Fight Stress From The Inside Out
A little stress never hurt anybody… but if you find yourself routinely strapped with a high-pressure job, financial worries and a lackluster support system, your harried lifestyle may be frying more than just your nerves. It could also be doing a number on your health.
A vast body of research has shown that avoiding psychological stress, negative emotions and decreased social contact can contribute to better neurological health, metabolic health and heart health over time.1-2 And your neuroendocrine and immune systems are equally affected—with studies showing that adults struggling with ongoing job-related stress also have lower populations of natural killer cells, your body’s first line of immune system support.3
Luckily, packing up and moving to your own private island isn’t the only way to buffer your body against the deleterious effects of daily stress. Strengthening your natural resistance can help you to achieve much of the same effects—and you only need to supplement with the right combination of nutrients to do it.
The first step, of course, is assessing the health of your adrenal glands, which are responsible for regulating your body’s innate stress response through the release of key “fight-or-flight” hormones, such as cortisol. A simple salivary hormone test—such as CP’s Adrenal Function Panel—is one easy way to confirm common stress-boosting hormone imbalances from the comfort of your own home.
Ultimately, balanced cortisol levels can make all the difference in your efforts to experience enhanced relaxation and a sense of calm in the midst of day-to-day chaos. That’s why CP designed their formula Cortisol Control—featuring a powerful combination of extracts from Magnolia officinalis bark and Phellodendron amurense bark, known as Relora®. Human studies have shown that this patented pairing not only promotes normal cortisol levels, but can also support enhanced mood and help to curb nervous tension.4-5
This unique stress-busting formula also includes a patented form of Ashwagandha called Sensoril®—standardized to deliver 8 percent with anolides, the active constituent of this ancient calming botanical. Ashwagandha is also a well-known “adaptogen”—a class of botanicals with the documented ability to strengthen your system against stress, helping to keep your mind calm and your body healthy. Research shows that this herb, as well as Eleutherococcus senticosus and Schisandra chinensis, can offer critical support in both stress recovery and the maintenance of normal cortisol levels—while the latter two also have been shown to enhance measures of endurance, mental performance, and attention in fatigued patients.6-7
Similarly, studies indicate that Aralia manchurica may be able to combat occasional fatigue and mild weakness, while boosting fat metabolism—along with Rhaponticum carthamoides and Rhodiola rosea, which offer additional support for endurance, mood, immune health and nervous system health.8-14 You’ll find extracts from all of these natural botanicals featured in two adaptogenic formulas, AdaptaPhase® I and II, available now from Complementary Prescriptions®.
References:
1. Nation DA, Hong S, Jak AJ, Delano-Wood L, Mills PJ, Bondi MW, Dimsdale JE. Stress, exercise, and Alzheimer’s disease: A neurovascular pathway. Med Hypotheses. 2011 Jun;76(6):847-54.
2. Tziallas D, Kostapanos MS, Skapinakis P, Milionis HJ, Athanasiou T, S Elisaf M, Mavreas V. The association between Type D personality and the metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study in a University-based outpatient lipid clinic. BMC Res Notes. 2011 Apr 5;4:105.
3. Boscolo P, Di Gioacchino M, Reale M, Muraro R, Di Giampaolo L. Work stress and innate immune response. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2011 Jan-Mar;24(1 Suppl):51S-54S.
4. LaValle J, Hawkins E. Relora—The Natural Breakthrough to Losing Stress-Related Fat and Wrinkles. North Bergen, NJ: Basic Health Publications; 2003:16.
5. Bhattacharya S, et al. Anti-stress activity of sitoindosides VII and VIII, new acylsterylglucosides from Withania somnifera. Phytother Res.1987;1:32-37.
6. Kelly GS. Nutritional and botanical interventions to assist with the adaptation to stress. Altern Med Rev. 1999 Aug;4(4):249-65.
7. Panossian A, Wikman G. Evidence-based efficacy of adaptogens in fatigue, and molecular mechanisms related to their stress-protective activity. Curr Clin Pharmacol. 2009 Sep;4(3):198-219.
8. Martinez B, Staba EJ. The physiological effects of Aralia, Panax and Eleutherococcus on exercised rats. Jpn J Pharmacol. 1984;35(2):79-85.
9. Abidov MT, Grachev SV, Klimenov AL, Kalyuzhin OV. The effects of Aralox, a phytomedicine, consisting of standardized extracts of Aralia mandshurica (Araliaceae) and Engelhardtia chrysolepis (Juglandaceae), on body fat loss, lipolytic activity and adipocytes perilipins, in obese, non-diabetic women on a restricted calorie diet is investigated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Remedium Medical Journal, Russian Academy of Sciences. 2005:35-47.
10. Petkov V, Roussinov K, Todorov S, Lazarova M, Yonkov D, Draganova S. Pharmacological investigations on Rhaponticum carthamoides. Planta Medica. 1988;50(3):205-209.
11. Gerasyuta MA, Koval TN, “The experience of prolonged use of Leuzea carthamoids (Rhapontiucm carthamoides) extract for the purpose of preservation and increase of mental and physical work capacities” IN: New data on Eleutherococcus and other adaptogens: proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Eleutherococcus (Hamburg, 1980). Vladivostok: Far East Scientific Center of the Academy of Science of the USSR, 1982;135.
12. Darbinyan V, Kteyan A, Panossian A, Gabrielian E, Wikman G, Wagner H. Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue—a double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract SHR-5 with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty. Phytomedicine. 2000;7(5):365-71.
13. Spasov AA, Wikman GK, Mandrikov VB, Mironova IA, Neumoin VV. A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of the stimulating and adaptogenic effect of Rhodiola rosea SHR-5 extract on the fatigue of students caused by stress during an examination period with a repeated low-dose regimen. Phytomedicine. 2000;7(2):85-9.
14. Spasov AA, Mandrikov VB, Mironova IA. The effect of the preparation rodiosin on the psychophysiological and physical adaptation of students to an academic load. Eksp Klin Farmakol. 2000;63(1):76-8.
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