste very pleasant due to their high concentration of flavonoids and tannins. 


One of the more popular methods of using tinctures is to simply add a few drops to a beverage of your choice, whether that be a morning cup of coffee, smoothie, tea, or even just a glass of water. 

Our preferred method, of course, is to add a few drops into ajuice cleanses. It is a great way to add just a little extra magic to the already magical juices. 


Final thoughts:

Using herbal adaptogenic tinctures is not a modern wellness concept. The use of herbs and plants as medicine has been around for centuries. The first versions of tinctures and plant exact's to be used as medicine were made through alcoholic fermentation or aqueous extraction. Today the methods have been perfected and made to be more precise, yielding a new dimension of potency and healing potential.  

We feel that reconnecting with our more ancestral and lineal selves, may be the solution to modern-day stresses - Reconnecting to the tried and true roots of healing and wellness. 


Happy Healing - Nourish’d xx





Bibliography:

  • Kolen, R. (2017)How to make herbal tinctures,blog. Available at:https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/guide-tinctures-extracts (Accessed: November 8, 2022).
  • Panossian, A. and Wikman, G. (2010) “Effects of adaptogens on the central nervous system and the molecular mechanisms associated with their stress—protective activity,”Pharmaceuticals, 3(1), pp. 188–224. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/ph3010188.
  • Plant Extraction: The heart of berkem's trade (no date)Berkem. Available at:https://www.berkem.com/en/expertise-en/plant-extraction (Accessed: November 8, 2022).
  • Quinn, D. (2022)This centuries-old remedy can improve your sleep, digestion, and more,Byrdie. Byrdie. Available at: https://www.byrdie.com/what-is-a-tincture-5074766(Accessed: November 8, 2022). 








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