Stress is one of the worst things that you could possibly experience. When many people hear the word stress, they think that all it takes to get over it is a warm bath and a bit of relaxation.
While this might help some people, it’s not enough for most. Stress is a serious issue that can result in much worse mental and physical health conditions, and therefore needs to be taken care of immediately.
What many people don’t know is that there are plenty of natural substances out there known as adaptogens which help to reduce stress and anxiety, with two of the most popular ones being ashwagandha and rhodiola.
What we’re here to do today is to take a closer look at both ashwagandha and rhodiola specifically to see exactly how they can help relieve stress, especially when working in combination with each other.
What Are Adaptogens?
To start, we have adaptogens. These are special classes of herbs or plants that are known to help the human body adapt to stress.
This can include both mental and physical stress. For those people who don’t know, adaptogens help the body adapt to stress in what are known as nonspecific ways, or in other words, there are many different ways in which a variety of adaptogens can help the body adapt to stress, whether due to the mental health benefits or the physical health benefits.
There are many herbs that have often been used in traditional medicine, which are still popular today, with ashwagandha and rhodiola, otherwise known as rhodiola rosea, being two of the most popular ones. These two are exactly what we’re here to discuss today.
What is Ashwagandha and How Does it Relieve Stress?
First, we have ashwagandha, which is a medicinal herb that’s been used in various types of traditional medicine for over 3000 years.
It has generally been used to promote overall health, increase energy levels, and to increase vitality. However, there’s a lot more to it than that. The reality is that ashwagandha has a variety of stress-release mechanisms.
First and foremost, ashwagandha is known for helping to lower cortisol levels, with cortisol being a stress hormone that makes you feel even more stressed out. Being able to reduce cortisol levels is perhaps one of the biggest benefits that ashwagandha has in terms of stress relief.
Furthermore, ashwagandha may also have a variety of anxiolytic or anti-anxiety effects, which is because it interacts with GABA neurotransmitters in the brain. The GABA neurotransmitter is well known for being related to anxiety.
If we’re talking about physical stress, ashwagandha also contains a variety of antioxidants, therefore contributing to overall better physical health. In general, ashwagandha should be able to help reduce anxiety, improve your sleep, and even enhance your resilience to stress.
What is Rhodiola and How Does it Relieve Stress?
We then have rhodiola or Rhodiola rosea, which is also known as Arctic root or golden root. This is a flowering plant most often found in mountainous regions of North America, Asia, and Europe. It’s well known for having a variety of adaptogenic properties.
First and foremost, just like with ashwagandha, this particular herb is known for modulating stress-related hormones, especially cortisol. Once again, cortisol is related to stress, so the less cortisol you have, realistically, the less stressed out you should feel.
Furthermore, it may also be the case that rhodiola can impact various neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, all of which have effects related to stress and mood.
Overall, rhodiola rosea, due to these neurotransmitter benefits, should be able to help relieve stress, anxiety, and healthy sleep better at night as well.
How to Use Ashwagandha and Rhodiola to Relieve Stress
OK, so now that we know that both ashwagandha and rhodiola can help relieve stress and anxiety, while also promoting a better night’s sleep, let’s figure out how to actually use them to achieve these benefits.
Make a Tea
Perhaps the easiest way to use both of these ingredients to achieve anti-anxiety effects is to make a tea out of them. You can find dried ashwagandha and dried rhodiola extract, which you can then mix in with hot water to make a tea with.
You may also be able to find the fresh herbs, although in most places, these are very hard to come by, so you might have to do with the dry variety.
In some cases, you may also be able to find a supplement powder that contains these ingredients, which you can then use to make a tea or a drink.
Make a Tincture
You could also try making a tincture using rhodiola and ashwagandha. To make a tincture, you would use extremely high-proof alcohol and let finely chopped ashwagandha and rhodiola steep inside of it for months on end.
Realistically, the longer you let the ashwagandha and rhodiola steep inside the alcohol, the better the effects will be. Remember, if you are using fresh herbs, you’ll want to use a one-to-one alcohol-to-plant ratio. This tincture can then be consumed orally using small doses.
Make an Essential Oil
You could also try making an essential oil which you can then consume or use for aromatherapy purposes. To do this, take some high-quality coconut oil and allow at least two tablespoons of both fresh ashwagandha and rhodiola to rest inside of it for several weeks.
After about a month, you should have an essential oil that is infused with both of these substances. Although the taste may not be fantastic, you could technically use this infusion to cook, although many people will use it for essential oil diffusers.
Make a Topical Poultice
If you think that topical application might be better for you, you can always make a poultice out of ashwagandha and rhodiola. Yes, you’ll need the fresh versions of both of these plants.
Take a few tablespoons of both and then grind them up together, along with some of your other favorite herbs, along with just enough water to make a paste. You would then rub that paste onto the affected area, which would generally be the back of the neck, and let it work its magic for up to 20 or 30 minutes at a time.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, you don’t have to live with stress for the rest of your life when there are great natural remedies like adaptogens at your disposal. Adaptogens such as ashwagandha and rhodiola rosea are absolutely fantastic for relieving stress, anxiety, and more. We certainly recommend trying one of the above methods.
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