Rhodiola Rosea, adaptogen for a healthy balance

Rhodiola, a plant genus in the Crassulaceae family, boasts over 130 types. One of the most commonly used and studied is Rhodiola rosea, also known as Sedum roseum, rozewortel, arctic root, or golden root. This succulent, growing up to 70 cm tall with yellow flowers, thrives in subarctic areas in the northern hemisphere like Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Siberia, Tibet, Mongolia, China, and Central Europe, at heights of 1000 to 5000 meters above sea level. The parts of the plant used for making rhodiola extract are the fresh rootstock and roots, which have a rosy fragrance when cut but a bitter taste.

People have been using Rhodiola rosea as a herbal medicine for over 2000 years. In 77 AD, the Greek doctor Dioscorides talked about the herb’s medicinal uses in the Materia Medica, the first medicine reference work in the Western world. Traditional medicine in places like Scandinavia, the former Soviet Union, Tibet, and China value Rhodiola rosea for its ability to boost physical and mental health, promote energy and resilience, support recovery from illness, and combat conditions like stress-related fatigue, headaches, depression, anxiety, irritability, infertility, impotence, anemia, sleep problems, stomach issues, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and infections. It’s known as an adaptogen, which means it can help prevent and treat stress-induced and age-related chronic conditions.

As an adaptogen, rhodiola meets the following criteria: it has broad, non-specific health-promoting effects and increases resistance to mental, physical, chemical, and biological stressors; it has a normalizing influence, regardless of the nature of the pathological condition; and it’s harmless and doesn’t affect normal body functions more than necessary.

Scientists in Scandinavia and the former Soviet Union have been studying Rhodiola rosea’s health effects for over 50 years. However, these studies are often difficult to access because they’re not published in English and many don’t meet quality standards. The plant’s growing popularity in Western Europe and the United States has led to many English articles on rhodiola over the last 15 years.

The European Medicines Agency concluded in a 2011 report that (standardized) rhodiola extract is safe and, based on traditional uses, can be used for temporary relief of stress symptoms like fatigue, exhaustion, feelings of weakness, and mood disorders.

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