---

Oct 22, 2008

Rhodiola rosea

Posted in Chemspy, Geek, Science, spectroscopy at 1:00 pm by David Bradley -- 108 Comments; add your comment

The marketing hype surrounding Rhodiola rosea would suggest that anyone taking it would be cured of almost any ailment and have renewed vitality. It may have some benefits, as yet unproven, but the idea that it could allow you to live long and prosper? Well, there are no peer-reviewed scientific research papers to support such claims.

R rosea (aka golden root, roseroot, hóng jǐng tiān in TCM) is a member of the Crassulaceae family and grows across the Arctic, the mountains of Central Asia, the Rockies, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathian Mountains, Scandinavia, Iceland, Great Britain and Ireland. According to some herbalists it could be an elixir for life.

The Wikipedia entry for R rosea says it may be effective for improving mood and alleviating depression and early stage studies on people have shown some efficacy in improving physical and mental performance, alleviating fatigue, and reducing high-altitude sickness. A possible mode of action involves what the entry describes as, “optimizing serotonin and dopamine levels”. This apparently happens by inhibition of the enzyme monoamine oxidase, which supposedly ties in with an effect on endorphins, the body’s natural opiates. However, there is no scientific evidence for this activity and it would seem to be pure speculation.

According to a press release I received recently, R rosea is a remarkable story. It is the story of how a traditional herbal remedy from Sweden became the force behind Soviet Olympic athletes and cosmonauts. The Swedish Herbal Institute has even done what the email claims is “hard” research, unusually for a herbal product, in the form of double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials.

It’s worth noting that the SHI, which seems to be the only place publishing any research on this, actually holds a trademark on an extract of R rosea, referring to it as Arctic Root (SHR-5). So, one might say that their research is not without designs on the herbal remedies market. It is also sold in the US as ADAPT 232.

The press release highlights a previously published article that claims that, “the roots appear to aid the brain by alertness and energy, without any trace of stimulants such as caffeine.”

Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? If the root stimulates the brain, then surely by definition it is a stimulant?

I asked the author of the press release, Linda Todten of publicity company TMC Communications, to explain exactly what the description was intended to convey, this is what she had to say:

As you know, the trend is for “energy drinks” that combine large amounts of caffeine, or caffeine containing plants such as Guarana, along with high amounts of carbs for a big “energy boost.” The studies that the Swedes and Russians have done over the years have shown how this category of plant, the Adaptogen, can actually bring the body back to its full energy level without being over stimulated as happens with caffeine. Plus, the extract SHR-5 has been shown to have a very solid mental acuity boost via double-blind, placebo controlled studies in students or night shift physicians and others.

But, any product with a physiological effect cannot be without some side-effects; no herbal extract could be that specific at the molecular level.

Indeed, the plant root contains a variety of natural products including rosavin, rosarin, rosin and salidroside (and sometimes p-tyrosol, rhodioniside, rhodiolin and rosiridin), which are all described as active ingredients of R rosea. These compounds are polyphenols, they may have some antioxidant activity but have no proven health benefits in humans.

R rosea products are marketed in the USA and elsewhere. Todten had this suggestion: “Think about the fact that this one product (Arctic Root brand) has sold over 400 million doses. Not many dietary supplements can claim that. That says, to me, that people must like the way it works to reduce stress or energize,” she told me. “People are not sheep, and they wouldn’t make a product a best seller in Europe over ten years with hundreds of millions taken if it didn’t do something that they liked!”

Well, it suggests to me nothing more than effective marketing. When the medical literature provides results of large-scale, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of R rosea other than those being carried out by people selling the stuff please let me know.

I realise this last statement may seem contradictory after all, pharmaceutical companies carry out and publish their own trials on their products…but the difference is that regulatory bodies don’t insist on seeing the results and limiting unwarranted allusions to unproven health benefits.

Comments are now closed on this old post as we’ve passed the 100 comment point.