rhodiola - Connie

[Guest guest]

Hi Connie

From quick research on this substance, there seems to be very little info on it, for my liking.

I have seen a few clinical studies on it, none absolutely conclusive, but they are promising.

Ive seen claims that it is good for everything from mild depression and fatigue, to sleep disorders, to heavy metel toxicity, and cancer and heart aids.

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Here is what Dr Weil says about it -

'Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), sometimes called Arctic root or golden root, is an adaptogenic herb, meaning that it acts in non-specific ways to increase resistance without disturbing normal biological functions. The herb grows at high altitudes in the arctic areas of Europe and Asia, and its root has been used in traditional medicine in Russia and the Scandinavian countries for centuries. Studies of its medicinal applications have appeared in the scientific literature of Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, the Soviet Union and Iceland. Today in Russia, rhodiola is used as a tonic and remedy for fatigue, poor attention span, and decreased memory; it is also believed to make workers more productive. In Sweden and other Scandinavian countries it is used to increase the capacity for mental work and as a general strengthener.

A 2002 review in Herbalgram, the Journal of the American Botanical Council, reported that over the years, numerous studies of rhodiola in humans and animals have shown that it helps prevent fatigue, stress and the damaging effects of oxygen deprivation. Evidence also suggests that it has an antioxidant effect, enhances immune system function and can increase sexual energy.

A study published in 2007 in the Nordic Journal of Psychiatry showed that patients with mild-to-moderate depression who took a rhodiola extract reported fewer symptoms than those who took a placebo. And a study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that fruit flies that ate a diet supplemented with rhodiola lived an average of 10 percent longer than flies that didn't eat this herb.

I haven't seen any evidence suggesting that rhodiola can protect against breast cancer, and a search of the medical literature turned up no studies on this subject at all. One unpublished animal study at the University of Pittsburgh found that rhodiola root was among several herbs that seemed to exert an estrogenic effect in rats that had their ovaries removed. If this should prove to be the case in humans, rhodiola might promote rather than prevent estrogen-related cancers. But there have been no human studies, and the one in rats wasn't definitive, so the question is still open. More broadly, however, studies in rats have suggested that rhodiola has anticancer properties, but here, again, we have no such evidence from human studies.

I suspect we'll be hearing more about rhodiola in the future. I recently read that farmers in Alberta, Canada are getting government funding to grow and process the root for supplements and functional foods. The farmers hope to capture 25 percent of what they estimate to be an $80 million market in North America'.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400399/Rhodiola-for-What-Ails-You.html

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Click this link for search results:

http://search./search?ei=utf-8 & fr=slv8-tyc7 & p=rhodiola & type=

I would suggest that you take care in using this substance.

Maybe discuss it with your doctors, and see what info they have.

I would advise if you do use it, start with small doses.

Please let us know if you find useful info about it, and if you do use it, how it affects you.

I hope that this info helps you.

love

don in ks

From: connielola <connielola@...>Subject: [ ] rhodiola Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 11:40 AM

i heard in a hep c support group that rhodiola is supposed to be good for increasing one's energy. what's the skinny on this supplement and is it safe?------------------------------------