Rhodiola rapidly relieves stress

Posted on Mon, 30 Jan 12

Stressed out and need a natural pick me up? A recent study found that the herbal medicine Rhodiola rosea may help relieve stress symptoms within as little as three days.

To see if Rhodiola could help relieve stress around 100 people with life-stress symptoms took 200 mg twice daily for 4 weeks (1). Within just 3 days there was marked improvement which continued to improve over the 4 week period.

“Rhodiola extract at a dose of 200 mg twice daily for 4 weeks is safe and effective in improving life-stress symptoms to a clinically relevant degree” concluded the study investigators.

Previous human clinical studies have suggested Rhodiola may help relive moderate depression, anxiety and stress related fatigue or burnout (2-4).

References:

1.  Edwards D, Heufelder A, Zimmermann A. Therapeutic Effects and Safety of Rhodiola rosea Extract WS® 1375 in Subjects with Life-stress Symptoms – Results of an Open-label Study. Phytother Res. 2012 Jan 6. doi: 10.1002/ptr.3712. [Epub ahead of print]

2.  Darbinyan V, Aslanyan G, Amroyan E, Gabrielyan E, Malmström C, Panossian A.Clinical trial of Rhodiola rosea L. extract SHR-5 in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Nord J Psychiatry. 2007;61(5):343-8. Erratum in: Nord J Psychiatry. 2007;61(6):503. PubMed PMID: 17990195.

3.  Bystritsky A, Kerwin L, Feusner JD. A pilot study of Rhodiola rosea (Rhodax)for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Mar;14(2):175-80. PubMed PMID: 18307390.

4.  Olsson EM, von Schéele B, Panossian AG. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of the standardised extract shr-5 of the roots of Rhodiola rosea in the treatment of subjects with stress-related fatigue. Planta Med. 2009 Feb;75(2):105-12. Epub 2008 Nov 18. PubMed PMID: 19016404.