The Eleuthero benefits may be the reason we now have the term Adaptogen. This first adaptogen is used holistically from it berries to its roots for its energy and immune-boosting properties along with these other health benefits.
What is Eleuthero?
Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus) is a species of small shrub that grows natively in Northeast Asia. Extracts produced from both its berries and roots are used for their health benefits.
Eleuthero, also known as Siberian ginseng, is steeped in tradition and used for its healing properties dating back more than 2,000 years. This herb is native to Japan, northern China, southeastern Russia, South Korea, and North Korea. Many of these cultures have consumed Eleuthero to maintain overall good health and for the elderly to boost their quality of life for years. You may know Eleuthero as a Traditional Chinese Medicine, where it is mixed into wine or combined with other herbs to form a tonic to fight fatigue and boost the immune system.
Eleuthero Benefits
1. Helps You Control Stress and Anxiety
Eleuthero is an adaptogen, and it may have been the first herb to receive the title of an adaptogen. Your body will likely be able to mediate your natural stress responses with Eleuthero. When you supplement with eleuthero you will be supporting adrenal gland function. Your adrenal gland is responsible for cortisol levels and other hormones released when you experience stress. There are numerous studies on eleuthero supplementation that demonstrate lowering the negative response to stress or faster recovery from stress [1, 2, 3].
2. Powerful Energy Booster
You may be considering Eleuthero as an alternative stimulant to caffeine. As a stimulant, eleuthero boosts energy levels and contains compounds known to help overcome exhaustion and prevent its side effects. Though you won’t get the immediate stimulant response you may be accustomed to with caffeine. The energy boost you will likely get from Eleuthero is more consistent with increasing endurance energy [4]. But, energy levels are not all physical, you may feel mentally exhausted long before you feel physically exhausted. For that reason, you may have more of an energy boost from your improved mental capacity than your physical endurance.
3. Improves Your Brain Function and Memory
You may see improve mental functions such as memory and concentration when an Eleuthero benefits. Consequently, you may notice your improved mental capacity through improved recall and memory [5]. Specifically, some people feel a similar mental sharpness when taking Eleuthero as they do with caffeine from coffee. Additionally, People are taking Eleuthero for its neuroprotective properties to combat the effects of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s [5]. You may be suffering from age-related memory impairment, this can be brought on by oxidative stress which adaptogens like Eleuthero can help combat [6]. The antioxidant action of eleuthero could help reduce memory impairments through this mechanism as well.
4. Provides You with Increased Physical Endurance
Like many adaptogens, Eleuthero benefits can enable your body to better control physical stressors. When you increase the ability of muscles to do work and handle intense physical activity you improve your endurance [7]. Additionally, Eleuthero can reduce exercise-induced immunosuppression and exercise-induced serotonin release. Therefore suppressing these chemicals can make exercise less taxing and can reduce the required recovery times [8, 9]. As we discussed above, your mind may fail you before your body does and Eleuthero can reduce the mental and physical fatigue from exercise [2]. Similarly, you may find Eleuthero in workout supplements and that is because athletes have seen increased performance through increased endurance, heart rate, and lower glucose levels in the blood [7]. You may also see improved blood flow that can benefit you with improved endurance and faster recovery time [10].
5. Healthy and Boosted Immune System Support
The faster recovery time you could see as an Eleuthero benefit for exercise can also support your immune system and speed up the healing process. Eleuthero has many benefits that support the immune system. Your immune system may be charged through increased immune cell production [11]. Your immune system is very complex with many functions and Eleuthero benefits many of these functions. Specifically, Eleuthero has antioxidant properties, boosts liver function, and has anti-viral, anti-cancer, and anti-tumor properties.
6. Provides Antioxidant Properties
Part of the immune-boosting properties of Eleuthero benefits is its antioxidant properties. Understandably antioxidants fight free radicals and preserve cellular health. Additionally, your body has increased free radicals during times of oxidative stress, which in turn can increase the likely hood of cell damage. Most importantly several compounds in Eleuthero can bind to and neutralize free radicals, reducing your body’s cellular damage [12].
7. Boosts Liver Functions
Your liver is a key organ for your immune system. Consequently, Eleuthero boosts your immune system by promoting your liver’s natural detoxification process. Likewise, Eleuthero extract can help your liver process harmful toxins including alcohol, sodium barbital, and tetanus toxin [13].
8. Has Anti-Viral Properties
In addition to Eleuthero’s ability to boost your immune system through antioxidant properties and liver functions, eleuthero may also weaken viruses. You may find it interesting that Eleuthero demonstrated that it could inhibit virus-cell replication in cell cultures. More importantly, many people have found Eleuthero to reduce symptoms and recovery time for the common cold and other RNA viruses [14]. The same mechanism in Eleuthero that helps your body fight RNA viruses may also contribute to its anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties.
9. Has Anti-Cancer and Anit-Tumor Properties
You may want to consider taking Eleuthero for its promise in improving cancer outcomes. You may be surprised that Eleuthero can slow the progression of cancer and boost the immune system [15]. Not only could Eleuthero help fight cancerous cells that have already formed but may also help protect against cell mutations such as tumors [16]. Additionally, if you are in a field that may expose you to radiation exposure or you spend the majority of your time outside in the Sun’s radiation you may consider taking Eleuthero. Because Eleuthero has been shown to protect against mutations due to radiation exposure [17]. Equally important that Eleuthero has been studied to fight breast cancer and patients found a boost in their immune system when fighting breast cancer [18].
10. Promotes Healthy Heart and Cardiovascular System
Eleuthero is a stimulant and can raise your blood pressure over time and benefit you if you are suffering from low blood pressure. In fact, many of the benefits you can see from Eleuthero may be contributed to the increased blood flow produced by Eleuthero. Notably, your memory and your immune system benefit from increased blood flow, along with muscle endurance. Especially if you suffer from low blood pressure or are at risk for hypertension you may see benefits from Eleuthero. Additionally, when you think about heart health, you likely think of reducing cholesterol. Eleuthero may also help you cut down your high cholesterol and weight gain from high cholesterol diet [19].
11. Supports Managing the Effects of Diabetes
You may consider taking Eleuthero if you suffer from type 2 diabetes. Eleuthero has been shown to reduce insulin resistance and significantly lower fasting and post-meal blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes [20]. You may see benefits such as improved blood sugar levels, insulin usage, and blood lipid levels [21, 22]. Consequently, all of these benefits reduce the negative effects of diabetes.
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