A Critical Review of the Market’s Newest Anxiety Reliever- Rhodiolife®

The Icy Cold Origins of Rhodiolife®

Rhodiolife® is a standardised extract of the Rhodiola rosea plant, formulated by the nutraceutical company Nektium (1). Rhodiola originated from the Siberian Altai region in Russia, which is home to a variety of mountains, meadows and lakes, all of which are surrounded by the freezing Russian tundra (2).

The first instances of recorded use of the Rhodiola rosea plant can be traced back to the Viking era, where reports highlight that Rhodiola was used to enhance their physical and mental endurance. Since then the Rhodiola Rosea has been used for a variety of purposes and include use by Russian cosmonauts who used it to boost their physical and mental performance on burdensome space journeys (3).

The newest iteration of the Rhodiola rosea extract comes in the form of Rhodiolife®, which is considered to be a powerful adaptogen that helps the body better respond to physical, emotional or environmental stress by improving the user's physiological function, which is commonly impacted by chronic stress (4).

The Cognitive and Physical Benefits of Rhodiolife®

Cognitive Benefits

Reduces Anxiety and Stress Levels

As an adaptogen, Rhodiolife® has the natural properties to combat stress. Rhodiolife® helps to combat stress by increasing your body's resistance to stress, allowing you to cope better during stressful times (5), with research highlighting that the Rhodiola rosea plant can manage and reduce stress hormone levels and other symptoms of stress as it travels through the user's bloodstream (6).

Studies have confirmed the positive effect Rhodiola Rosea has on stress. One study included ten participants recruited from the UCLA Anxiety Disorder Program, all of which were diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (7). The results saw significant decreases in the participant's GAD symptoms when they had taken the Rhodiola rosea extract and was confirmed by the participant's HARS scores (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale) (7).

Improves Memory and Learning

Another key benefit of Rhodiolife ® is that it can assist in improving the users long term memory and learning capabilities. Rhodiolife ® can facilitate this by increasing the strength of nerve impulses along cognitive pathways found within the user's Hippocampus, an area within the brain's temporal lobe that plays a major role in learning and memory. This in turn leads to improvements in the user's spatial and temporal memory (8).

Studies have even gone as far as to say that the Rhodiola rosea plant can counteract the effects of old age within a person's memory, as it has been shown to slow the breakdown of acetylcholine, a chief neurotransmitter of the nervous system (9). This has the potential to help people with dementia as early research has shown that Rhodiola rosea has been effective in improving the memory of mice (9).

Physical Benefits

Reduced fatigue

One of the chief physical benefits is that it helps to reduce the rate that the user experiences fatigue, ensuring longer physical endurance. This is done through its naturally calming effect as an adaptogen and reduces energy spent on stress and other symptoms of stress including tiredness, moodiness and body weakness (10). This allows the body to conserve energy and better maintain energy levels.

This claim has been fortified by a recent study that demonstrated 100 people with chronic fatigue symptoms were given a 400mg dosage of the Rhodiola rosea extract each day for a total period of 8 weeks, and it was reported that only after the first week, participants reported improvements in quality of life, mood, concentration as well as stress and fatigue (11).

Anti-inflammatory

Rhodiolife® has also been verified as an anti-inflammatory, due to its rich biochemistry containing significant amounts of polyphenols, including flavonoids and tannins, all of which have well-documented anti-inflammatory activity (12). This has led to researchers believing that Rhodiola rosea extracts may improve anti-inflammatory activity in various pathological conditions encompassing arthritis and cardiovascular disease (13).

Final Thoughts

In an overall review of Rhodiolife®, this seems to be a very exciting ingredient, which due to its natural adaptogen properties, has a variety of real-life health applications, the most crucial of which is being a stress reliever, which based on the current times is something that is only growing in demand.

It is also important to note that Rhodiolife® contains a very interesting point of difference in the sense that it's an Adaptogen that can help alleviate both psychical and mental distress. This may be a crucial factor to its future market success, as the Rhodiola rosea market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.8% between 2021 and 2026 to reach a value of $68.8 billion (USD) by 2026 (17).

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References

1. Nektium, 2021. About Us - Nektium. [online] Nektium. Available at: <https://nektium.com/rhodiolife/> [Accessed 8 September 2021]. 

2. Travel, K., 2021. Altai mountains: overview | Siberia Russia | Kaichi Travel. [online] Kaichitravel. Available at: <https://www.kaichitravel.com/about-altai/> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

3. Hermsmeier, U., Grann, J. and Plescher, A., 2012. Rhodiola integrifolia: hybrid origin and Asian relatives. Botany, 90(11), pp.1186-1190. 

4. Nektium, 2018. Rhodiolife Powerful Adaptagen. 1st ed. [ebook] Gran Canaria: Nektium, pp.1-3. Available at: <https://nektium.com/branded-ingredient/rhodiolife/> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

5. Li, Y., Pham, V., Bui, M., Song, L., Wu, C., Walia, A., Uchio, E., Smith-Liu, F. and Zi, X., 2017. Rhodiola rosea L.: an Herb with Anti-Stress, Anti-Aging, and Immunostimulating Properties for Cancer Chemoprevention. Current Pharmacology Reports, [online] 3(6), pp.384-395. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6208354/> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

6. Anghelescu, I., Edwards, D., Seifritz, E. and Kasper, S., 2018. Stress management and the role of Rhodiola rosea: a review. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, [online] 22(4), pp.242-252. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13651501.2017.1417442> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

7. Bystritsky, A., Kerwin, L. and Feusner, J., 2008. A Pilot Study of Rhodiola rosea (Rhodax®) for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, [online] 14(2), pp.175-180. Available at: <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18307390/> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

8. Dimpfel, W et al., Pharmacol. Pharm. 7, 290–303 (2016).

9. Wegerer, J., 2021. Can Rhodiola Rosea Fight Alzheimer&amp;#8217;s?. [online] Alzheimers.net. Available at: <https://www.alzheimers.net/rhodiola-rosea-for-alzheimers> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

10. Van De Walle, G. and Lamoreux, K., 2021. 7 Proven Health Benefits of Rhodiola Rosea. [online] Healthline. Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/rhodiola-rosea#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3> [Accessed 8 September 2021]. 

11. Lekomtseva, Y., Zhukova, I. and Wacker, A., 2017. Rhodiola rosea in Subjects with Prolonged or Chronic Fatigue Symptoms: Results of an Open-Label Clinical Trial. Complementary Medicine Research, [online] 24(1), pp.46-52. Available at: <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28219059/> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

12. Pooja, Bawa, A. and Khanum, F., 2009. Anti-inflammatory activity ofRhodiola rosea- "a second-generation adaptogen". Phytotherapy Research, [online] 23(8), pp.1099-1102. Available at: <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19152369/> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

13. Doncheva, N., Mihaylova, A. and Getova, D., 2013. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of Rhodiola Rosea L. extract in rats. Folia Medica, [online] 55(3-4), pp.70-75. Available at: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332219329671> [Accessed 8 September 2021]. 

14. Abidov, M, et al., Bull. Exp. Biol. Med. 138, 63–64 (2004).

15. Cuncic, A., 2020. Try This Natural Treatment for Social Anxiety. [online] Very Well Mind. Available at: <https://www.verywellmind.com/how-is-rhodiola-rosea-used-to-treat-anxiety-3024972> [Accessed 8 September 2021]. 

16. NCCIH, 2021. Rhodiola. [online] Rhodiola. Available at: <https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/rhodiola> [Accessed 8 September 2021].

17. Research, E., 2021. Global Rhodiola Rosea Extract Market Report and Forecast 2021-2026. [online] Expertmarketresearch.com. Available at: <https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/rhodiola-rosea-extract-market> [Accessed 8 September 2021].