Even the most unglamorous veggies like apples and potatoes are nutritional powerhouses, coming to the table full of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber.
But there are a few plants known as “superfoods” and “adaptogens”. It’s a trendy word these days, but what are they and why should you care? Are the health claims true? Or did these plants just have a great PR team in recent years?
While it may be a new word to you, the benefits adaptogens have been used for centuries in Indian Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine and cultures. The term “adaptogen” was first coined in 1947 by the Russian scientist, N.V. Lazarev as “a substance that shows a nonspecific enhancement of our body’s innate ability to resist any stressor”. But…what does that even mean?
We like to think of it as, if you’re wound up, feeling stressed and frazzly inside they will help calm you down; if you’re low and fatigued the same plant can help bring you up. Adapting to your unique body's needs and helping you adapt to stress by bringing you back into balance and homeostasis, which is where your body thrives. Magic.
Why are they so trendy right now? Well, they help with stress, ahem, hello everyday world!
Chronic stress and busyness in our society has made us all very familiar with fatigue, low immunity (catching every cold and having them last weeks), lack of sleep, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and persistently stressed and out of balance.
Whether your personal stressors are mental or physical (illness, injury, body out of balance, intense workouts) the benefits of adaptogens can help with your body’s individual needs.
Benefits of Adaptogens:
- energize you while simultaneously calming your system (woah)
- boost mental alertness and clarity
- regulate the stress hormone cortisol and support your adrenal glands
- boost your immunity
- and bring your nervous system back into balance.
Now do you see why we felt so strongly that these amazing superfoods had to be included in our Send Bars?
A few examples of adaptogens are Cordyceps mushrooms which can be found in our Perform bars and Ashwagandha found in our Recovery bars. Check them out here.
You can check them out in our store.
Interested in nerding out further on their functions and benefits?
PubMed is our favourite database for research and articles. It is an online search engine that comprises medical studies freely available to the public.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed.
Pro tip? Use the search bar at the top of the page and enter the name of the mushroom, adaptogen, or plant you want to read about.
Most formal research on mushrooms uses the Latin name of the mushroom, so we've listed them below because we’re all about making your life a little easy everyday:
Lion’s Mane – Hericium erinaceus
Chaga – Inonotus obliquus
Cordyceps – Cordyceps militaris
Turkey Tail – Trametes versicolor
Tremella – Tremella fuciformis
Reishi – Ganoderma lucidum
Have fun nerding out, we always do!
*We are not doctors, nor do we pretend to be. This information is not meant to treat, cure, heal or diagnose any illness or disease. Please seek advice from your trusted medical professional(s) if you have questions if these products are right for you.