Adaptogens increase the body's resistance to physical and psychological stress and its endurance. Animal studies have shown that plant adaptogenic substances can stimulate the body to produce a certain protein, which stimulates the body's defense response during stress and helps restore balance after stress.

What are adaptogens?

Adaptogens are plant substances that increase non-specific resistance to physical, biological, chemical and mental stress, as well as concentration, performance and endurance when the body is already tired. The mechanism of action of adaptogens is partly related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is related to the reaction to stress (it affects the functioning of the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, digestive and hormonal systems) .

Adaptogens are pharmacologically active compounds or plant extracts from various classes of plants and fungi. The consumption of adaptogens is associated not only with a better ability of the body to adapt to stressful conditions and maintain/normalize metabolic functions, but also with better mental and physical performance.

There are two main classes of adaptogens. The first class includes plant and fungal adaptogens, while the second includes synthetic adaptogens (actoprotectors).

Plant adaptogens have been used for centuries, but attempts to scientifically explain the mechanism of their action on the human body began relatively recently. Research is still needed to confirm and expand the knowledge gathered so far about adaptogens, but it is already known that they have promising potential for wider applications in the future.

Plant adaptogens have a rich phytochemical composition. Some of the most important phytochemicals with adaptogenic properties are:

triterpenoid saponins,
phytosterols and ecdysone,
lignans,
alkaloids,
flavonoids,
vitamins.

Adaptogens for body endurance and stress

The effect of adaptogens in physically and emotionally demanding situations was tested on mice. The animals were given a constant combination of three natural extracts from the plants Eleutherococcus senticocus, Schisandra chinensis and Rhodiola rosea, which contained compounds such as eleutherosides, schisandrins, salidroside, tyrosol for 7 days. The animals were divided into groups and the effectiveness of 3 different doses of the preparation was checked (30, 90 and 180 mg/kg body weight).

After a week, they were subjected to a forced swim test until exhaustion. Mice that received adaptogens showed significantly (up to 7-fold, depending on the dose) greater endurance. By studying animals, scientists concluded that adaptogens increased the body's defense response to stress .

The serum concentration of a certain protein (Hsp72) was measured, whose function is, among others, increasing tolerance to stress, both emotional and physical, related to overloading the body with effort.

The mechanism of action of adaptogens on stress

According to researchers, one of the mechanisms of action of adaptogens may be the stimulation of the production and release of this protein into the bloodstream, i.e. mediating the response to stress and increasing the body's endurance, among others. by participating in the protein repair process during physical stress.

The Hsp72 protein plays an important role in the removal of stress-deformed or abnormally synthesized proteins from the cell that would otherwise interfere with normal cellular function. That is: this protein is important for maintaining cellular balance and protecting the cell from stressful conditions, and thus increases cell survival in the face of otherwise lethal cellular stress.

The release of this protein into the blood occurs naturally as a result of exposure to stressful factors (physical or psychological). Assuming that the level of this protein is higher thanks to the systematic use of adaptogens, the body's defense response to stress may be more effective, which translates into greater endurance.

Sources:

Oliynyk S et al., The pharmacology of actoprotectors: practical application for improvement of mental and physical performance. Biomol Ther (Seoul), 2012: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762282/
Todorova V et al., Plant Adaptogens—History and Future Perspectives, Nutrients 2021: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/8/2861
Panossian A et al., Adaptogens exert a stress-protective effect by modulation of expression of molecular chaperones. Phytomedicine 2009: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0944711308002250