Rhodiola rosea, is one of the most widely used slimming and bodybuilding agent in the industry, because of its alleged ability to improve overall athletic endurance and performance.
So in this post, I will discuss to you the truth about this herb’s potential health benefits especially with regards to its exercise performance boosting claims.
Interested? Read on and learn more about this herbal plant and how it can affect your overall fitness program.
What is Rhodiola Rosea?
Rhodiola rosea is a herbal plant that is long used for treating a number of health diseases and is being used as a medicinal herb.
The main role of this plant is that, it is used as an “adaptogen” which helps your body to adapt to and resist any types of stress including physical, chemical and environmental factors (1).
Known as arctic root or golden root, rhodiola has more than 140 key compounds, two of which are the most potent – rosavin and salidroside.
People use this herb for altitude sickness, heart issues such as irregular heartbeat and clogged arteries, anxiety, cell damage prevention, depression, fatigue, premature ejaculation, cancer, aging, diabetes and of course, improving exercise endurance and performance.
So this herb has a lot of health benefit claims. Lets dive into these claims and see if these truly are reliable reports.
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Rhodiola Rosea Health Benefits
As mentioned above, this herb has many health benefits to offer such as anti-cancer, anti-aging and anti-depression properties.
So let me show you some facts that I gathered online about this amazing herbal plant.
Anti-Stress Properties
As a legit adaptogen agent, rhodiola rosea is a natural aid to help increase your body’s resistance to stress. And experts believe that taking adaptogens like this plant can help you control stressful situations (2).
This study of 101 volunteers that are subjected to high-stress related work, were given 400mg per day of rhodiola rosea supplement for 4 weeks.
Test result showed relevant improvements with regards to stress symptoms, disability, functional impairment and overall therapeutic effect (3).
Anti-Depression Properties
Depression is one of the serious illnesses known to man and rhodiola rosea has been known to help reduce the symptoms of depression for years.
This is due to this plant’s antidepressant properties by regulating neurotransmitters in the brain, and also by inhibiting monoamine oxidases (MAO) (4).
Also, a health study combining panax ginseng, rhodiola rosea and schisandra chinensis, all proven to help reduce the symptoms of depression, erectile dysfunction, pulmonary issues, cancer and fatigue (5).
Enhances Brain Function
We all know that healthy diet, exercise and enough sleep, all leads to a better brain health. Taking some brain supplements may also help elevate your overall mental function.
That’s where rhodiola rosea comes in.
According to this study (6), this herbal plant helps improve learning and memory function from various preclinical evidences and mechanisms.
Another study tested this herb’s efficacy on reducing mental fatigue in 56 physicians who works in night shifts (7). Results showed that rhodiola rosea helped improved mental performance while significantly reducing mental fatigue by at least 20%.
Reduces Symptoms of Chronic Diseases
There are two major chronic diseases that rhodiola rosea has been linked to be beneficial – diabetes and cancer. Sometimes, this plant is also mentioned with regards to reducing risks of heart disease.
First, lets talk about the possibility of this herb as an anti-diabetic agent.
While there are no concrete evidence that rhodiola rosea can indeed be helpful in improving blood sugar control in humans, animal studies suggests otherwise.
According to this study (8), this plant extract helps lower blood sugar levels by increasing the number of glucose transporters in the blood going into the cells.
These types of studies have urged people to recommend this herb as anti-diabetes agent, though there is a viable reason to consider these claims.
How about this plant’s anti-cancer properties?
Cancer is the product of abnormal, mutated cells due to oxidation of cells caused by free radicals. To avoid this, one should have a healthy immunity against oxidation and free radicals, though there are other key factors that needs to be considered also.
What makes this herbal plant an anti-cancer agent is its ability to inhibit cancer cells on various organs such as breast, liver and bladder.
One good example of rhodiola’s effects on cancer cells is this particular study (9), which showed its anti-cancer properties. However, there’s a need for further studies before this herb can be used to help treat cancer.
Will Rhodiola Rosea Help Improve Exercise Performance?
Now lets get back to our topic. Can this herb help improve your overall physical endurance and athletic performance?
It is good to know that there’s a big potential with regards to this herb’s alleged exercise enhancing benefits, which is the reason why most bodybuilding and weight loss supplement manufacturers use rhodiola rosea for their product lines.
For example. This study (10) has shown the positive effects of this herb with regards to exercise endurance. Experts suggest that rhodiola rosea significantly decreased heart rate during standardized warm-up.
In a separate study, a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized study that lasted for four weeks, where participants had to take 200mg of rhodiola rosea per session, has shown dramatic improvements.
Acute rhodiola rosea intake significantly improved total physical capacity, muscle strength, speed of limb movement, reaction time and attention. This means that this herb can improve endurance exercise capacity in young adults (11).
So yes, this herb definitely can help elevate your workout program. So whether you are into high-intensity interval training or just conventional cardio workouts, rhodiola extract is one of the best supplement for you.
Is Rhodiola Rosea Safe?
Based on experts and clinical studies, taking 200mg twice daily for four weeks appears to be safe.
Of course, like other herbal agents, there are reports of mild side effects but generally, rhodiola rosea has no serious adverse effects reported.
Still, it is important that you consult your doctor first before you take any supplements that contain this herbal supplement.
Bottom Line
That’s it guys! I hope I outlined everything you need to know about rhodiola rosea’s exercise performance enhancing effects. And you also learned that this herb is quite beneficial for your overall health.
But you won’t find this herb in your local grocery stores as it is only available through supplements.
Click here to search Amazon for Rhodiola Rosea supplements.
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References:
Rhodiola Rosea: A Herb with Anti-Stress, Anti-Aging, and Immunostimulating Properties for Cancer Chemoprevention
by: Yonghong Li, Victor Pham, Michelle Bui, Liankun Song, Chunli Wu, Arman Walia, Edwart Uchio, Feng Smith-Liu, and Xiaolin Zi
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6208354/
Stress Management and the Role of Rhodiola Rosea: A Review
by: Ion-George Anghelescu, David Edwards, Erich Seifritz, and Siegfried Kasper
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29325481/
Therapeutic Effects and Safety of Rhodiola Rosea Extract WS 1375 in Subjects with Life-Stress Symptoms – Results of an Open-Label Study
by: D Edwards, A Heufelder, and A Zimmermann
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22228617/
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibition by Rhodiola Rosea L. Roots
by: Daphne Van Diermen, Andrew Marston, Juan Bravo, Marianne Reist, Pierre-Alain Carrupt, and Kurt Hostettmann
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19168123/
Panax Ginseng, Rhodiola Rosea and Schisandra Chinensis
by: Shun-Wan Chan
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22039930/
Rhodiola Rosea L. Improves Learning and Memory Function: Preclinical Evidence and Possible Mechanisms
by: Gou-Ping Ma, Qun Zheng, Meng-Bei Xu, Xiao-Li Zhou, Lin Lu, Zuo-Xiao Li, and Guo-Qing Zheng
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6288277/
Rhodiola Rosea in Stress in Induced Fatigue – A Double Blind Cross-Over Study of a Standardized Extract SHR-5 with a Repeated Low-Dose Regimen on the Mental Performance of Healthy Physicians During Night Duty
by:V Darbinyan, A Kteyan, A Panossian, E Gabrielian, G Wikman, and H Wagner
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11081987/
AntiHyperglycemic Action of Rhodiola-Aqeous Extract in Type-1-Like Diabetic Rats
by: Chiang-Shan Niu, Li-Jen Chen, and Ho-Shan Niu
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897963/
Effects of Over-Expression of ANXA10 Gene on Proliferation and Apoptosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line HepG2
by: Xiaohui Liu, Xiaodong Peng, Zhenzhen Hu, Qingmei Zhao, Jian He, Junhe Li, and Xiaojun Zhong
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23073794/
The Effects of an Acute Dose of Rhodiola Rosea on Endurance Exercise Performance
by: Eric E Noreen, James G Buckley, Stephanie L Lewis, Josef Brandauer, and Kristin J Stuempfle
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23443221/
Acute Rhodiola Rosea Intake Can Improve Endurance Exercise Performance
by: Katrien De Bock, Bert O Eijnde, Monique Ramaekers, and Peter Hespel
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15256690/
Image Credits
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhodiola_rosea_140720086571rosenrot.jpg
Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0
https://www.flickr.com/photos/talaakso/12210719875/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/snotch/
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