The 7 adaptogens: seven plants, seven traditions — 2026 guide

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The word "adaptogen" was coined in 1947 by the Soviet pharmacologist Nikolai Lazarev. Israel Brekhman and Igor Dardymov published a pharmacological definition of it in 1969. The plants this word gathers are far older: India, China, Tibet, Siberia and the Andes drank them under other names.

Here are seven plants found on almost every list of adaptogens. We arrange them by geography, from India to the Andes, with no ranking: for each one, its native name, the tradition that drinks it, and the form in which we offer it. In the European Union, no health claims are authorised for these plants; we tell their story, without promises.

1. Ashwagandha, the strength of the horse

Native name: aśvagandhā, in Sanskrit, "smell of horse", because the fresh root smells of the stable; it is also called "Indian ginseng".

Tradition: Ayurveda places it among the rasayana, a word that can be translated as "the path of essence". Tradition drinks it in warm milk, with honey and long pepper, pippali, and reads it in three stages: twenty-one days, three months, a year.

At INFUSE: a whole-root powder from India, from a certified organic supply chain, inspected by a certification body, in 50 g, 100 g and 200 g. A teaspoon in 250 ml of warm milk, with a pinch of cardamom. See our ashwagandha and the article Ashwagandha, the strength of the horse.

2. Shatavari, she of a hundred roots

Native name: śatāvarī, in Sanskrit, "she of a hundred roots", after the tubers that branch out beneath the plant; popular usage also reads "she of a hundred husbands". It is a wild asparagus, Asparagus racemosus.

Tradition: another rasayana of Ayurveda, the plant of women. Shatavari Kalpa is made with lukewarm milk, a dab of ghee, a pinch of cardamom, sometimes saffron, and is drunk in the evening.

At INFUSE: a powder from India, from a certified organic supply chain, in 50 g, 100 g and 200 g. Wild shatavari is threatened by over-harvesting: ours comes from cultivation. See our shatavari and the article Shatavari, the queen of a hundred roots.

3. Rhodiola, the Golden Root

Native name: the Golden Root of the cold lands; roseroot in English, because the cut root smells of roses; solo marpo in Tibetan medicine, hong jing tian in Chinese.

Tradition: Rhodiola rosea grows on cliffs and tundra, from the Altai to Scandinavia. In the Altai Republic, the "Golden Mountains", it has been revered since time immemorial; the Buryats, the Tuvans and the Altai people gather it and drink it as a decoction, in courses of seven to twenty-one days. Scandinavian tradition has it that the Vikings carried it on their long voyages.

At INFUSE: pieces of dried root, from Eastern Europe. A tablespoon in a litre of water, at a gentle simmer for twenty minutes, preferably in the morning. See our rhodiola and the article Rhodiola rosea, roseroot.

4. Schisandra, the five-flavour berry

Native name: wǔ wèi zǐ, in Chinese, "the five-flavour fruit": the small red berry is at once sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent, the five flavours of Chinese medicine.

Tradition: Schisandra chinensis is a vine of northeastern China and the Russian Far East. The Shennong Ben Cao Jing already mentions it. Nanai and Udege hunters of the Amur carried a handful of dried berries on their long hunts; Soviet researchers took an interest in it in the twentieth century.

At INFUSE: we do not offer it. Its story is told in the article Schisandra, the five-flavour berry.

5. Reishi, the mushroom of immortality

Native name: lingzhi in Chinese, the mushroom of the subtle spirit; mannentake in Japanese, "the ten-thousand-year mushroom".

Tradition: the Shennong Ben Cao Jing, a treatise of the Han era, places it in its highest class, shang pin. The Taoists made it the plant of the immortals; Shou Lao, the old man with the towering forehead in Taoist paintings, holds it in his hand. Tradition says that in the year 1004 an imperial edict sent every wild reishi found in the Empire to the palace.

At INFUSE: slices of reishi wild-harvested in Siberia, for slow decoction, and a 15:1 fruiting-body extract from reishi cultivated in China, dual-extracted with water and alcohol. See our reishi and the article Reishi, the mushroom of immortality.

6. Cordyceps, summer grass, winter worm

Native name: yartsa gunbu, in Tibetan, "summer grass, winter worm".

Tradition: the wild mushroom grows in the high pastures of Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal, above 3,000 metres, from a caterpillar it has colonised underground. Every spring, nomad families search for it by hand in the grass; the harvest weighs on the pastures, and the wild mushroom has become rare and expensive.

At INFUSE: our cordyceps comes from cultivation, not from the pastures: a 6:1 mycelium extract of the CS-4 strain, from the Cordyceps sinensis lineage, made in Estonia, alcohol-free, water-soluble. See our cordyceps and the article Cordyceps, the mushroom of the breath.

7. Maca, the root of 4,000 metres

Native name: maka, in Quechua.

Tradition: maca is a crucifer domesticated in the central Andes, long before the Inca empire, and grown on the high plateaus of Junín and Pasco, above 4,000 metres. It is dried in the sun, sometimes for months, then cooked: it is not eaten raw. A legend of the high plateaus says that the root, long hidden underground, was revealed by lightning. Each harvest gives mostly yellow, some red, and less black still; the growers read this share as a lesson: yellow for every day, the others rarer.

At INFUSE: a maca powder from Junín, from a certified organic supply chain, yellow or red, in 100 g and 200 g; black is out of the catalogue for now. Half to one teaspoon in a hot drink or a porridge, with cacao or cinnamon. See our maca and the article Yellow maca, the food of the plateau.

Several at once

The traditions like to combine them, in warm milk in India, in decoctions in China. Our Adaptogenic Blend, the Inner Fire, brings together three of these seven plants, ashwagandha, shatavari and maca, with mucuna, chaga and lucuma. When plants are combined, their precautions add up.

Precautions

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: none of these seven plants without the advice of a health professional; schisandra and rhodiola are to be avoided.
• Ashwagandha: thyroid medication, medical advice first. Rare cases of liver injury have been linked to its supplements: stop and see a doctor if any unusual digestive symptoms appear. Avoid if allergic to nightshades.
• Shatavari: avoid if allergic to asparagus; medical advice with an oestrogen-sensitive condition (breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis).
• Rhodiola: blood pressure medication, diabetes medication, autoimmune disease: medical advice first.
• Maca: thyroid disorder or a history of hormone-dependent cancer: medical advice.
• Reishi: anticoagulants, blood pressure medication, immunosuppressants, transplant, autoimmune disease: medical advice first. Caution if allergic to mushrooms.
• Cordyceps: autoimmune disease, anticoagulant treatment: not without medical advice.
• Schisandra: it can change how some medications act; with ongoing treatment, medical advice first. Caution with reflux.
• Ashwagandha and reishi: stop two weeks before planned surgery.

When in doubt, your doctor before the plant.

Sources

• Brekhman, I. I. & Dardymov, I. V. (1969), "New substances of plant origin which increase non-specific resistance", Annual Review of Pharmacology 9.
• Charaka Samhita: the rasayana.
• Shennong Ben Cao Jing (Han era): lingzhi among the shang pin.
• Christian Rätsch, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants, Park Street Press, 2005.
• Our suppliers' technical sheets: origins, forms, certifications.

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