Posted by Mistermindmasta on August 2, 2006, at 23:10:27
In reply to Re: Meri-Tuuli Re: Rhodiola, posted by Meri-Tuuli on August 2, 2006, at 3:26:47
> I actually spoke to a herbalist about this, and she seemed to think that herbs don't really wear off. Maybe its not so much the herb wearing off, but maybe the herb accentuates the natural energy you have during the day, and then at night it sort of fades out, as its not supporting the relaxing tired phase at night. If you kinda get what I mean.
Yeah, I know what you mean, but I'm pretty familiar with how my body feels during the day vs. night when I'm not using any herbs/drugs/etc and I don't really have a drop in energy at night. Usually I'm consistant through the day. But rhodiola use really has a drop off.One thing that frustrates me about the natural foods industry is that everything tends to be idealized. This is not to disagree with you at all, but more with your herbalist: any chemicals and compounds in herbs are still "drugs" to the body... to say that herbs don't wear off is non-science, to me. Certainly, herbs that function as antidepressants tend to not "wear off" after a few hours, with an example being St. John's Wort. SJW isn't a stimulant, really, which has been supported by science. It's an antidepressant, whose effects don't exactly wax and wane over the course of a day. But herbs that have a stimulating or anti-anxiety quality, such as valerian or possibly rhodiola, definitely have potential to wear off. Another thing about herbs is that sometimes they have compounds that offset the side effects of the active compound(s)... or they have natural antioxidants that will offset the side effects of the active compounds. Of course, to assume all herbs possess this quality to the fullest extent is non-science. The practice of selling or promoting herbs in a non-scientific way is exactly why the FDA loves to crack down on the alternative industry and its exactly why the alternative industry is constantly being threatened.
Rhodiola is sometimes classified as an adaptogen, and I'd say that's somewhat true. Based purely on my own subjective observations, I would say that's it's 50% herbal stimulant and 50% adaptogen.
poster:Mistermindmasta
thread:671851
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060704/msgs/673154.html