Have you heard of ayurvedic medicine and adaptogens and wondered what these are?
Do you wonder why most multivitamin supplements are not good enough?
Hi, Dr.Yu here again.
You may have used multivitamin supplements in the past
when you have felt like you needed a boost or when you were recovering from
illness. Most people, though, will simply choose a multivitamin without really
looking carefully at the ingredients. After all you probably assume that all of these
supplements are pretty much the same and would have the same impact on your
body, so it would make no difference what you choose to buy.
The reality, though, is that what I have discovered is that multivitamins alone are
usually not enough to help you stay healthy, and you really would be wise to look
for additional ingredients in such a supplement.
Finding the best supplement takes some knowledge though of what can best
work to help you stay healthy and what substances can help you when you are ill.
This brings us to Ayurvedic medicine and adaptogens. You may not have heard of
these topics before but it is worth learning about what these are and how they can
help you stay healthy and even treat some of the health issues you may be
struggling with.
Ayurvedic medicine is actually a traditional approach to health and healing that
has been used in India since ancient times. It uses a holistic approach that
focuses on the mind, body, and spirit, for treating the body and helping it to heal.
One of the most useful aspects of Ayurvedic medicine is that it uses herbs that
have actual medicinal properties and benefits 1. Some of the herbs even have
multiple benefits and many have excellent antioxidant abilities. You may have
heard the term antioxidant before and not known what this is. In fact, antioxidants
are the types of substances that help ameliorate the damage done to cells by
oxidation reactions and the harmful byproducts that result.
I can tell you that a lot of illness, including cancer, is caused by damage at the cell
level. This means that it can really help if you can protect your cells by choosing a
supplement that includes helpful herbs and those that have antioxidant abilities.
The other fact is that the herbs used in ayurvedic medicine can often also help
your body when you are sick.
Several of these herbs have, in fact, been used in traditional medicine to treat a
variety of ailments. Herbs such as gotu kulu, licorice root, and turmeric, are just a
few natural plants used in ayurvedic medicine that are beneficial to the body. In
addition, Ayurvedic medicine also includes the use of adaptogens2. You are
probably wondering what exactly are adaptogens and how can they help me?
Adaptogens and how they can benefit you
Adaptogens are a category of herbs that help to strengthen the body and help
the body to resist disease. In addition, these adaptogenic substances are
particularly useful in times of stress, which is often what makes us more
vulnerable to illness3,4. Furthermore, research has shown that many adaptogens
help the body regain balance or homeostasis, and they are an important part of
ancient Chinese and Indian medicine. Adaptogenic herbs also often have
antioxidant abilities and help with anxiety, as well as influencing the nervous and
endocrine systems of the body4.
You have probably heard of some of these substances before but not realized that
they were actually classified as adaptogens. A popular adaptogen that many
people have heard of is Panax ginseng5,6,
Adaptogens, including ginseng, can help you by strengthening the immune
system. Often adaptogens also help to reduce the harmful impacts of
inflammation and stress on the cells of your body. These are all important
because they are involved in many health conditions that people suffer from.
After all, who hasn’t had to deal with a lot of stress? Often our immune system
also gets weakened as we cope with the many stresses and problems of the
modern world, so choosing a supplement that contains adaptogenic herbs is a
smart move since it can only benefit you and help you with the stresses of
everyday life.
In summary, I believe that supplements that combine knowledge of Ayurvedic
medicine and adaptogens can be very beneficial for people regardless of what
medical problems they have. It is important to realize that even if you are healthy,
you can gain a lot of protection by taking supplements that contain herbs since
many adaptogenic herbs actually help the body to resist the harmful effects of
stress and help by providing antioxidant protection to the cells.
In my next article I will talk more about adaptogenic substances including the top
10 adaptogens that you can look for that can help you to stay healthy even when
you are very stressed out.
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