The Best Adaptogens for a Natural Energy Boost

How to Naturally Increase Your Energy with Adaptogens

No, “lethargic” and “sluggish” isn’t your normal.

When you finally crash through the door after a fun day out with the kids — or an average Monday at the office — it’s normal to feel wiped out. “Pooped” in the common tongue. That’s totally normal, right?

Well, maybe not. But…

Everybody feels like curling up in a ball on the floor, rather than tackling the dishes at the end of the day, obviously.

Um, actually no. But surely…

All normal people feel unable to muster up the energy to face the day ahead of them, even when they haven’t gotten out of bed yet… Right, guys?

Okay, we have to stop this here: NO, THAT IS NOT NORMAL. At least, it’s not supposed to be…

We’re not saying the situations above are not normal. In fact, they are far too normal these days. We’ve all been there. Heck, some of us have houses with beautifully manicured lawns there. What we’re saying is that those feelings are not normal for your body.

Your body has systems designed to help you handle the day ahead of you. So if your body doesn’t seem up to the task, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with everyone’s favorite least-favorite feeling:

Fatigue.

What is fatigue?

A quick Google search will tell you that fatigue is “extreme tiredness, typically resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness.” And that’s — well — dead on.

Fatigue is what makes those 5 plates seem like a mountain of dishware to rival all mountains of dishware. Fatigue is what makes a seemingly normal day feel like a heavyweight bout and getting out of bed like Frodo’s journey to Mordor.

But what is fatigue biologically? Ah, now we’re getting somewhere…

At a basic level, fatigue comes from the body trying to counter balance external stress so often and so strongly that it wipes itself out. When that happens, your body loses the safeguard of that system for coping with stress, and you feel tired. 

That system is called the “Adaptive Response” system, because it helps your body adapt to external stress in a healthy way.

And stress comes in many different forms:

• Running, fighting, lifting weights? Physical stress.

• Studying, reading, testing? Mental stress.

• Arguing, disciplining, losing? Emotional stress.

And when your Adaptive Response system faces a three-fronted war day after day, it gets worn down (can you blame it?), and you find yourself with low energy ALL THE TIME. In other words – fatigued…

With fatigue comes a host of unpleasant symptoms and situations, a few of which could be:

• Low energy

• Sleepiness

• Apathy (not caring about things)

• Blurry vision

• Muscle aches

• Indecisiveness

• Irritability

• Weak immune system

• Slow reaction time

But that sounds pretty clinical. Let’s zoom in for a moment:

• Not enjoying time with your children when you come home from work

• Spending all weekend in bed

• Not focusing at work because you just don’t care

• Feeling overwhelmed trying to prioritize household tasks

• Snapping at your kids for doing normal kid stuff

• The inability to kick that cold you got last month

Are we starting to hit home now? Yeah, the effects of fatigue are both terrible and common…

But here’s the thing:

Your body has natural ways of fighting fatigue and putting it in its place.

How Adaptogens Naturally Boost Energy

Remember that adaptive response system we talked about? The one that wages war against stress so you don’t get fatigued, but then gets fatigued itself trying to fight the stress, which ends up with you getting fatigued? Remember that?

So it’s basically the middle man between you and fatigue.

Now: What if you could strengthen that system, so that it was able to more effectively combat stress for you? If you could do that, your body would be able to achieve what the science-y types call “homeostasis.”

Basically: harmony in your body. Your body working the way it was meant to work. Stressors come in. Adaptive response system cancels them out. You remain fresh and ready for the next challenge.

Bingo. Bango. And guess what?

That’s what adaptogens do.

Adaptogens (short for “adaptogenic herbs”) are healthy energy booster plants that have proven through rigorous scientific study to have beneficial effects on the performance of your adaptive response system, which is made up of your vegetative (unconscious) nervous system, adrenal glands, and pituitary gland.

Essentially: the parts of your body that govern stress-handling responsibilities.

4 Best Adaptogens for Energy

What a great question! Many adaptogens have similar effects, but it’s the subtle differences in how they go about it that are key to understanding why a well-balanced mix is often the best solution.

These are the ones that work best for giving you a natural energy boost:

• Golden Root: Science-y name: Rhodiola rosea. Our name: The Stamina Booster. This herb is the key to helping your adaptive response system fight it out over the long haul.

• Maral Root: Science-y name: Leuzea carthamoides. Our name: The Muscle Maker. This herb boosts anabolic activity (the ability to break complex substances into smaller ones), which is crucial to muscle growth.

• Siberian Ginseng: Science-y name: Eleutherococcus senticosus. Our name: The Recovery Stimulator. This plucky little adaptogen is what helps you recover the energy you need to pop out of bed after a stressful yesterday.

• Limonnik: Science-y name: Schisandra chinesis. Our name: The Reflex Manager. This lemony herb focuses on your automatic nervous system, which keep your instincts alert and your reflexes sharp.

Put together and taken prophylactically (i.e. routinely, not just when you feel symptoms), these adaptogenic herbs can help rebuild a depleted adaptive response system, so you can live a life of natural energy and vigor.

With all that increased energy just think of what you could do!

Don’t let lethargy define you.

No more, “I’m always tired.” No more, “I have no energy.” No more “wiped,” “zonked,” “pooped,” or “lazy.”

Adaptogens can help your adaptive response system reach and maintain peak stress-busting form, keep your body running in homeostasis-harmony mode, and relegate fatigue to the 5¢ bin in your life’s metaphorical yard sale.

And that’s a great feeling.