Hey youtube, this video is gonna be about adaptogenic herbs.
I'm gonna go through a list of different herbs that I've experimented with over the past
few years, and I wanna describe all the different experiences and effects that they had on me.
Before getting into the list I just wanna briefly explain what adaptogenic herbs are.
Adaptogenic herbs get their name from the fact that they will have adaptive effects
on your body based upon the systems that are already occurring in your body, and your individual
balance of different hormones, or compounds or what-have-you.
If you have too much of something going on in your body, an adaptogenic herb may decrease
it, and conversely if you have too little of it going on in your body, an adaptogenic
herb may increase it.
What this means is that these herbs can have wildly different effects on different people,
and which explains the fact that one particular herb, if I take it, I get insomnia, while
my friend, if he takes it, he actually sleeps better than normal.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that the quality and brand of the herb can make
a big difference.
So in other words, it might be that some of these herbs didn't do anything for me, or
work for me, because it was an inferior product.
If you plan on taking any of these herbs yourself, be aware of the fact that it takes several
days for the compounds to accumulate in your body and to produce a noticeable effect in you.
So, let's crack into the list, first off, I'm gonna talk about Gotu Kola.
Gotu Kola is one of my favorite herbs, it has a very noticeable effect on me.
First off, it calms me down, it has a sort of meditative effect.
Also it can improve my skin, I've tried two different brands, and one of them really improved
my skin while the other one didn't seem to have that much of an impact on my skin, but
both of them do seem to improve my skin.
I notice it especially in my facial skin, that it seems more smooth, and that the pores
are smaller.
A very nice effect of Gotu Kola is that it makes you more productive, maybe not necessarily
productive in a stimulating manner, but it just seems easier and more natural to get to work.
Rhodiola Rosea.
This is by far my favorite herb, I just love this herb.
What it does is, it calms you down, just like Gotu Kola, it calms you down, sort of like
a meditative way.
You can handle stress way better, it also has a slight dopaminergic effect, meaning
it increases your drive and motivation to do stuff.
So in a sense it does make you more productive also, like the Gotu Kola.
And one of the nicest effects of Rhodiola is that it makes you happier, I notice this
so much, and I noticed it actually the very first day I took it, that it has this subtle
mood boosting quality, it just elevates your mood a tiny bit.
It's just really nice.
Bacopa.
This is an herb that I took for a while and I didn't really notice anything, until I stopped taking it.
When I stopped taking it, I noticed that my memory recall was quite a bit worse than back
when I used to take it.
So although this herb wasn't too noticeable when I was actually taking it, it might have
actually been doing more than I gave it credit for, and I just wasn't noticing
it because it was mainly impacting my memory and recall.
Ashwagandha.
I tried taking ashwagandha on three different occasions, and this was all with the same
brand.
The first time I took it, I took it for six days and I noticed my sleep becoming worse.
So I stopped taking it.
The next time I took it, I took it for three entire weeks, this time it didn't really mess
with my sleep as much, but I did end up feeling very spacey and having weird trippy thoughts
and feeling like "nothing matters".
The third time I took it, I started developing insomnia once again, and I stopped taking
it after one week.
So basically ashwagandha really didn't work for me.
It might be that the brand was the issue, but it could just be that I personally don't
match with the effects of ashwagandha.
I have a friend who takes ashwagandha and he says that it improves his sleep a lot,
and that it also increases his libido.
Schizandra.
Schizandra is an herb that I took, and it didn't do a single thing for me, but I think
the reason was bad quality, because what I had was white powder in capsules, and when
I tasted the powder itself it tasted like sawdust.
So I'm really doubting whether this was good quality or not.
Actually I think proper schizandra should be bright red, it comes from a red berry,
so it should be red.
And this is actually an herb that I think might be very powerful, unfortunately I haven't
been able to use proper schizandra yet.
Ginkgo Biloba.
I have a hard time noticing effects when I take this, but my girlfriend, when she takes
this, she says it really gives her a mental boost, so it might just be that it doesn't
work for me personally, but it's definitely an herb worth checking out.
Fo-Ti.
Fo-Ti is supposed to be good for your hair, nails and skin.
I took it for two weeks and I didn't notice a single thing.
It might have had a small impact on my skin, but it's really inconclusive so I can't really
tell you if it worked or not.
Cat's Claw.
Cat's claw, similar to Fo-Ti, I didn't notice a single thing from taking this.
Albizia.
Albizia is supposed to have mood boosting effects and relaxation properties, but I didn't
really notice anything from taking it.
I think I was maybe a bit relaxed, but nothing too noticeable and yeah, didn't work for me.
Ginseng.
This is a well known herb, and it might have some slight energy boosting properties, I
didn't notice too much from it.
Hypericum or St. Johns Wort.
This is an herb that I took for two weeks almost, I think I took it for ten days, and
this was very similar to ashwagandha for me.
I started developing worsening and worsening sleep the longer I took it, and I also started
having these weird trippy thoughts, existential thoughts like "nothing matters", I mean, I'm
not in that headspace anymore so it's hard to describe what it was like but it was not
a comfortable experience and it really really did not work out for me.
Some people claim it works for them though, again this is an herb that I have friends
who take it and they say that it boosts their moods, so it might work for you.
Horny Goat Weed.
This is an herb that is supposed improve your libido, hence the name, I actually don't know
if it got that name for that reason, but either way, it's supposed to improve your libido
but for me it personally did nothing at all.
Fenugreek.
Fenugreek is an interesting herb.
This has an effect unlike any other herb I've had, it increased my..
I wouldn't say it increased my libido, although perhaps, but what I specifically noticed it
doing was increasing my perception of attractiveness.
I would find girls and pretty faces to be exceptionally attractive while I took this,
and I find it to be a very interesting effect.
It was actually kind of enjoyable too.
Maca.
Maca is an herb that is supposed to improve your libido, but personally I didn't notice
anything from taking it, although I do know that a lot of people swear by it and it might
actually be way more powerful for women than it is for men.
The one thing I did notice from taking maca is that it seemed to improve my, or not improve,
it seemed to increase my appetite and hunger.
I would actually have some issues with eating too much even.
So yeah, that sums up my list of herbs that I wanted to mention.
Of course these were all the effects that they had on me personally, but remember, adaptogenic
herbs can affect different people in many different ways and if you wanna figure out
what one of these herbs does for you, you just have to try it yourself.
Basically my favorites are Bacopa, Rhodiola and Gotu Kola.
I also liked Fenugreek, and Ginseng and Ginkgo Biloba might be good too, and yeah those are
pretty much the ones that I recommend.
So they're worth trying, and remember you have to take them for a few days before you
start noticing the effects cause the compounds have to accumulate in your body.
So yeah, that was everything I had to say.
Thank you for watching this video, and I hope you enjoyed it.
Goodbye.
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