Let's face it - having enough energy to get through the day is often an issue for many people. Most of us can't get the day started without a strong coffee (or two). A quick glance at the current diabetes epidemic also makes it obvious that a significant number of people are using sugar as their go to for an energy upswing during the day to keep going. At the other end of the daily equation, it's not unusual for many people to need a glass of wine to unwind before going to sleep. This cocktail of ups and downs wreaks havoc on your nervous system, as well as negatively impacting your immune system. However, there is another way to improve your energy and stamina levels, whilst at the same time reducing your stress levels.
Adaptogens
Enter - Adaptogens. For those of you who haven't heard of Adaptogens before, to put it simply: Adaptogens help you adapt. To qualify as an Adaptogen, an herb must be completely safe and non-toxic, it must have broad uses for health, and it must specifically reduce stress, both mental and physical.
Adaptogenic herbs:
- Result in stabilisation of physiological processes and the promotion of homeostasis.
- Balance the endocrine and hormonal systems.
- Result in a decreased cellular sensitivity to stress.
Adaptogens greatly improve your body's ability to adapt to stress, whether it's a hectic schedule, heat or cold, noise, high altitudes or any number of other stressors.
Improve Stamina, Reduce Stress
This miraculous class of herbs also impart strength, energy, stamina, endurance, and they improve mental clarity. That, along with their ability to reduce stress through balancing cortisol levels, make Adaptogens a wise lifestyle choice. Cortisol is also known as the aging hormone. When your cortisol levels get too high, it puts you into a 'fight or flight' response, which stimulates your sympathetic nervous system and your adrenal glands. When this occurs, there is a decrease in your digestive secretions and an increase in blood pressure. Over time, this puts your body in a state of constant stress, which negatively impacts your immune system and can lead to burnt out adrenal glands, issues with your digestive tract and ultimately cause you to age more rapidly.
Rather than putting yourself on the roller coaster of using caffeine, sugar and alcohol to help you cope with the pressures of daily life, which can mess up your cortisol levels even more, why not consider using Adaptogens to help you increase your stamina and reduce stress.
Perform at Your Best
In order to perform at your best, manage teams well, or be highly collaborative and agile in the workplace, riding the highs and lows of the caffeine, sugar and alcohol roller-coaster isn't the most beneficial way to do it. To give your bodies and minds the best possible opportunity to perform at optimal levels, making intelligent choices about what you put into your bodies will become key. The question of how to behave and what lifestyle choices to make to ensure you are able to be at your best will become a crucial point of differentiation in the not too distant future. If you want to give yourself the best possible chance of being able to cope well and move through life without the limiting factors of stress, illness and disease, then consider health enhancing natural alternatives like Adaptogens.
Wellness At Work (And In Life)
Each month we will be focusing on a simple Wellness habit that you can easily incorporate into your lifestyle to improve your overall wellbeing and reduce your stress levels. This month, we're focusing on using beneficial herbs to improve your quality of life and cope with daily challenges. If you would like to know more about which herbs are Adaptogens and how to incorporate them into your lifestyle, download our Wellness habit sheet for March.
