How Adapt Drinks Relax works

Adapt Drinks fit within the category of functional drinks. This means they are non-alcoholic, contain ingredients like herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids or added raw fruit or vegetables, which provide health benefits beyond their base nutritional value. Think of drinks like kombucha, kefir, energy drinks and the like. They are drinks that provide a function as well as being a tasty beverage!  

We created Adapt Drinks to have the function of helping you relax and unwind at the end of the day. The drinks do this in both the short and the long term.

Relaxing you immediately

L-theanine is a key ingredient in Adapt Relax. It is an amino acid that is not common in the diet and it promotes relaxation without drowsiness.

It is found in meaningful amounts in tea but tea also contains caffeine which isn’t something you always want to be consuming when you are trying to relax! Other than tea, supplementation is the main source of l-theanine in the human diet.

There are numerous rigorous studies that highlight the positive effect l-theanine can have in terms of relaxation and managing stress. (You can read more details about the studies here.) 

One can of Adapt Relax contains 132mg of l-theanine a much higher dose than is typically found in a cup of tea (approximately 20mg). And this is double the 50mg of l-theanine per day that was given to participants in a study that showed it to be an effective mechanism to increase relaxation.

And not only can l-theanine help you relax but it has also been shown to help you get to sleep and have better quality sleep. Unlike conventional sleep inducers, l-theanine is not a sedative but promotes good quality of sleep through anxiolysis (reduction of anxiety). Anxiolysis is required for the initiation of high-quality sleep. [1] Consuming Adapt Drinks Relax in the late afternoon or early evening helps you relax and sets you up for a good night's sleep.

Helping you stay relaxed over the longer term

Adapt Drinks Relax also contains two adaptogenic herbs. Adaptogenic herbs or adaptogens are a select group of herbs that have powerful properties to help our bodies cope with the stressors of modern life. 

Adaptogens have been shown to help your body by increasing your ability to resist stress and decreasing your sensitivity to stressors. This happens through the way they affect your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. 

The HPA axis is a major neuroendocrine system within the body that controls your reactions to stress and also regulates a number of your body's other processes like digestion, mood and emotions, sexuality, energy storage and expenditure, and immunity.

When you experience challenging and stressful situations, your body senses this as a perceived threat. Your hypothalamus works as an alarm system for your body and when it senses a threat it sets off the alarm. The alarm takes the shape of a release of a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.

The body's stress response system is usually self-limiting. Once a perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. As adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to baseline levels, and other systems resume their regular activities.

However if there is long-term activation of the stress response system and overexposure to cortisol it can disrupt almost all your body's processes causing health problems like:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Digestive problems
• Headaches
• Muscle tension and pain
• Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke
• Sleep problems
• Weight gain
• Memory and concentration impairment

Taking adaptogens regularly allows for them to build up in your body over time and block some of the cortisol response, so when you experience challenging and stressful situations the alarm is not going off so hard and the disruption to your body is minimised. Adaptogens also help return your body to homeostasis quicker. 

Diagram: based on the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model created by David McQuillan and altered to highlight the impact adaptogenic herbs have on the GAS as studied by Panossian and Wikman (2010). (2)

If you would like to delve even further into the stress response which includes an explanation of the three phases (alarm, resistance, and exhaustion) and how it works, then click here - The Stress Response and Adaptogens.

What adaptogens are in Adapt Drinks?

Adapt Drinks Relax contains two key adaptogens:

• Schisandra berry extract - has been shown to reduce stress, improve endurance and performance and boost the immune system.
• Panax ginseng extract - has been shown to have a calming effect, improve energy and enhance memory. 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: all content provided here is of a general nature only and is not a substitute for individualised professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and reliance should not be placed on it. For personalised medical or nutrition advice, please make an appointment with your doctor, dietitian or qualified health care professional. 

[1] Journal of the American College of Nutrition - In Search of a Safe Natural Sleep Aid - Theertham P Rao, Motoko Ozeki, Lekh R Juneja

- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25759004/

[2]  Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress—Protective Activity - Alexander Panossian and Georg Wikman

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3991026/