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Rhodiola Rosea: The Ultimate Power Herb

From Terry: This week, I am very pleased to have author and herbal expert Chris Kilham report on the amazing properties of the adaptogenic herb, rhodiola. I have known Chris for many years, and respect him as a leading authority in plant medicines. Whether he is traveling in the wilds of northern China, as he did to study this herb, or the deserts of Mongolia, or the jungles of the Amazon, Chris develops deep connections to the local communities. He advocates for fair trade and social justice in every region he explores for new natural medicines. CNN called him “The Indiana Jones of Natural Medicine” and I think that is a fair description. Chris has been featured in the New York Times, on MSNBC, and most recently in many segments on the healing powers of herbs with Dr. Manny Alvarez, on FOX News. Thank you, Chris, for your insights into one of my personal favorites—rhodiola.

 

Almost every herbalist has a favorite medicinal plant. Mine is unquestionably Rhodiola rosea. That plant has reached out to me, and I have not only consumed it in various forms and in a broad number of potions, but have also studied its science and

previously investigated the plant in Siberia. I have a strong affinity for Rhodiola rosea, and believe that use of standardized extracts of Rhodiola rosea could radically enhance people’s mental and physical health, and prevent many individuals from pursuing the use of potentially harmful psychiatric drugs.

Recently I had the opportunity to observe the harvesting and trading of wild Rhodiola rosea in the Tian Shan mountain range of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. My traveling partners included two medicinal plant scientists and two videographers. Disparate others joined us on various stages of our journey. To reach our destination, we flew from Shanghai along China’s southeast, to the country’s extreme far northwest, into the city of Urumqui, which lies on the ancient Asian trading route, The Silk Road. From this post west of Mongolia, we rode further west still for a couple of days, along the remote Borohora Shan mountain range, to the small, dusty city of Yining, a quaint outpost of Turkish-descendent Uigur culture near the border of Kazakhstan. At an outdoor barbeque we sat drinking the regional fermented wheat beverage kvaas, and eating thick flat bread with heavy swipes of local butter.

 

In Yining we connected with a couple of herbal traders who drove us for several hours out into the beginnings of the vast Tian Shan range, a sprawling mountain region with snow-capped peaks, unexplored verdant valleys, and a treasure-trove of medicinal plants, including Rhodiola rosea.

We passed vast herds of sheep, nomadic herders with camels, Yurts on hillsides, picnics, and children playing. For a long time we traveled a rutted and tortuous construction road for a natural gas pipeline whose source originates at about 10,000 feet altitude in the Tian Shan. From the gas pipeline construction camp, we hiked far up onto precariously steep mountainsides. There, scattered along the steep slopes we came upon several clusters of harvesters digging wild Rhodiola rosearoot. We had come a long way to see this for ourselves. To understand a medicinal plant fully, I like to see as many parts of its chain of trade as possible.

 

Visiting harvesters of Rhodiola rosea root in the Tian Shan range was a dream come true. It also afforded me the chance to see one of the most productive areas of wild Rhodiola harvesting at present. I discovered to my surprise that in that area Rhodiola rosea is super-abundant. Every few inches you find another plant. There may be millions of tons of Rhodiola roseain the Tian Shan range, but most of it remains inaccessible. Thus nature has for now put limits on the amount of wild Rhodiola that can be harvested in that region.

 

I recall how hunters I met in Siberia prepared Rhodiola. They stuffed fresh root into a bottle, filled the bottle with vodka, and waited a couple of weeks until the vodka was red. Then they would drink a small shot every day. This simple method of water and alcohol extraction is highly effective. Several of the Altay hunters with whom I spoke said that Rhodiola made their minds very strong. This claim holds up nicely under scientific scrutiny. In the brain, Rhodiola extract helps to improve various parameters of brain function including attention, memory, thought formation, calculating, evaluating, planning, and overall learning. When you take Rhodiola rosea, you experience this quickening of mental functions.

 

After spending several hours with harvesters, our group traveled a couple of hours down onto the plains north of the Tian Shan, to meet with buyers of Rhodiola. The same harvesters we saw in the mountains would eventually arrive on motorcycles with sacks of Rhodiola roots strapped to the back seats. A good digger could bring down as much as 50 kilos of fresh root in a day. I dubbed these men the “Rhodiola Cowboys,” for the way they rode in to make a deal. Over the course of a couple of hours, I witnessed and photographed China’s most remote Rhodiola trade, while thoroughly enjoying the company of the various people I met. Like so many medicinal plants in trade, Rhodiola plays an important role in local and regional economies. In the case of the harvesters in the Tian Shan region, they told me that they could earn a year’s living in two months of very hard harvesting. For only two months, the snow is receded enough for the harvesters to work. Ten months of the year, the area is blanketed in snow. In that area, Rhodiola provides many people with income.

 

Valued highly since the days of the first Chinese emperor, Rhodiola roseais a first-rate adaptogen. By definition, this means that Rhodiola demonstrates extraordinary safety, offers broad and diverse benefits to body and mind, and specifically helps the user to adapt better to any and all forms of physical and mental stress.  This is one of the hallmark experiences of taking Rhodiola. When you do, you feel less stress. Things don’t bother you as much. You possess greater resources to move through challenging times. It is quite remarkable. To meet the demands and pressures of life in today’s fast-paced, high stress world, Rhodiola appears ideal. In human studies using extracts of the root, Rhodiola fights fatigue, combats stress, and possesses both antioxidant and anticancer properties. Rhodiola protects body and mind against oxygen deprivation, enhances overall immune function, and promotes healthy sexual function in men and women. According to published science, these activities are largely attributed to a group of pharmacologically active compounds in the root called rosavins. I personally have used Rhodiola almost every day for many years, and I still marvel at how good the plant makes me feel.

 

Rhodiola also imparts real physical power. In various human studies, Rhodiola improved strength, endurance, stamina, physical work capacity, recovery time from exertion, motor coordination, and cardiovascular measurements. Rhodiola extract decreases fatigue and relieves exhaustion. This makes Rhodiola extract a superior sports performance aid. Extract of the root also helped users to reduce work-related errors. As if the benefits described so far were insufficient, Rhodiola also improves aspects of sexual health. In one study of women with amenorrhea (lack of normal menstrual cycles), Rhodola helped a majority of women to regain proper healthy menstrual regularity. In another study of 35 middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction, 25 improved significantly after taking an extract of Rhodiola. You don’t have to travel to the ends of the earth to enjoy the benefits of Rhodiola rosea. This is one of the remarkable things about the times in which we live. The harvesters I met in a remote corner of Asia thrive because people in other parts of the world are using Rhodiola rosea for health and wellness. Thanks to its rich benefits and ever-expanding body of glowing science, Rhodiola continues to increase in popularity for all the right reasons. The majority of human studies show the best results when Rhodiola rosea extract is taken between 200 – 600 milligrams daily, standardized to approximately 2% rosavin, or a total of 5% of the total group of rosavins. Rhodiola rosea offers a dynamic health experience for the herbal user. If you take it, you will feel it. Rhodiola is in my estimation the broadest, most remarkable feel-good botanical in nature’s pharmacy. This herb has the power to revolutionize people’s experience of their health, and can be an effective gateway botanical. If people use a good quality Rhodiola roseaand experience positive results, they will then feel much greater confidence in trying other herbal remedies.

 

Chris Kilham recommends this formula.
Proprietary Complex Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) Root Extract standardized to contain >5% rosavins (rosavins and salidrosides), Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) Root Extract standardized to contain >0.8% eleuthorosides, Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) KSM-66® standardized to contain 5% withanolides, Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis) Extract standardized to contain >9% schisandrins	750 mg

Some Further References and Reading on Rhodiola rosea

1. Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA. Rhodiola rosea is a valuable medicinal plant (Golden Root). Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University Press; 1987.
2. Darbinyan V, Kteyan A, Panossian A, Gabrielian E, Wikman G, Wagner H. Rhodiola roseain stress induced fatigue: a double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract SHR-5 with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty. Phytomedicine2000;7(5):365-71.
3. Saratikov AS. Golden Root (Rhodiola rosea). Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University Press; 1974.
4. Spasov AA, Wikman GK, Mandrikov VB, Mironova IA, Neumoin VV. A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of the stimulating and adaptogenic effect of Rhodiola roseaSHR-5 extract on the fatigue of students caused by stress during an examination period with a repeated low-dose regimen. Phytomedicine2000;7(2):85-9.
5. Furmanowa M, Oledzka H, Michalska M, Sokolnicka I, Radomska D. Chapter XXIII Rhodiola roseaL. (Roseroot): In vitroregeneration and the biological activity of roots. Vol. 33. In: Bajaj YPS, editor. Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry. Vol. 33. Medicinal and aromatic plants.VIII. Berlin and Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag; 1995. p. 412-26.
6. Spasov AA, Wikman GK, Mandrikov VB, Mironova IA, Neumoin Marina TF, Alekseeva LP. Effect of Rhodiola roseaextract on electroencephalograms in rabbit. In. Saratikov AS, editor. Stimulants of the Central Nervous System. Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University Press; 1968. p. 22-6.
7. Marina TF. Effect of Rhodiola roseaextract on bioelectrical activity of the cerebral cortex isolated to a different extent from the brain. In. Saratikov AS, editor. Stimulants of the Central Nervous System. Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University Press; 1968. p. 27-31.
8. Brekhman II, Dardymov IV. New substances of plant origin which increase non-specific resistance. Ann Rev Pharmacol 1968;(9):419-30.
9. Zatova MI, Krilov GV, Saratikov AS. Golden root: new stimulative and adaptogenic drug. Proceedings of Siberian Academy of Sciences.Biological and Medical Sciences. 1965;2:111-9.
10. Saratikov AS. Screening for natural central nervous system stimulants. In: Saratikov AS, editor. Stimulants of the Central Nervous System. Vol. 1. Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University Press; 1966 p. 3- 23.
11. Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA. Chapter III: Stimulative properties of Rhodiola rosea. In: Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA, editors. Rhodiola rosea is a valuable medicinal plant (Golden Root). Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University; 1987. p. 69-90.Onkol 1992;38(10):1217-22. 90.
12. Panossian A, Wikman G, Wagner H. Plant adaptogens. III. Earlier and more recent aspects and concepts on their mode of action. Phytomedicine1999;6(4):287-300.
13. Salnik BU. Effect of several stimulators on central nervous system energy metabolism during muscular workload [dissertation]. Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State Medical Institute; 1970.
14. Adamchuk LB. Effects of Rhodiola on the process of energetic recovery of rat under intense muscular workload [dissertation]. Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State Medical Institute; 1969.
15. Danbueva EA. Effect of stimulators of the central nervous system on lipid metabolism at different muscular workloads [dissertation]. Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State Medical Institute; 1968
16. Revina TA. Effect of stimulators of the central nervous system on carbohydrate and high energy phosphorylated compound metabolism in the brain during intense muscular workload [dissertation] Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State Medical Institute; 1969.
17. Gerasimova HD. Effect of Rhodiola roseaextract on ovarian functional activity. Proc of Scientific Conference on Endocrinology and Gynecology. Sverdlovsk, Russia. 1970 Sept 15-16. Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. p. 46-8.
18. Saratikov AS, Kras- nov EA. Chapter VI: The influence of Rhodiolaon endocrine glands and the liver. In: Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA, editors. Rhodiola rosea is a valuable medicinal plant (Golden Root). Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University; 1987. p. 180-93.
19. Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA. Chapter VIII: Clinical studies of Rhodiola. In: Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA, editors. Rhodiola rosea is a valuable medicinal plant (Golden Root). Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University Press; 1987
20. Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA. Chapter III: Stimulative properties of Rhodiola rosea. In: Saratikov AS, Krasnov EA, editors. Rhodiola rosea is a valuable medicinal plant (Golden Root). Tomsk, Russia: Tomsk State University; 1987. p. 69-90.

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