USDA-Certified OrganicOf the many health-enhancing qualities schizandra berry has, its role as a balancing, normalizing substance at the cellular level is considered by a growing number of health practitioners to be its greatest attribute. The Adaptogen’s ability to foster homeostasis is the emerging answer to how we can live longer, disease-free lives. This unique quality is rare. Nature has bestowed it sparingly.
Homeostasis is not a household term, yet its status within us is vitally important to our ability to remain alive. The processes behind the term are continually at work day and night. Without them functioning properly we would grow ill and soon die!
Simply put, our bodies have self-regulating biological mechanisms that work to keep our cells functioning in a stable condition. These built-in processes are continually sensing and adjusting our body’s cellular environments. If we walk out into the cold without adequate clothing on we shiver and look for ways to get warm. If we become dehydrated our mouths and throats feel dry and we begin to look for liquids.
Biological Science calls this self-regulating process, ‘Physiological Homeostasis’. In simpler terms this translates to ‘internal equilibrium’. It is the striving of the body to maintain its balance by what we could call ‘corrective actions’. The actions are instigated by internal feedback from various internal ‘receptors and effectors’ whose job it is to maintain the favorable conditions so that our cells remain functioning like they are designed to. It is beyond the scope of this brief description to attempt an explanation of how homeostasis works. We have provided online resources at the end of this page for those interested in learning more.
As yet, there are no in-depth studies as to how Adaptogens work to maintain homeostasis. However, the results of what we now call homeostasis have been observed for thousands of years by generations of Asian practitioners after prescribing herbs such as schizandra berry for their patients. Modern science has simply put a new name to something well known to those astute observers of life.
As most know, there are many new ‘superfruits’ being discovered almost every week it seems. While some may possess very high levels of anti-oxidants and other interesting nutrients, none of them have a history of observed adaptogenic effects - as does schizandra berry. It is an important difference to recognize and make because it is becoming evident that lasting high levels of health are the result of balancing the body’s internal systems. It has been observed that if one of the body’s systems goes out of balance, normally the body can compensate for it. If two go out of balance, serious illness is generally the result. If three of the body’s systems go out of balance, death will almost certainly follow.
The taking of larger and larger amounts of nutrients has been a growing trend for the past few years. The ever-increasing ‘shouting match’ and ‘bragging rights’ surrounding anti-oxidants are a case in point. Yet there is growing concern among more than a few health experts that ingesting large amounts of any nutrient may not be desirable over the long run. The Asian Practitioner might also add that these large amounts may actually serve to throw the body out of its proper balance.
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