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Best Anti-Stress Herbal Tinctures Reviewed, Ranked Top 10 for Anti-fatigue, Anti-Anxiety, Recovery, Immunity and Adaption

It’s always helpful to have a guide when making decisions that impact your health.

My intent is to give you valuable information.

This is a review article to help you save time finding the best anti-stress liquid tincture out there.

I will rank the top 10 herbal liquid extract products that I have used myself. The links below are affiliate links, meaning that this blog receives a small amount from Amazon.com when people click the links and make a purchase at no extra charge. It’s a way to limit the ads on this site while simultaneously giving you phenomenal nutritional tools for your journey.

Best Anti-Stress liquid tincture list.

This list will begin with an herb that is used for sleep and then the last herbs are beneficial for nearly everything.

10. Skullcap liquid herbal extract from Horbaach:

I’ll keep this first one brief. It is a very useful anti-inflammatory and really helps to calm the nerves. People use this more for sleep rather than for for generalized anxiety or depression. Also, make sure to not take too much or maybe don’t take it at all if you have a liver concern. Follow instructions on the bottle.

9. Bacopa (Brahmi) liquid extract from Hawaii Pharm:

Brahmi, or bacopa monnieri has confirmed benefits for the brain because it is considered a nootropic or neurocognitive nutrient.

The basic benefit behind bacopa is that it helps to decrease inflammation in the brain. Or maybe it just helps normalize inflammation so that it can function well. I don’t think most people realize that they can increase their brain’s processing power through nutrients.

To avoid disease is to keep inflammation down. Inflammation is hot and disease festers in those hellish conditions. Use nutrition to protect your precious cells from oxidative stress!

8. Elderberry liquid extract from NutraChamps

Even though a lot of people are pushing elderberry for its immune benefits right now due to Covid-19/Coronavirus, it is a powerful antioxidant and helps with stress. Furthermore, elderberry is showing promise in helping people maintain healthy weights.

ambucus nigra fruit extract may offer substantial preventive and therapeutic potential for the treatment of obesity and obesity-related disorders, accompanied by oxidative stress, inflammation and insulin resistance.

Regardless, elderberry is always a good supplement to know about!

7. Lemon Balm herbal liquid extract from Herb Pharm:

The nervous system wants to be in balance and homeostasis. Lemon balm contains unique antioxidants with some interesting benefits. I wasn’t going to write about one part in particular, but I stumbled upon a pubmed article that made some useful conclusions:

Liquid extract of M. officinalis (lemon balm) improved desire in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder and had beneficial effects on sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain domains of the sexual dysfunction in women and may be used as an effective and safe therapy in female sexual dysfunction.

I am not surprised that natural antioxidant containing herbs support the nervous system and sexuality.

Lemon balm functions by:

  • Modulating mood and cognitive function.
  • Anxiolytic or anti-anxiety effects

Compared with placebo, lemon balm consumption was associated with reduced cortisol for up to six hours afterwards!

6. Asian Ginseng liquid herbal extract from Herbamama:

The fact that ginseng interacts with systems related to synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis, neuroprotection, neural transmission, and much more, is worthy of special attention.

Most people use Asian ginseng for well-being, improved concentration, slowing the aging process, sustained physical stamina, cardiovascular health, anxiety, and also for the immune benefits.

By the way, don’t buy all of these. It’s probably best to try one at a time before stacking any of these.

5. Ashwagandha liquid extract tincture from Herb Pharm:

This product came highly recommended to me from a role model that I worked with at Super Supplements. It is well known for helping people deal with stress, which may help with sleep and motivation for your fitness goals.

Ashwagandha may have some promising benefits.

Research authors concluded the following:

“Ashwagandha root extract improves an individual’s resistance towards stress and thereby improves self-assessed quality of life. High-concentration full-spectrum Ashwagandha root extract can be used safely as an adaptogen in adults who are under stress.”

They even studied possible effects in helping with stress related ulcers and helping with brain health as well.

Ashwagandha helps bring excess cortisol down.

Make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle and allow the herb some days, or weeks of consistent use in order to experience some benefit.

4. Rhodiola rosea liquid extract from Horbaach

Rhodiola is a highly respected herb for energy and brain rejuvenation in part due to the popularity in the research. Just look at the names of some of these articles:

Rhodiola rosea L.: an herb with anti-stress, anti-aging, and immunostimulating properties for cancer chemoprevention

Rhodiola rosea L. Improves Learning and Memory Function

Rosenroot (Rhodiola): Potential Applications in Aging-related Diseases

This is a good supplement for people wanting to regain strength, skills, and brain function. All different types of people use this supplement, including athletes.

3. Lion’s Mane liquid extract tincture from Uphoric Urth:

Lion’s Mane is an herb that is from a mushroom. The difference between this brand and another brand is that they use the fruiting body extracts of the mushroom, which may have more powerful effects for the central nervous system and stress relief.

A recent 2020 research article called, “Therapeutic Potential of Hericium erinaceus for Depressive Disorder,” makes some very promising conclusions. They write:

[Lion’s Mane] significantly ameliorates depressive disorder through monoaminergic modulation, neurogenic/neurotrophic, and anti-inflammatory pathways. This indicates the role of Lion’s Mane as complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of depression.

That’s amazing how nutrition can help with the chemical imbalances in your head.

2. Tulsi / Holy Basil liquid extract from Global Healing Center:

Tulsi is just amazing. Without a doubt, tulsi is the herb for fighting stress that I can truly feel working. Some research professionals ask the serious question whether tulsi can be used to benefit every system in the body. Furthermore, I love the smell and taste of the herb and the benefits are undeniable.

Tulsi helps counter metabolic stress through normalizing blood glucose, positive effects on memory, cognition, and has anti-depressent properties.

If you’ve never tried Tulsi in any form, I guarantee that you are missing out. It also comes in this amazing tea and high quality liquid capsules.

FINALLY, an amazing herb…

1. Chamomile liquid extract from Herb Pharm:

Chamomile is truly underrated. The herb is one of the oldest documented royal, holy, and healing plants.

People have been using it for thousands of years.

The lucky people who had access to it during the world’s pandemics almost definitely had a higher survival rate.

Benefits of Chamomile (PubMed links):

There are SO MANY BENEFITS to chamomile consumption and it also tastes wonderfully soothing.

Chamomile has a rich history for the healers of the universe and for those who are willing to be part of that process.

I just love chamomile so much as it tends to be easy and restorative for the gut.

What is your favorite herb for stress relief? Tell me in the comments below and follow the blog.

 

Citations:
Kim HJ, Kim P, Shin CY. A comprehensive review of the therapeutic and pharmacological effects of ginseng and ginsenosides in central nervous system. J Ginseng Res. 2013;37(1):8-29. doi:10.5142/jgr.2013.37.8
Oliynyk S, Oh S. Actoprotective effect of ginseng: improving mental and physical performance. J Ginseng Res. 2013;37(2):144-166. doi:10.5142/jgr.2013.37.144
Chaudhari KS, Tiwari NR, Tiwari RR, Sharma RS. Neurocognitive Effect of Nootropic Drug Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) in Alzheimer’s Disease. Ann Neurosci. 2017;24(2):111-122. doi:10.1159/000475900
Tiralongo E, Wee SS, Lea RA. Elderberry Supplementation Reduces Cold Duration and Symptoms in Air-Travellers: A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2016;8(4):182. Published 2016 Mar 24. doi:10.3390/nu8040182
Zielińska-Wasielica J, Olejnik A, Kowalska K, Olkowicz M, Dembczyński R. Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) Fruit Extract Alleviates Oxidative Stress, Insulin Resistance, and Inflammation in Hypertrophied 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and Activated RAW 264.7 Macrophages. Foods. 2019;8(8):326. Published 2019 Aug 8. doi:10.3390/foods8080326
Chandrasekhar K, Kapoor J, Anishetty S. A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety in adults. Indian J Psychol Med. 2012;34(3):255-262. doi:10.4103/0253-7176.106022
Li Y, Pham V, Bui M, et al. Rhodiola rosea L.: an herb with anti-stress, anti-aging, and immunostimulating properties for cancer chemoprevention. Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2017;3(6):384-395. doi:10.1007/s40495-017-0106-1
Ma GP, Zheng Q, Xu MB, et al. Rhodiola rosea L. Improves Learning and Memory Function: Preclinical Evidence and Possible Mechanisms. Front Pharmacol. 2018;9:1415. Published 2018 Dec 4. doi:10.3389/fphar.2018.01415
Zhuang W, Yue L, Dang X, et al. Rosenroot (Rhodiola): Potential Applications in Aging-related Diseases. Aging Dis. 2019;10(1):134-146. Published 2019 Feb 1. doi:10.14336/AD.2018.0511
Scholey A, Gibbs A, Neale C, et al. Anti-stress effects of lemon balm-containing foods. Nutrients. 2014;6(11):4805-4821. Published 2014 Oct 30. doi:10.3390/nu6114805
Chong PS, Fung ML, Wong KH, Lim LW. Therapeutic Potential of Hericium erinaceus for Depressive Disorder. Int J Mol Sci. 2019;21(1):163. Published 2019 Dec 25. doi:10.3390/ijms21010163
Cohen MM. Tulsi – Ocimum sanctum: A herb for all reasons. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2014;5(4):251-259. doi:10.4103/0975-9476.146554
Khalesi ZB, Beiranvand SP, Bokaie M. Efficacy of Chamomile in the Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome: A Systematic Review. J Pharmacopuncture. 2019;22(4):204-209. doi:10.3831/KPI.2019.22.028
Das S, Horváth B, Šafranko S, Jokić S, Széchenyi A, Kőszegi T. Antimicrobial Activity of Chamomile Essential Oil: Effect of Different Formulations. Molecules. 2019;24(23):4321. Published 2019 Nov 26. doi:10.3390/molecules24234321
Hajizadeh-Sharafabad F, Varshosaz P, Jafari-Vayghan H, Alizadeh M, Maleki V. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) and diabetes mellitus, current knowledge and the way forward: A systematic review. Complement Ther Med. 2020;48:102284. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102284
Mao JJ, Li QS, Soeller I, Rockwell K, Xie SX, Amsterdam JD. Long-Term Chamomile Therapy of Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Study Protocol for a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo- Controlled Trial. J Clin Trials. 2014;4(5):188. doi:10.4172/2167-0870.1000188
Miraj S, Alesaeidi S. A systematic review study of therapeutic effects of Matricaria recuitta chamomile (chamomile). Electron Physician. 2016;8(9):3024-3031. Published 2016 Sep 20. doi:10.19082/3024
Al-Dabbagh B, Elhaty IA, Elhaw M, et al. Antioxidant and anticancer activities of chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.). BMC Res Notes. 2019;12(1):3. Published 2019 Jan 3. doi:10.1186/s13104-018-3960-y
Srivastava JK, Shankar E, Gupta S. Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future. Mol Med Rep. 2010;3(6):895-901. doi:10.3892/mmr.2010.377

 

 

Body Composition Fat Loss Nutrition, Immunity, and Digestion supplements
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11 Diet Tips from the Probiotic Lifestyle: Why Feeding the Gut Microbiome Slows Down Aging and Can Save Your Life from Preventable Disease!

Bio-diversity is essential for human health and evolution!

Even though I can’t prove it, I believe more than 99% of all human diseases can be prevented or managed by nourishing the gut. My personal mission is to help your microbiome become more robust, diverse, and balanced. It will make your life way better and it will also have beneficial consequences for the collective human microbiome (another way of saying our collective health as a species).

Benefits of Diverse Gut Microbiome 

Shreiner et. al provide us with an overview of the evidence to show that a healthy microbiome supports the following:

  • Healthy metabolism, absorption of nutrients, and ability to inhibit tumor growth, particularly in the colon.
  • Microbiota promote immune homeostasis and, “influences immune functions at all levels from the initial innate defense to complex acquired responses.“
  • Use of antiobiotics are associated with increased cardiovascular risk factors. (Measured through plasma TMAO levels or trimethylamine-N-oxide)
  • “Clostridum difficile is a disease that results from critical changes to the gut microbiota and is effectively treated by microbiota-based therapy.”
  • Inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease is related to a lower microbial diversity and a dysbiosis or imbalance of the gut. Treatment by professionals may be focused on increasing the diversity and richness of beneficial micriobial species in the gut and biome.

Good news: The Gut has some plasticity.

By eating a diversity of healthy foods, you will get an abundance of antioxidants, fiber, and other ancient plant wisdom.

“The quality of being easily shaped or molded.”

“The adaptability of an organism to changes in its environment or differences between its various habitats.”

The not so good news: the older you are, the harder it will be.

Why it is harder for people who are older? It is not about your numerical age. It has to do with the fact that years of consuming high glycemic foods that have been stripped of fiber, antioxidants, and other vital essences have allowed undesirable bacteria species to overpopulate.

Furthermore, many people who grew up on cereal and processed foods are going to struggle more to reach their fitness goals later on in life. It’s not fair, at all. There is hope though, so read on.

Undesirable bacteria become squatters that you can’t evict. Once upon a time, they contributed something of value to your system, but now they are leeching nutrients from you and not giving you much back in return. Biologically, these bacteria create bio-films that protect their opportunistic environment inside your gut.

You can degrade these bio-films over time with herbs, enzymes, fermented foods and more (note: Amazon affiliate links). I’ll be covering this in depth in future posts as well.

Here are some general tips to think about when looking to enrich or improve the diversity of your microbiome.

For the pursuit of microbiome enrichment, you may consume the following:

1. Fruit from a tree that is tasty

2. Leaves from a plant that is hardy (kale).

3. Fungi from a birch tree (chaga)

4. Roots that also grow edible leaves (carrots, beets, etc.)

5. Red color leaves (chard), purple color leaves (purple kale), green color leaves (cabbage), and so on.

6. Nuts from a tree

7. Leaves that have been cultured (sauerkraut)

8. Dairy that has been cultured (Kefir, see my kefir post. I’ll be writing an extensive Kefir guide coming up because it is that important).

9. Fruit from trees that is fatty (avocado, olives)

10. Selections from the allium genus (onions, garlic, shallots, chives)

Benefits of onion and related species: full of enzymes, performance enhancing antioxidants, and minerals for blood sugar regulation.

11. Herbs / foods that make you hot or sweaty (peppers)

This should at least be enough to get you started and stimulated with some nutritional ideas.

It is important to note that one size does not fit all with nutrition. You are diverse, therefore you must learn what is best for you.

You can have guidance from practitioners who can support you in this journey. You can also learn from testing and experimenting — be mindful and honest about how your food is affecting you in order to make progress this way.

Stay tuned for more updates!

We’ve had an exciting time around here with a solid one post per day for three days straight! Let’s keep up the momentum.

The people who need us will find us, as long as we keep publishing. I hope you revisit here and join this growing community.

I invoke the powers of will to serve you in your fitness journey.

Sources:

Heiman ML, Greenway FL. A healthy gastrointestinal microbiome is dependent on dietary diversity. Mol Metab. 2016;5(5):317‐320. Published 2016 Mar 5. doi:10.1016/j.molmet.2016.02.005

Davis CD. The Gut Microbiome and Its Role in Obesity. Nutr Today. 2016;51(4):167‐174. doi:10.1097/NT.0000000000000167

Shreiner AB, Kao JY, Young VB. The gut microbiome in health and in disease. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2015;31(1):69‐75. doi:10.1097/MOG.0000000000000139

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How to Lose 40 lbs in 8 weeks: Celebrating Orangetheory Fitness Seattle Weight Loss Challenge Winners 2017

How committed are you to lifestyle change?

While weight loss is the goal for many people, I truly like to emphasize the many reasons and benefits for lifestyle change in itself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when people lose a ton of weight, the valuable part isn’t the fact that they lost weight — instead the most valuable part is that these individuals were able to change their habits and challenge their discipline day in and day out.

OrangetheoryFitnessSeattle2017weightlosschall

Orangetheory Fitness Seattle, Lower Queen Anne’s Winter 2017 Weight Loss Challenge Winners and some of our coaches

 

 

 

Every Body is capable of healthy changes, both inside and out.

Even though the human body can be seemingly complex at times, the formula is simple.

Step 1: Eat Nutrient Dense Foods

Step 2: Get 8 hours of sleep

Step 3: Have an active lifestyle and cultivate an athletic mindset no matter what level coordination you have.

The most challenging aspect of lifestyle change are the thoughts that go on inside your head. That’s why I believe it is fundamental to surround yourself with encouraging, positive, and motivating people who share some layer of goals with you.

You can definitely lose 30-40 lbs in eight weeks by exercising and working out with me.

On the flip side, you could also work out all of the time and still not lose any weight if the nutritional habits are poor. It’s just a fact of the matter that you cannot out-train a bad diet. Workouts are challenging and often give immediate gratification and sense of accomplishment once the workout is complete, yet your nutritional habits are responsible for the vast majority of your results.

Nutrition is responsible for all human biological function and linked strongly to gene expression as well as the state of your human ecosystem (read: trillions of bacteria cells that live in and on us).

As I mentioned earlier in this post, every body is capable of fat loss. There are genes that regulate how much fat you can lose and how fast you can burn that fat so yes every body is different in that regard. However, we are learning more and more that certain foods (nutrient dense foods) are actually able to increase the gene expression of genes which are responsible for fat loss. You are not limited by your genetics as much as you are limited by your mind. You must challenge your limiting beliefs about food so that you can cultivate a lifestyle which supports healthy nutritional habits as part of your core values.

Moreover, for your biological processes to be in a healthy, functioning state, you must digest healthful, nutrient-dense foods on a regular basis. Food contains lots of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, amino acids, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and other currently undiscovered components which likely support human health. I know this, because I know that which I do not know. The wisdom of nature must be valued, so let thy food be thy medicine. Hundreds of thousands of years of human knowledge should be honored. Millions of years of evolution suggests that plants are good for us and chemicals (aka processed foods) are not. I’m sure there are parts of an apple that are good for us that science will never discover, and that’s okay. Don’t overthink it.

Of course you need to decrease your calories in order to achieve weight loss.

That doesn’t mean that you should allow yourself to fall into a dangerous mindset of restriction. I 100% believe that healthy nutritional habits are far more realistic to sustain when you are able to have an abundance mentality. You literally have an abundance of healthy food options if you are willing to be creative and seek knowledge. Never settle.

In our modern era, we have access to more nutrients than even our paleo ancestors. The difference between paleo ancestors and ourselves is that we seem to have become burdened by choice. Even worse, there are multi-billion dollar corporations which prefer to mislead us through advertising and through government lobbying and these groups certainly do not have our best interests in mind.

Here is your challenge: Get the MOST amount of nutrients with the fewest calories.

If you eat the most nutrient dense foods, then you will always have an abundance of food that fills you up, energizes you, and gets you ready for a successful tomorrow.

Nutrient density = the highest amount of overall nutrient value for the lowest amount of caloric value.

When I think of nutrients I think of:

  • Fiber (Try to get at least 30 grams per day which is the government recommendation to reduce risk of colon cancer. Fiber also helps to maintain healthy blood sugar / diabetes management, also insulin senstivity and feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut… of course all of these things are related to fat loss and health).
  • Protein
  • Saturated fats like Medium Chain Triglycerides (coconut oil source)
  • Omega-3 fatty acid
  • Omega-9 fatty acid, some Omega-6 fatty acid
  • Water
  • Major minerals (like calcium/magnesium)
  • Trace Minerals (browse Amazon, best minerals product)
  • Antioxidants (red, yellow, purple, blue, green, orange)
  • Phytonutrients (natural components that support healthy hormones, we are learning how broccoli/b-sprouts/cabbage/cauliflower helps fight cancer)
    • Sidenote: If you can support a healthy immune system and gut function, you’ll likely be able to burn more fat and be able to train harder, thereby making even more fitness gains
  • Anti-inflammatory compounds (often these are antioxidants, such as those found in tart cherries, leafy green vegetables, herbs like ginger/turmeric/garlic).
  • Probiotic potential or live probiotics (pre-biotic foods like foods high in fiber that feed healthy gut bacteria or actual live probiotics found in raw sauerkraut and real kefir)
  • Various types of acids that are health promoting like Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Cardiovascular supporting compounds (I love beets because they are packed with nutrients despite containing natural sugars. Beets are a nutrient powerhouse that act as a methyl donor to support the remethylation of homocysteine, something that most people will never learn about — but basically is crucial for healthy cardio and managing risk of ever having a heart attack or stroke.)
  • Enzymes — even though our bodies can create enzymes, our ability to do so decreases as we age. A prominent doctor in Japan argues for a sort of mythical “source enzyme” that once is depleted, then we die. So you must eat foods that support healthy enzyme production (such as the foods listed above). Additionally, you can also eat foods that contain active enzymes which are raw foods and raw probiotic foods. Cooking and the heating process tends to kill enzymes (even though cooking does release/enhance other nutrients), so you still want to get some raw food and raw probiotic food in your diet. Related: Top Probiotic Food / supplements
  • I’m sure there are other nutrients to consider, these are just the considerations that come to the top of my head when I’m choosing foods to eat mindfully.

The key is to educate yourself because you’ll find yourself making better choices simply by having a better foundation of knowledge.

Knowledge truly is power. I encourage you to read about the benefits of real, natural foods and I also encourage you to read about the harmful effects of processed, junk, sweets, etc even if it is uncomfortable to read about. Take time in your day to follow my blog, and/or follow other trustworthy sources online or otherwise.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Growing up, my father would always say, “everything in moderation.” I believed in that phrase for a while, but now I realize that there are some things that you should simply never do or never have. And that’s okay. Some things are just. not. worth it.

The important point is that you are caring about yourself in your lifestyle. If you have to be 100% on and then when you fall off you go food binge and drink, then that says that maybe you’re an on again off again type person who isn’t willing to be committed to themselves. Let yourself have a lifestyle that allows for mistakes, forgiveness, and moving forward.

If you think that you have to be on a restrictive diet to be successful, then why aren’t you successful yet? If it has worked for you in the past, but only temporarily, then did it really work for you? I want you to engage in thought processes that allow for long term success.

Sometimes your thoughts will come crashing inside like waves in a storm and that’s when you just need to hunker down and care for yourself, otherwise you’re going to drown. Those are the hard times.

Other times, your thoughts will be like an oasis in the desert where you think everything is just perfection, but maybe it is just a mirage? Those are even harder times because it forces you to face the truth: Sometimes you have to stay hungry. And that’s okay too. But if you’re planning your meals properly, then you’ll have nutrient dense food waiting for you around the next corner.

How much do you really care about yourself?

We all have struggles. I just need you to take a moment to think about all of the actions that you take on a daily basis that demonstrate self-care. When you are mindful, when you plan for success, and when you surrender your entitlement, then you will find yourself in a whole new reality of empowerment.

Love is action. Good luck, my people! Stay tuned for more, subscribe to my brand new YouTube channel and click that Follow Blog button on the top left (show sidebar for mobile users).

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Why Green Superfood Powders are the Most Underrated for Fat Loss and Health

Green Superfood powders are #1 underrated fitness and fat loss supplement.

Everybody should know about Omega-3, Vitamin D, whey protein, etc by now but how many people are RAGING about green superfood powders? You should know about this, especially if you’re on a calorie restricted diet.

chlorella

I’ve come to love chlorella

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