Health Benefits of Rhodiola Rosea

In recent years, dozens of uses for Rhodiola rosea have been proposed, including treating depression and fatigue, enhancing memory and intellectual capacity, increasing work performance and endurance, and stimulating the nervous system. Many of these potential benefits relate to the herb's adaptogenic qualities.

One particularly interesting aspect of rhodiola is that it appears to work differently within the body than other adaptogens--the best known of which is the very popular herb Siberian ginseng. Rhodiola's unique mechanism of action excites researchers because it means this herb may be able to provide a therapeutic alternative to established adaptogens.
 

Some of the current findings on rhodiola relate to complex physiological interactions in the body's chemistry. But put simply, rhodiola appears to work by influencing key central nervous system chemicals--neurotransmitters called monoamines (dopamine and serotonin are examples). An imbalance of monoamines is believed to be involved in several hard-to-treat illnesses, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD); some herbalists believe taking rhodiola to normalize monoamine levels may benefit these ailments.
 

In contrast, most other adaptogens, such as Siberian ginseng, seem to boost the body's reserves by enhancing the output of stress-fighting hormones from the adrenal glands.

Other studies on rhodiola have shown benefits in such varied areas as increased learning capacity and memory enhancement, regulation of menstrual periods and infertility, reduction of side effects from cancer chemotherapy, increased sexual libido and erectile dysfunction, enhancement of thyroid gland function, increased capacity for work and endurance, and protection from environmental toxins.
 

Specifically, Rhodiola rosea may help to:
 

• Improve performance capacity. A handful of studies have shown that rhodiola increases performance in individuals who are working under stressful conditions. For example, a small 2000 study published in the journal Phytomedicine examined the herb's effect on mental fatigue in a group of 56 healthy young Armenian doctors doing night duty. In this double-blind study, measures of mental fatigue (such as impaired short-term memory, associative thinking, audio-visual perception) were very much improved after supplementation with a rhodiola extract as opposed to a placebo.

• Ease chronic fatigue syndrome. Rhodiola appears to have clinical benefits for chronic fatigue syndrome through a variety of mechanisms--including raising levels of neurotransmitters, improving metabolism of fatty acids, and enhancing energy molecules, such as ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and CP (creatine phosphate).

• Fight fatigue and boost energy. Even for individuals who don't have chronic fatigue syndrome, rhodiola is becoming increasingly popular to counter the exhaustion that occurs from working the body too hard, either physically or mentally. With rhodiola, problems of fatigue- or exhaustion-related sleep, appetite, and headache may lift. Those struggling to recover from an intense work schedule may also benefit from the herb's apparent energy-boosting powers.

• Prevent stress-related illnesses. Because rhodiola is an adaptogen, it's likely that this herb can help boost resistance to physical stresses--and the illnesses that commonly follow, from immune-system suppression to high blood pressure and heart disease. Acute stress in particular tends to shift the body's levels of endorphins and monoamines, neurochemicals that rhodiola helps to rebalance. More clinical research is clearly needed to demonstrate this effect, but the hope is that rhodiola taken during times of acute stress may help to stabilize the body.

Fight Against Depression.

In a study of 128 individuals of all ages with various forms of depression who were given Rhodiola rosea, all test subjects showed positive therapeutic effects. And, 65% had complete disappearance of their depression. Studies show Rhodiola rosea works by making serotonin's precursors, tryptophan and 5-HTP, more available to the brain and by increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain.

Fight Against Obesity

If there is such a thing as a perfect weight loss/stress relieving herb, this could be it. Rhodiola rosea contains the two essential elements needed by most people to lose weight and truly feel great, naturally. Not only does this herb, have the ability to lift the stress that causes your body to crave foods of comfort and store more fat, it also has the power to make make you lose weight. In a placebo controlled study of Rhodiola rosea’s ability to mobilize fatty acids from adipose tissue, 121 subjects were given either Rhodiola rosea or a placebo and their serum lipid levels were tested at rest and after one hour of exercise. The Rhodiola group had 6% greater serum fatty acid levels than the placebo group at rest and 44% greater levels after one hour of exercise. This difference is due to Rhodiola rosea’s ability to activate adipose lipase, a key enzyme required to burn the body’s fat stores

In a separate placebo controlled study involving 130 overweight patients over 90 days at the Georgian State Hospital (in the former Soviet Union), of those who consumed rhodiola rosea (A dosage of 300mg. was admnistered in 1/ 100mg.capsule before each of three meals), 92% lost a remarkable average of 20 pounds while a placebo group on the same diet lost just 7 pounds. This difference is presumably due to Rhodiola rosea’s ability to activate adipose lipase, a key enzyme required to burn the body’s fat stores.

Other benefits of this amazing herb include its ability to:

Reverse emotional stress characterized by sluggishness, low motivation, muscle weakness, chronic fatigue, labored breathing, giddiness, chest pain, palpitations, excessive sleeping and brain cloud.