Herbs Supporting Adrenal and Immune Function
Summary
Withania, licorice, rehmannia, and echinacea root are important herbs with a deep history of supporting adrenal and immune function.
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root is one of many herbs supporting adrenal and immune function. It has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for fatigue, general debility, nervous exhaustion, wasting in children, anaemia, loss of memory and muscular energy, convalescence, insomnia, impotence, spermatorrhoea, inflammatory conditions; as an aphrodisiac and a nutrient and tonic for pregnant women and the elderly. The plant has the Sanskrit common name of ashwagandha.1-3 As a rasayana herb, it promotes physical and mental health, augments resistance of the body against disease and adverse environmental factors, revitalizes the body in debilitated conditions and increases longevity.4 Rasayanas (restorative tonics) are regarded almost as nutrients in their effect on the body.5 Research with experimental models have confirmed that ashwagandha has some adaptogenic properties.6-10
Ashwagandha has been called Indian Ginseng, perhaps because of the similarity of the pharmacological properties.9 In Ayurveda, ashwagandha is also regarded as a medhya rasayana – a promoter of learning and memory retrieval. The medhya rasayana herbs may provide a therapeutic effect by reducing stress, facilitating mental health, and reducing anxiety and tension.11, 12 Withania somnifera root contains steroidal compounds including with anolides which are regarded as quality markers.13
Licorice
Licorice root contains triterpenoid saponins, especially glycyrrhizin, the pharmacology of which has been extensively studied.26 The first documented traditional use of licorice can be traced back to ancient Assyrian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian cultures.27 It is well known in western herbal medicine as an expectorant for bronchitis and as a demulcent, useful for relieving irritation of mucous membranes.28
Rehmannia
Rehmannia glutinosa unprocessed root is used in traditional Chinese medicine to reduce heat in the blood, to nourish yin, and promote the production of body fluid. Indications for this type of Rehmannia include febrile diseases, skin eruptions, nosebleed, and to prolong life.37, 36 A very old, Chinese herbal text also recommends Rehmannia to promote growth and to prevent senility.31 In Vietnam, Rehmannia is used for general debility.38 In western herbal medicine, Rehmannia is regarded as an adrenal tonic, due mainly to the activity demonstrated in experimental models.
Echinacea Root
Herbs supporting adrenal and immune function also includes the species of echinacea and the part of the plant used is very important to product quality and the effect on the body. The roots of Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea purpurea are considered the most efficacious, particularly when known to contain a certain amount of important constituents called alkylamides. The Eclectic physicians, a group of practitioners who were prominent around the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, recognized good quality echinacea root as “leaving a persistent tingling sensation” when chewed.43 Scientific work later determined that this is caused by the presence of the alkylamides.44
1. Kapoor LD. CRC Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1990.
2. Thakur RS, Puri HS, Husain A. Major Medicinal Plants of India. Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, 1989.
3. Frawley D, Lad V. The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, 2nd Edn. Lotus Press, Santa Fe, 1988.
4. Bhattacharya SK,Muruganandam AV. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2003; 75: 547
5. Singh RH et al. Biogerontology 2008; 9: 369
6. Singh N. Curr Med Pract 1981; 25: 50
7. Bhargava KP, Singh N. J Res Educ Indian Med 1985; 4: 27
8. Rege NN etal. Phytother Res 1999; 13: 275 9 Grandhi A et al. J Ethnopharmacol 1994; 44: 131
9. Dhuley JN. J Ethnopharmacol 2000; 70: 57
10. Bhattacharya SK et al. Phytother Res 1995; 9:110
11. Udupa KN, Singh RH. Clinical and Experimental Studies on Rasayana Drugs and
12. Pancakarma Therapy, 2nd Edn. Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha, New Delhi,1995, p 1
13. Ganzera M et al. Fitoterapia 2003; 74: 68
14. Auddy B et al. J Am Nutraceutical Assoc 2008; 11: 50
15 .Integria Healthcare Research & Development Laboratory, Eight Mile Plains, Queensland 4113, Australia.
16. Chandrasekhar K et al. Indian J Psychol Med 2012; 34: 255
17. Dongre S et al. Biomed Res Int 2015; 2015: 284154
18. Venkataraghavan S et al. J Res Ayu Sid 1980; 1: 370
19. Kuppurajan K et al. J Res Ayu Sid 1980; 1: 247
20. Roy AS, Acharya SB, De AK et al. International Seminar – Traditional Medicine, Calcutta, Nov 7-9, 1992: p 161.
21. Mahdi AA et al. Evidence- Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Volume 2011, Article ID 576962, 9 pages, 2011. doi:10.1093/ecam/nep138.
22. Ahmad MK et al. Fertil Steril 2010; 94: 989 23 Karnick CR. In: Premila MS. Ayurvedic Herbs: A Clinical Guide to the Healing Plants of Traditional Indian Medicine. Haworth Press, New York, 2006, p 291.
23. Andrade C et al. Indian J Psychiatry 2000, 42: 295
25. Bector NP et al. Indian J Med Res 1969; 56: 1581
26. British Herbal Medicine Association. British Herbal Compendium, Vol 1. BHMA, Bournemouth, 1992.
27. Fiore C et al. J Ethnopharmacol 2005; 99: 317
28. Bone K. Clinical Guide to Blending Liquid Herbs. Herbal Formulations for the Individual Patient. Churchill Livingstone, USA, 2003.
29. Bensky D, Clavey S, Stoger E. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd Edn. Eastland Press, Seattle, 2004.
30. Mills SY. The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine. Penguin Arkana (Penguin), London, 1991.
31. Yang SZ (translator). The Divine Farmer’s Material Medica. A Translation of the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, 1998.
32. Porter Smith F, Stuart GA. Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom. Extensively revised by G.A. Stuart. American Presbyterian Mission Press, Shanghai, 1911.
33. Borst JGG et al. Lancet 1953; 1: 657
34. Groen J et al. N Engl J Med 1951; 244: 471
35. Molhuysen JA et al. Lancet 1950; 256: 381
36. Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, English Edn. Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 1997.
37. Yen KY. The Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica: Crude Drugs. Southern Materials Center Inc, Taipei, 1980.
38. World Health Organization. Medicinal Plants in Viet Nam. WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manilla, 1990.
39. Cha LL et al. Chin J Integr Trad West Med 1988; 8: 95
40. Chen JK Chen TT, Crampton L. Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. Art of Medicine Press, California, 2004.
41. Sasaki H et al. Planta Med 1989; 55: 458
42. Chang HM, But PP.Pharmacology and Applications of Chinese Materia Medica. World Scientific, Singapore, 1987.
43. Felter HW, Lloyd JU. King’s American Dispensatory. 18th Edn, 3rd revision, Vol 1. First published 1898-1900, reprinted Eclectic Medical Publications, Portland, 1983.
44. Bauer R, Wagner H. Echinacea Species as Potential Immunostimulatory Drugs. In: Wagner H, Farnsworth NR (eds). Economic and Medicinal Plant Research, Vol 5. Academic Press, London, 1991.
45. Vogel VJ. American Indian Medicine. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
46. Moerman DE. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, Portland, 1998.
47. Ellingwood F, Lloyd JU. American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy, 11th Edn. Eclectic Medical Publications, Portland, 1983.
48. Bauer R et al. Arzneim Forsch 1988; 38: 276
49. Bauer R et al. Z Phytother 1989; 10: 43
50. Matthias A et al. Life Sci 2005; 77: 2018
51. Matthias A et al. Phytomedicine 2007; 14: 587
52. Bone KM, Mills SY. Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy: Modern Herbal Medicine, 2nd Edn. Elsevier, UK, 2013.
53. ESCOP Monographs: The Scientific Foundation for Herbal Medicinal Products, 2nd Edn. ESCOP, European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy, Exeter, 2003.
54. Raut AA et al. J Ayurveda Integr Med 2012; 3: 111
55. Gannon JM et al. J Ayurveda Integr Med 2014; 5: 241
© Copyright 2017 Integria Healthcare
