An article by Agence Science-Presse, The Rumor Detector and the McGill Office for Science and Society
There exist a category of ingredients called “adaptogens” that supposedly reduce stress and damage caused by stress. The Rumor Detector and the Office for Science and Society at McGill University have looked at the whole question.
Facts to Remember:
– Adaptogens are substances that help the body adapt to stress.
– The definition is vague and changing, according to the product.
– Our data basically consists of studies on animals.
Illustration: Laetitia Géraud
The Origin of this Belief
We owe the first “scientific” description of adaptogens to Soviet scientists in the mid-20th century. Basically, these are substances that have a “non-specific activity,” which means that they should help people adapt to a wide variety of causes of stress. An adaptogen should have a “normalizing” influence; that is, it should increase what needs to go up in one person and decrease what needs to go down in another. And finally, an adaptogen should not be harmful.
During the Second World War, the Soviet Union became interested in research on traditional Asian medicines, especially on the woody vines that Nanai hunters, who live in parts of modern China and Russia, use. The vine is called schisandra (Schisandra chinensis). The Nanai used it as a tonic, which is a substance that reinvigorates the mind and the body. So Soviet sub-mariners and pilots were given schisandra to boost their energy or calm them down.
The Soviets spent decades studying schisandra and other adaptogens, conducting over 1,500 studies. But most of these aren’t listed in the major databases we have access to today. Researchers in this field tell us that the quality of these Soviet studies isn’t up to modern standards, and the diagnoses used by these scientists are dubious at best. For example, the word “schizophrenia” is often overused and incorrectly used.
Adaptogens Today
Today the term can be used to describe many plants and mushrooms, as well as food products.
Their defenders argue that there are no side-effects, no negative impact on sleep and no risk of creating an addiction. Some refer to them as a “vaccine that inoculates against minor stress.”
Influencers on social media claim that adaptogens improve memory and sex life, eliminate fatigue, stabilize sugar levels and fight cancer.
Someone looking to fight stress risks having a group of different plants that fall under the general heading of “ginseng” recommended to them. This word seems to have become synonymous with “plant-based tonic.” There is Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) and its cousin in name only, Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), the latter discovered when a cheaper alternative to Chinese ginseng was sought. There is American ginseng, Peruvian ginseng, Malaysian ginseng, and even Indian ginseng known under the name ashwagandha (Withania somnifera). This latter version is a leafy shrub that was recommended by the Indian government to treat COVID-19. It can also cause abortions.
Reishi and cordyceps mushrooms are also said to have adpatogenic properties, as well as green tea, ginger and garlic. So do some synthetic substances like bromantane, which is listed as a stimulant by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The definition of what makes for an adaptogen is vague and changeable, depending on the product we’re talking about. They are supposed to be different from substances that regulate our immune system (immunomodulators) or improve our memory and thinking (nootropes). But several adaptogens has been shown to have immunomodulatory or nootropic properties.
Studies on Adaptogens
Promising data on adaptogens tends to come from experiments carried on lab animals. It’s a necessary first step, but insufficient. Some studies have even resorted to injecting adaptogens directly into an animal’s abdomen.
The very few studies carried out on humans have shown disappointing results. They are rarely randomized, only use people in great health, and don’t specify the dosages tested. A review of studies concludes that adaptogens might help reduce stress and fatigue, but that more complete studies are necessary. Nothing truly demonstrates that adaptogens have the benefits that are claimed. The number of participants in human trials is almost always low, and the periods of treatment and follow-up are short. We lack long-term, correctly documented data.
Last year, a study was published on the effects of adaptogens on long-term COVID. Subjects were given a placebo, or a liquid that contained golden root, schisandra and Siberian ginseng. This liquid was prepared by the Swedish Herbal Institute, who financed the study; the author of the study was the Institute’s director of research and development. So there was an inherent bias.
The study concluded that their liquid “can increase physical performance in long COVID,” But in fact, the results were deceiving. The symptoms of long COVID (fatigue, headaches, breathing difficulties, loss of taste and smell, etc.) significantly diminished over the three-week course of the study… but this was also true for subjects given the placebo!
As Dr. Rashmi Mullur, assistant professor of medicine at UCLA, pointed out when interviewed by Vox in 2018 about adaptogens and the people who sell them: “They can just say it works. They can sell it or they can spend a bunch of money to study it and potentially find that it has no benefit. There’s too much risk.”
This article is an adaptation of an article by Jonathan Jarry published on the McGill Office for Science and Society website.
A link to the original article:
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