A Golden Herb Helps Weight Loss And Improves Mood

Did you know that there is a herb that not only helps you lose weight, but improves your feeling of wellbeing and ability to handle stress as well. Now that would be of interest wouldn’t it?

How can goldenroot help?
Recently, researchers have discovered the slimming properties of rhodiola rosea (or goldenroot), a little known flower that grows wild in the northern regions of Europe and Scandinavia. Chemicals in the flower activate the enzyme lipase, which works to strip fat from storage in fat tissue.

In a clinical study at the Georgian State Hospital (in the former Soviet Union), 130 overweight patients were given rhodiola rosea extract for 90 days. At the conclusion of the study, 92 per cent had lost an average of 20 pounds. A control group on the same diet – but without the flower extract – lost only 8 pounds.

The forgotten element in weight loss
Rhodiola rosea doesn’t just aid weight loss as it is also a gentle but effective mood enhancer, helping to prevent sudden emotional shifts. Successfully losing weight is not just about cutting calories, eating more healthily and increasing the amount of exercise you take. There is also the emotional element that cannot be separated from our eating habits and patterns and our feelings such as sadness, disappointment or guilt and low self esteem that can often accompany an inability to really lose excess weight successfully

What needs to happen for long-term, sustainable, weight loss is being able to stabilise your feelings and moods related to food. One way that can happen is with a little known flower that grows wild in the northern regions of Europe and Scandinavia and helps you look and feel better.

Recently, researchers in a clinical study at the Georgian State Hospital (in the former Soviet Union) have discovered the slimming properties of rhodiola rosea (or goldenroot). They found that chemicals in the flower can activate the enzyme lipase, which works to strip fat from storage in fat tissue.

Because goldenroot also helps with mood and low levels of depression, the 130 overweight patients who were given rhodiola rosea extract not only lost an average of 20 pounds but also experienced a gentle but effective mood enhancement that helped them to prevent sudden emotional shifts that can disrupt your attempts to diet.

The link between dieting and mood
Researchers have firmly established the need for mood stabilisation in weight loss and some new studies are looking at the use of antidepressants in treating obesity. It is certainly a current trend for women at menopause to be offered antidepressants rather than HRT, or when they are taken off it.

This effect is stronger in those individuals who suffer from mild to moderate depression. Rhodiola’s effects on stress are well documented. A recent double-blind placebo test of foreign students in Russia showed a dramatic improvement in feelings of wellbeing and the ability to handle stressful situations

This is not news to me, as the flower is as an adaptogen – in other words it is a herb that helps your body adapt to a variety of stresses placed upon it. I first came across it a few years ago when it was being promoted as a help with depression, but the beauty of an adaptogen is that if you’re low on energy, the herb will increase it, or if your immune system is low it will help boost it.

Because it can also help lift your mood it can help with weight loss as it can address complex levels of emotional and self esteem issues that can arise when trying to lose weight. Whatever your reasons for wanting to lose weight, whether for health or to improve your appearance, there may well be underlying feelings of frustration, disappointment and sadness that can arise. WE are emotional creatures and not factoring that in when losing weight will make it that much harder.

As with all supplements it is best to check the active ingredients to ensure you get the maximum benefit. Ideally it should contain approximately 3 per cent rosavins and 1 per cent salidroside as they are believed to be the two most important ingredients in rhodiola, which are responsible for its anti-stress properties. The recommended dose is 200mg to 600mg of standardised rhodiola rosea root extract per day. It is best to take the tablets before meals and with water.

More information
To maximise weight loss choose a healthy diet that gives you all the nutrients you need and the Dash diet has been found to do just that and also help you lose weight.

Hormone balance also plays a part as oestrogen dominance is linked to weight gain and progesterone’s role as a diuretic can help shed those extra pounds more easily.