Look, there’s a good chance you don’t know half the ingredients in a given adaptogen drink\u2014or if you’ve heard the name, you don’t know what each ingredient is supposed to do for you. So a short glossary is in order, among some of the most common ingredients.<\/p>\n
Note, however, that homeopathic adaptogens are not prescription medicine. The science mostly is not in. Folk wisdom, bolstered by a promising study or two, is often the most you’ll get in terms of proof of effectiveness for most ingredients. Here are the most common ingredients you’ll find.<\/p>\n
Functional Mushrooms<\/p>\n
For a full accounting of each type of mushroom, its effects, and the best evidence for the effectiveness of each, check out WIRED’s guide to mushroom supplements.<\/a> But in practice, you’ll see about three types of functional mushrooms in adaptogen and nootropic drinks.<\/p>\n Note that many sources recommend avoiding medicinal mushroom use during pregancy, mostly for sheer lack of data.<\/p>\n Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum<\/a>) Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus<\/a>) Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis<\/a>) Other Common Nootropics<\/p>\n Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera<\/a>) L-Theanine L-Tryptophan Ginseng (Panax ginseng<\/a>) Maca Powder (Lepidium meyenii<\/a>)
A mushroom variety rich in polysaccharides thought to aid calmness and focus, being studfied for possible uses to aid lung function or glucose regulation. Evidence of benefit is slim<\/a>, but ingestion is generally considered safe over spans of multiple months.<\/p>\n
A mushroom widely regarded as a \u201cbrain superfood,\u201d thought to boost production<\/a> of nerve growth factor<\/a> (NGF), a protein that helps maintain and regenerate neurons. Limited evidence suggests lion’s mane improves performance in some tasks, and reduces stress.<\/p>\n
Seen The Last of Us on HBO? Well, that’s cordyceps. It’s a parasitic fungus that infects insects and manipluates their behavior. In the human world, it’s mostly booked a s a performance enhancer for stamina and workout recovery\u2014a notion that’s very tentatively backed by some preliminary research.<\/a><\/p>\n
Ashwagandha is an evergreen shrub long used as a folk remedy for stress, anxiety and improved sleep\u2014uses that seem to be backed up by preliminary research. The most common side effects are gastrointestinal.<\/p>\n
Theanine is an amino acid commonly found in tea. There’s some evidence<\/a> that theanine lowers stress and boosts dopamine and serotonin, and improves both focus and sleep. Side effects are largely undocumented at low doses.<\/p>\n
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that your brain converts to serotonin, with some documented benefits to both mood and sleep<\/a>\u2014present in poultry and a number of other foods. It’s not recommended to take tryptophan if you’re on an SSRI for depression or other conditions.<\/p>\n
A folk remedy since way back, ginseng has been linked<\/a> to health improvements as disparate as anticarcinogenic properties, increased mental performance, and better glucose regulation.<\/p>\n
Maca, also known as Peruvian ginseng, is consideered to be good for improved stamina, erectile function, and the libido\u2014at least in animal studies<\/a>\u2014as well as easing some menopausal symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Look, there’s a good chance you don’t know half the ingredients in a given adaptogen drink\u2014or if you’ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[32832,49,48,10773,84,395,404],"class_list":{"0":"post-266107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-buying-guides","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-food-and-drink","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-nutrition","14":"tag-shopping"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}