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RHODIOLA ROSEA FOR STRESS AND MILD TO MODERATE DEPRESSION
AND AS A POSSIBLE NEUROPROTECTANT
SUMMARY
WHAT WE KNOW
Rhodiola rosea, called rhodiola, and known as “golden root” or “arctic root” in the
mountainous parts of Europe and Asia, has long been employed in Eurasian traditional
medicine as a natural tonic, referred to as an “adaptogen.” Rhodiola is used to promote good
health, strength, endurance and physical and mental performance. Rhodiola’s efficacy in
treating mental health conditions isn’t well-known in America because the earliest studies
suffered from poor controls and generalized claims and were not done in the United States or
Western Europe. However, those studies and the traditional practices that spawned them have
caused people to use rhodiola to treat a wide range of conditions, such as stress, fatigue,
anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment, primarily in Eastern Europe and Asia, but
increasingly in the United States and around the world.
MENTAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
Studies document rhodiola’s impact on an individual’s overall general physical and mental
health. Rhodiola can be used to reduce stress, combat fatigue, increase mental performance
and improve physical and mental fitness and resilience.
Stress, Neuroprotection and Mild to Moderate Depression
Three of the sources consulted for this outline (most of which ignore rhodiola) concur that
rhodiola is a promising and relatively benign treatment for a number of mental health