Ancient Herb Is Your Secret Weapon Against Aging

This ancient herb is well known for helping your body fight stress. But recently, researchers discovered another amazing health benefit: It can help you stay in better health as you age.

This discovery is important because with increasing age, your physical resilience can waver and you may struggle with aches and pains, illnesses, and brain fog. But studies show that this herb called rhodiola, can help you avoid those discomforts by getting to the root cause of so many problematic conditions that can ruin your senior years. Keep reading for the inside scoop.

The herb rhodiola (also known as rose root) originated in the colder parts of Asia and Europe and has a long history as an adaptogen – an herb that helps the body deal with stress and anxiety as well as with uncomfortable heat and cold. Today, rhodiola supplements are used around the world for their stress-and fatigue-reducing effects,¹ antidepressant,² anti-inflammatory,³ and antioxidant properties,⁴ as well as to support better physical endurance.

While we’ve written about rhodiola before in terms of its health support and general anti-aging benefits, the latest research has uncovered previously unsuspected cellular benefits that add to its potential as an aid to healthier aging.

Rhodiola’s salidroside secret

These new findings center on a compound in rhodiola called salidroside that acts as a type of secret weapon to help the body eliminate older cells that interfere with the body’s functions and complicate old age. The fact is, when your individual cells break down, they need to be eliminated if you want to maintain good health.

During every day of your life, a small portion of the cells in your body start to malfunction and can no longer function normally. When processes are running smoothly within your various organs, these defunct cells are pulled out of service and their contents are quickly eliminated or recycled to be used by other healthier cells.

But as we get older, the body’s pathways for discarding these dysfunctional cells can falter. More and more of these over-the-hill cells, known as senescent cells, collect without being disassembled. The result: Parts of the body may physiologically start to resemble a cellular junkyard – filled with useless senescent cells that are old and in the way.

Moreover, just as junked cars can rust, fall apart, and release harmful chemicals into the environment, researchers say that senescent cells can “taint healthy cells” by triggering inflammation.⁵ Consequently, studies show that the increased number of malfunctioning cells that pile up during aging are linked to the increased risk of just about any health issue you can name. That includes diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease (and other dementias) along with osteoarthritis. These cells can also interfere with your mobility and even damage your eyesight.

Solving the problem of cellular senescence is a challenge that researchers from around the world are trying to tackle.

The global search for senescent cell zappers

Because senescent cells become such a nuisance – and danger – as we age, researchers have been searching for substances that can help usher them safely out of the body. Much of this research has centered on drugs that act as “senolytics” – agents that help the body clean out its defunct cells.

As part of this quest, scientists have been trying to find substances that inhibit a protein in the body called heat shock protein 90 (HSP90). Left unchecked, HSP90 can prevent senescent cells from undergoing apoptosis (self-inflicted cellular death) and being eliminated.

So, when researchers in Asia looked closely into how the salidroside in rhodiola could produce its anti-aging benefits, they found that it binds to HSP90 and keeps it from interfering with the elimination of senescent cells.⁶

An anti-aging wonder

Along with this study, other investigations revealed that salidroside can help with the elimination of senescent cells in the brain so that your memory and thinking abilities remain strong.⁷

As we’ve noted in other articles, there’s also a growing amount of research into how rhodiola can help with stress – in particular it has been shown to help when stress is “impairing” your sex life.⁸ One of rhodiola’s advantages, in comparison to drugs that are supposed to help with such matters, is that it has virtually no toxicity.

Using rhodiola to help age-proof your body

Rhodiola supplements are widely available and can be found in the form of rhodiola root powder or standardized extracts with one to five percent salidroside. Dosages range from 50mg to 500mg.

Of course, the research into rhodiola and its powerful salidroside is just beginning and there will no doubt be numerous other remarkable health benefits to uncover. We’ll keep you informed as new benefits emerge.

Best regards,
The Green Valley Team