AdaptaPhase I
and II
From Russia with Love -
Soviet Breakthrough Adaptogen Formulas
This month
VRP introduces two new herbal formulas, AdaptaPhase One Daily Formula and
AdaptaPhase Two Anti-Catabolic Formula. These state-of-the-art anti-stress
formulas were designed by one of the leading experts in adaptogenic herbs,
Soviet Sports scientist and Olympic coach, Ben Tabachnik, Ph.D. To explain
the concept behind these adaptogenic formulas, Ward Dean, M.D., and Jim
English met with Dr. Tabachnik for a wide-ranging interview. This month we
present part one of our interview with Dr. Ben Tabachnik.
WD: Ben, I'd
like to start by reviewing the concept of adaptogens in general — what are
they, who should take them and when should they be taken?
BT:
Adaptogens are nutritional supplement formulas designed to be used by
everyone to provide protection from life's daily stresses. As you know,
stress affects the whole body and is the cause of many illnesses. For
example, we have 27 million depressed people in this country, and 17 million
of them are taking strong anti-depressants on a daily basis. Often, the
depression is the direct result of too many daily life stresses which
overcome a person's ability to deal with them.
Physical
dysfunction can be caused by stress, and adaptogens work by increasing our
body's ability to deal with all kinds of stresses. Adaptogens alter the
levels of adrenaline and cortisol — the "stress hormones," making
it easier for us to cope with stress. By using adaptogenic formulas, stress
does not affect us in such a negative way.
WD: I agree
that stress is a constant problem for all of us, but can you explain why
Russian researchers seem to have committed so many resources to stress
research?
BT: Many
problems — from social problems such as divorce and child abuse, to health
problems— are due to people not being able to adequately cope with stress. In
the fifties, Professor Lazarev wrote about the idea that humans are not
designed to deal with as much stress as many people encounter. He was
concerned with how mankind would deal with increasingly more prolonged and
severe stresses. He anticipated this problem and pioneered the use of adaptogens
to deal with it.
JE: All
organisms face the same challenge — "adapt or die." So if we don't
find a way to adapt to modern stress…
BT: Just like
the animals who failed to adapt, we, too, will disappear. Many wonderful
animals couldn't adapt and they are gone. Now, mankind is facing this same
problem. Russian scientists believe that modern life puts stresses on the
human body that it was never designed to deal with.
Take the
'fight-or-flight' response, for example. This response, also called the
"alarm reaction," evolved to be a mostly physical response to all
kinds of stresses — but mostly physical stresses, such as fighting animals.
For our ancient ancestors this was a very real physical stress, and
consequently 'fight-or-flight' is a very real physical response — it was
fight or run away. But now we don't just face physical stresses.
WD: We're
talking about people under stress at home, in the office, or driving, having
the same physical reactions as their ancestor did when he faced a Sabertooth
tiger—but today, but they've got to sit there and try to relax and deal with
their emotional or time-induced stress.
BT: Yes. We
have the same brains and bodies as did our ancestors from thousands and
thousands of years ago. But unlike our ancestors, we live in a different
environment, full of modern stressors. We are constantly bombarded by
pollution, noises, vibrations and information.
Even when
we're at home we're under stress. We are surrounded by faxes, phones and TV —
we have everything except a good way to relax. We are challenged by emotional
stresses, environmental stresses — all kinds of stresses. But we still have
the same reaction: fight-or-flight. And how does this affect us? Let's say
you are under pressure from your boss to accomplish a task with an impossible
deadline. You become anxious and your body begins to release adrenaline and
other stress hormones. What can you do? You are performing a sedentary task —
there is just no way you can express your stress physically. You have to
smile and try to be polite, even though adrenaline is pumping through your
blood and you're ready to explode. Your body simply has no way to help you
deal with such stress.
And this
stress manifests itself in different ways in different people. Some people
get headaches. Some people crave different foods, some people get upset
stomachs or ulcers, some people become depressed, and others may even have
heart attacks or strokes.
In the real
world people try to cope with this stress through various approaches. Some
people smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol and/or coffee; others turn to
beneficial techniques like exercise or meditation. These are some commonly
used mechanisms for coping with stress or adapting to stress.
WD: How do
adaptogens work?
BT: In
general, adaptogens work at the cellular level to modify our body's reaction
to stress and alter the release of harmful stress hormones in our body. When
we're under stress the body's first response is called the alarm reaction.
This alarm reaction can be harmful to the body because it's actually an
overreaction, resulting in the production of much more adrenaline than is
necessary for coping with stress of a sedentary nature. If this
overproduction is not utilized by physical activity it is very harmful for
us.
And it’s not
just adrenaline that we're concerned with, though that's the major stress
hormone. We have to deal with cortisol which is also produced from our stress
reaction. A little cortisol is necessary, but excess cortisol over long
periods of time is even more damaging to our body than adrenaline. Excess
cortisol causes catabolic processes to break down our cells and destroy our
muscles. Many physical dysfunctions and diseases are due to elevated cortisol
blood levels.
Adaptogens,
first of all, normalize the production of hormones by the body. Under stress,
adrenaline is produced, but the overreaction is less pronounced. This means
that now our alarm reaction is not an overreaction to stress — it's an
economical reaction. And this means we can save our energy for the next stage
of stress, which is resistance. Resistance is much better for us if we're not
wasting all of our energy coping with an overload of stress hormones in our
body.
WD: But when
you say that an adaptogen reduces the level of, say cortisol, is this because
it impairs the ability of the adrenals to produce cortisol, or does it act by
sensitizing — or resensitizing — cortisol receptors in the hypothalamus, so
that your body requires less cortisol to do the job?
BT: Its the
latter. Adaptogens work in a natural way to restore hypothalamic sensitivity
so that far less cortisol is required. With adaptogens we make the best use
of our resources to keep our body in balance. Adaptogens enable us to
maintain homeostasis for longer periods of time. Even if you are under
stress, you can still perform effectively because your homeostasis is not
disrupted. Our adaptability is much higher and we can cope with stress
better. Consequently, even when we are stressed, we have more energy.
The second
benefit of adaptogens is what is called the normalizing effect. For example,
for some people, stress causes their blood pressure to go up. With others, it
causes a drop in pressure. It is the same thing for blood sugar. Stress
causes excessive blood sugar levels for some, while barely enough for others.
Adaptogens help us to normalize these and other body functions to keep them
in balance. This is a very important quality of adaptogens.
Another
important benefit relates to free radicals. When we are under stress the body
produces more free radicals. Adaptogens reduce stress-induced production of
free radicals.
JE: You were
a top coach for the elite Soviet Olympic track team. Did you use adaptogens
in your coaching program?
BT: Yes, but
let me explain how adaptability works by looking at training. Russian
researchers believed that there are only two realistic ways to improve
adaptability. The first way is by physical training. You see, when you
exercise you are training your system to adapt to physical stress. This
improves adaptability, and in the long run, adaptability means that you
survive. In training, you exercise long term, day-by-day, month-by-month, for
many years. And as you exercise your adaptability continues to increase.
Eventually you're in good shape. But just because you're in good shape it
doesn't mean you can stop. No! You need to keep moving to maintain your level
of adaptability, or even enhance it.
Adaptogens
are a second way to promote adaptability. In many cases, we are unable to
respond to the stress challenge with a physical response. Also, whereas
exercise and training improve adaptability over the long-term — taking months
or even years to obtain maximum benefit —adaptogens work rapidly, over the
short-term. They help your body immediately. From the first dose, as soon as
they enter your body, they begin to change your stress reaction. The effects
of adaptogens, like exercise, are also cumulative. For example, the effects
of adaptogens increase from day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month.
WD: How do
these formulas fit into a life extension or anti-aging program?
BT: Well, as
we age, we naturally begin to lose our adaptability — our ability to cope
with stress—because of a progressive loss of hypothalamic sensitivity.
Consequently, as we grow older we have to work even harder to maintain our
ability to adapt. For example, for a young person, exercising 30 minutes a
day, three days a week, would probably be enough to maintain fitness and
adaptability. Later, past the age of 50, 30 minutes is no longer enough because
adaptability is dropping.
Consequently,
to maintain physical adaptability, it is necessary to exercise even more when
we are older than when we were young. However, exercise itself is a stressor,
and our energy cycles are not as efficient as when we were young.
Consequently, it's hard to find the energy to exercise adequately. One
solution is to augment adaptation by increasing our energy levels with the
use of adaptogens.
WD: Let's
talk about the formulas that you developed while working with the Russian
Olympic team. What do these formulas do specifically, and can you give us
some guidelines for taking them for maximum benefit?
BT: Yes. The
first formula, AdaptaPhase One, is a liquid adaptogenic formula that gently
alters the body's over-response to stress. This formula is very gentle, but
very effective. The average or standard dose for most people is going to be
one dropper full daily — but it's safe to use doses more than 10 times the
average dose.
WD: Sure. But
you're probably just going to be flushing a lot of it down the toilet at that
dose. What is the maximum effective dose someone might take?
BT: One full
dropper (one milliliter) daily for the average person who experiences a
moderate amount of stress. It's best taken in the morning. As this is a
concentrated form, it can be consumed sublingually, orally straight, or put
into any liquid.
WD: As a
medical student in Korea, I was exposed quite a bit to herbal medicine. Most
folks took their herbal decoctions "straight," in their
concentrated forms.
BT: Some
people do like them that way. However, for me, adaptogens have a very strong
flavor, so I prefer taking them with juice or tea. I usually take a full
dropper, sometimes two droppers, in a cup of tea. And by the way, I recommend
that people who like coffee use one or two droppersfull of these adaptogens
in decaf. They will feel an even stronger effect than from caffeinated
coffee.
WD: I'll try
adding them to my regular coffee. But let’s get back to the maximum effective
dose.
BT: Okay.
Maximum effective dosage. For an average person, one dropper-full provides
adequate stress protection. For people who experience more stress, it can be
one dropper-full in the morning, followed by a second dose — maybe a half to
a full dropper — later in the day. Now, for people under severe stress, they
can use 3 to 4 droppers-full daily. I've had experience with athletes who
were using as much as 8 to 10 droppers daily for several days — and in some
cases, even more.
WD: Athletes
were using 8 to 10 droppers/milliliters per day?
BT: These
were top level Olympic athletes — and again, use was not on a regular,
continuous basis, but when they needed it.
WD: Like just
before competition?
BT: Yes,
competition, tournaments, play-offs, and so on.
JE: You said
adaptogens are best taken in the morning. If someone took them before going
to bed at night, would they be too stimulated?
BT: No. They
just seem to work better for most people when taken in the morning. You know,
adaptogens don't actually work as stimulants, but as a tonic. They have a
tonic effect on many body functions, but don't act on your central nervous
system.
JE: And the
second formula, AdaptaPhase Two, seems to be a powerful anabolic formula. Was
this originally designed for Soviet athletes?
BT: Yes.
Although the word anabolic (as in steroids) is viewed negatively. However,
anabolic really refers to tissue-building and repair. The opposite of
anabolic is catabolic, which means to tear down or degenerate. Thus, another
word for anabolic is anticatabolic.
AdaptaPhase
One and Two work very well together. The synergistic interactions are
tremendous. These are supplements that people can really feel. I suggest that
someone who has never experienced adaptogens before start with Formula Two
for 10 days. Almost everyone will feel better in 2 or 3 days. After 10 days,
everybody who is using this product will start to feel an effect.
If someone
does not feel any effect, there's only one reason: they aren't using enough.
It's not "Yeah, I think I see some effect." No, you should notice a
really great effect. Although four capsules daily work for most people, some
people may require six or even eight. With this product, it’s better to start
with the maximum dosage and then cut back after a response is noted.
JE: Is there
a limit to how many capsules one can take? You mentioned athletes taking up
to 15 capsules a day. What if they took 30 capsules a day?
BT: I will
tell you. If they took too much it would be harmlessly excreted in the urine.
For example, I weigh 145 pounds and I take six capsules daily. If I only take
five capsules, I will only get 80% of the benefit. When I take six capsules,
I feel the effect, and I feel it immediately. Most people between 135 to 155
pounds should start by taking five to six capsules per day. Then you can
experiment — is six working well for you? If so you may try five. If five
works well for you, try four. Likewise, for those over 155 pounds, they may
try increasing the dose. But after you know which amount works for you, do
not go back. So, start with Formula Two, then stop. Start using Formula One
on a daily basis. Then add Formula Two again for another ten days. After ten
days,you should know it works.
JE: Let me
recap. I kick-start the program taking the capsules (AdaptaPhase Two) for 10
days to get my body balanced and normalized, and then stop. I then start
taking one full dropper of AdaptaPhase One, the daily formula, and continue
taking this on a regular daily basis. Then, I go on a cycle of using
AdaptaPhase Two either on a repeating cycle, or when I find myself in
extremely stressful circumstances.
BT: You're
absolutely right. Kick-start with Formula Two, then start taking Formula One
on a daily basis, and keep using Formula One. In time of need, when you
really need it, you can use use Formula Two more frequently.
JE: What if
someone wants to use both formulas all the time? Any problems?
BT: Yes. I
expected this question — it’s such a typical American mentality — more is
better! Or, if it’s good for me, why should I stop? First of all, Formula One
is really mild and was designed to be taken on a daily basis for its
protective effects. Just as with Formula Two, you can take Formula One in
higher daily dosages for a long, long time.
And from time
to time you should experiment with the dosages you are taking. Play with the
dosages. What's your lifestyle? Maybe you can use two or three times the
normal dosage. But don't take the maximum dosage all the time. Now as for
Formula Two, because it is already so strong, I don't recommend taking it all
the time. Number One you can use nonstop, every day, but not Formula Two.
I usually
stop for anywhere from 10 days up to 20 days. Although I normally take 6
capsules of AdaptaPhase Two, sometimes I will take 6 capsules per day for as
long as 12, 25, maybe 28 days, especially if my system is more stressed. The
reason is not because it becomes toxic when used for long periods
continuously — but because it seems to lose its effectiveness. And since this
is an expensive product, you want to avoid tachyphylaxis.
Editors Note:
Tachyphylaxis
is the loss of efficacy of any agent that you may take—like any drug or
substance that your body adapts to — you have to keep increasing the dose.
BT
(continues): Absolutely. This is not to suggest that this is having a
drug-like effect on your body. This is an expensive product. It’s best to be
economical. One more thing — these formulas don't stop working for you as
soon as you cease taking them. This is the way with all adaptogens — they
continue working for you long after you stop taking them. You will still see
residual effects, sometimes up to a month after your last dose.
The whole
point is that these formulas help normalize your body. In order to maintain
your body and get the best effect out of your program, you occasionally have
to let your body ride on it’s own, even though it’s still continuing to have
that beneficial effect.
JE: When I
start using these formulas, what can I expect to notice?
BT: From the
beginning you should have more energy, sleep better, and feel more alert. And
after two or three months, you may notice that your resistance to disease,
infections, and colds is increasing, and you're not catching colds for very
long periods. People who use these adaptogens find that they're just not
catching colds. They're not catching the flu. And even if they do come down
with the flu or a cold, they find they can cope with it more easily without
using strong medication. Many, many people who use adaptogens on a daily
basis for six months simply forget what a cold is.
And one last
point. The interaction of these two products is such that, when used
properly, they both support an anticatabolic effect. Formula One has a
broad-based adaptogenic effect to support you and protect you from the
effects of stress on a daily basis. Formula Two is a more specific formula
that has anti-catabolic (anabolic) effects. It is the interaction of these
two formulas that gives you the best effect. We each have our own
homeostasis. The goal of using adaptogens is to keep our bodies in balance.
Next Month:
Soviet Research in the Olympics and Space.