Herb Origin/History

Eleuthero is one of the most well-known, effective, and researched adaptogens in the world. It was first introduced to North American markets in the late 1970s as “Siberian Ginseng”, in a marketing move to take advantage of the already noble reputation of ginseng. And although eleuthero is a distant relative of Chinese Ginseng (Panax ginseng) it is not a true ginseng since it is not from the genus Panax. Eleuthero is a creeping, thorny plant growing around 2 to 3 metres in height. It is native to the taiga region of the Far East (eastern Siberia in Russia), and various relatives are spread throughout northern China, Korea, and Japan.

Common Uses

Eleuthero’s therapeutic pedigree dates back nearly two thousand years, having been used in traditional Chinese medicine to prevent respiratory tract infections, colds, and flu. The peoples in the taiga region of Siberia relied on it to increase vitality and quality of life and decrease infections. It helps protect the body and support its various systems against stress in a wide range of contexts (workload, heat, cold, exercise, radiation), as a true adaptogen does. Eleuthero has been shown to produce beneficial effects on numerous human physiological functions, including visual acuity, color differentiation, hearing, proneness to fatigue, cognition, and motor activity.