Athletes will all agree that performing at your best requires you to be ready for the stresses and challenges your next competition will throw at you. Despite all of the training and preparation, your body still may not be able to perform at its highest level due to the negative effects of stress and the body’s inability to effectively manage it.
Stress actually leads to a decreased ability for the body to pump blood to muscles effectively and utilize oxygen, something that affects the brain’s sharpness and clarity in times of stress. All athletes want to thrive and come through when the team needs them, and adaptogens are a healthy and natural way to give your brain and muscles the nutrients they crave to better prime yourself for stressful situations.
While seasoned veterans do in fact have better resistance to stress and can maintain composure and focus in high-stress competition, this is a skill that takes years for the body to begin to develop and master. Even for those with a ton of experience, the body is still not free of the harms of stress and how it dampens the alertness of the brain and responsiveness of muscles.
As an athlete, it is always critical to get the most out of your training and not allow the stress of competition to take away from your performance – and this is where adaptogens shine.
What Are Adaptogens?
Adaptogens are defined as substances that enhance resistance to stressors and allow the body to maintain balance easier. In other words, they help improve your body’s ability to maintain strength and fortitude during challenging times.
These powerful natural chemicals have been proven in clinical trials to exhibit neuroprotective properties, reduce fatigue and depressive states, and overall can help you adapt to and overcome stressful situations.
Specifically, they are able to increase your mental capacity by keeping you focused and energetic while the body is going through stress (1). This allows you to maintain mental clarity, enhanced coordination, and improved muscle memory even in the heat of the moment during the big game.
Adaptogens are found in a variety of natural herbs and medicines and work by balancing something called the hypothalamus-pituitary axis, the system that regulates the relationship between hormones and the brain. In order for your muscles and mind to be performing at their best, this HPA axis needs to be perfectly balanced. If it isn’t, your performance will suffer severely due to more fatigue and decreased cognitive abilities due to an overactive stress response.
How Can You Reap the Benefits?
Adaptogens come in many forms which all give their own unique benefits. Thankfully, you can now reap the most important benefits of these powerful supplements in our all-in-one formula. Neutro is packed with the most important vitamins and cognitive boosters that will help make you come through in clutch situations. Adaptogens work best when they are combined and work synergistically to provide all of the benefits they are capable of, and we have curated a few different adaptogenic blends made just for active individuals like you.
The most popular and powerful adaptogenic ingredients we use in our products are:
Huperzine A
- This nutrient comes from the extract of the Huperzicae plant and helps to promote memory and overall brain health. It also has been shown to have a protective effect on neurons and is hailed as a very potent brain enhancement nutrient. Huperzine is an important nootropic that is regularly used by retired football players with histories of concussions to restore focus and cognitive strength.
Bacopa Extract
- Named after the Hindu god of creation, this supernutrient is worthy of the title. It enhances the effects of critical neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine that are responsible for neural health in the brain. It also helps safeguard against Alzheimer’s, depression, and dementia (2). Its superpower is its proven ability to help transmit nerve impulses quicker, allowing you to react on a dime when it really matters while remaining clear-headed and focused.
GABA
- GABA is a very important neurotransmitter that provides an overall calming effect on the nervous system. It helps to focus more clearly and even improves the quality of sleep and restorative processes that occur for the brain. In combination with the other adaptogenic ingredients, GABA helps to better keep stress under control and maintain focus when you feel the pressure rising.
EPA
- EPA is the main ingredient that helps fight off inflammation in the body, a very common and detrimental process that occurs in the body and prevents fat loss and healthy energy levels, among other things. This includes improving brain health by decreasing cellular inflammation in the brain.
DHA
- DHA is the main fatty acid found in the brain and is key for proper nervous system health and brain cell function. It helps to improve memory, focus, cognition, and basically all functions of the brain. It safeguards and protects against many diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Where Can I Get These Adaptogens?
Adaptogens are can hard to find and can be pretty expensive, but we’ve got your back. Our Neutro, Deeper Sleeper, and Superfish products are all packed with these cognitive enhancing ingredients that are designed to help you shine when it matters most. We understand how hard you train for that big moment, and adaptogens can help you be your best during those big moments.
We are here to help you be better and this is why our products are designed with such great care. Understanding the critical role your mind and HPA axis plays in athletic performance is vital to being your best.
Give these products a try and let us know how they worked for you!
Do you have your own experience with these products? Let us know your story in the comments below!
Thanks for the read and until next time,
Greg Hawkins, Scientific Contributor for BioTropicLabs
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References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3991026/, Effects of Adaptogens on the CNS and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress—Protective Activity, 2011.
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3153866/ Effects of a Standardized Bacopa monnieri Extract on Cognitive Performance, Anxiety, and Depression in the Elderly: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial