Restoring enthusiasm in a stressful world
By: Rhodiola Rosea
Stress is found at the root of most health conditions - either as a cause or a symptom - and managing this stress can often bring relief to the sufferer.
Today’s trend towards herbal remedies as magic bullets for a wide range of health conditions has put the humble, yet essential B complex vitamins into the shade. In our rush to promote St John’s Wort, Rhodiola Rosea and others as alternatives to drug therapies, it can be all too easy to overlook simple B vitamin deficiencies as the root cause of many health conditions.
While herbs including Rhodiola and St John’s Wort have a very helpful role to play, the B complex vitamins should be a first step in addressing stress and other mood elevation issues. Rhodiola Rosea is getting further attention because of the ability to help with stress.
The B complex vitamins are used in the proper formation of every cell in the body - particularly the nerve cells. This is why it is so important for pregnant women to get their B vitamins (especially folic acid) and why a deficiency in key B vitamins manifests itself first as mild depression or moodiness.
The primary organs in the body responsible for dealing with the effects of stress are the adrenal glands, which are situated just above the kidneys. If we are having to deal with chronic, on-going stress the adrenal glands eventually become exhausted and unable to produce sufficient amounts of the stress-reducing hormones adrenaline and cortisol.
Vitamin B5 is the main nutrient for nourishing the adrenal glands where it is used to make glucocorticoids, which may be the reason that B5 is known as the anti-stress vitamin. In situations of chronic stress, glucocorticoids stimulate the conversion of protein to energy and help maintain the body’s resistance to stress long after glucose stores have been exhausted.
Additionally, depressed patients often have low B6 levels, especially if taking medication such as the contraceptive pill or HRT. Experts in the field suggest that patients reporting depression should routinely receive supplementation of 50-100mg of vitamin B6, supplied within a good B complex.
Researched in Russia since the 1930s, Rhodiola, is the king of all stress-busting herbs and researchers have found Rhodiola to go above and beyond ginseng in its scope and activity. Rhodiola Rosea, a native herb of Siberia - Russian Rhodiola, has been shown to enhance the systems that regulate stress and help the body maintain fuel reserves to cope. It is an effective anti-depressant and has a reputation as an aphrodisiac, probably due to its ability to lift mood and improve stamina.
Mood boost for psychiatric nurse
Increasing pressure in her demanding job as a psychiatric nurse found Mary Forrett, aged 41, of Fife in Scotland, feeling more and more depressed. The job was already very physically challenging with sometimes difficult patients, variable shift patterns and long hours. When additional pressure came from extra administrative responsibilities, she looked around for something to give her a boost.
“At 41, I didn’t expect to have the energy of a teenager, but I was feeling terribly run down and just sad for no real reason. I had never had a problem getting up for work before, but I was feeling as though my body’s alarm clock had forgotten to be wound up. I knew I had to do something or my work and family life would suffer,” she said.
A friend recommended a herb called Rhodiola. He had taken it following an article in the Daily Mail suggesting its use for energy, stamina and depression. He was so enthusiastic about it, Mary went along to her local health food store where they suggested a supplement of the B complex vitamins together with the Rhodiola.
Mary says: “I can’t say I feel like a teenager yet, but I do feel much more positive about life. My children say I’m I nicer mother and work has returned to being a pleasure for me instead of a chore.”
Energy lift for shift worker
After years of enduring variable shift patterns as a long distance lorry driver, Eric Anderson, aged 42 from Oxfordshire, found it had left him feeling severely lacking in get-up-and-go and emotionally low bordering on depression.
“My get-up-and-go had definitely got-up-and-gone,” said Eric. “For the past year, I just went to work, came home and went to sleep. My social life was totally non-existent.”
One night on a journey back to London from Newcastle, Eric had to stop four times for cat-naps, making him more than one hour late on his journey. “You have to be able to explain every minute of your trip when you are a lorry driver,” he explained. “I knew that night that if I didn’t get some help, I was either going to have a serious accident or I was going to lose my job.”
He’d read about a herb called Rhodiola in the Daily Mail some months before, but couldn’t remember the details so he went into his local health food store. They explained that Rhodiola would be useful to him for energy, stamina and mood elevation. The store also suggested a supplement of the B complex vitamins to address any nutritional deficiencies. Rhodiola
Shift patterns, especially those including night shifts, excessive exposure to pollution (traffic fumes) and long-term stress (deadlines and driving) had brought Eric’s adrenal system into overload.
Eric says: “I feel much safer in my job, and I now have the energy to go horse riding and start socialising again. Rhodiola and the B vitamins have made a real difference to my energy levels. I am much happier, but I am still waiting for an opportunity to use its aphrodisiac qualities!” Rhodiola Rosea to the rescue.
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