Maybe you need them, too. From Adaptogenic Herbs: List, Effectiveness, and Health Benefits :



That's where I started, but I've never gotten along with Ginseng. The taste creeps me out, and considering DH is an herbalist, I've gotten many piping hot cups of swamp water. But I can't take ginseng.

I never tried Schisandra, as I was lowcarbing with increased intensity and didn't have liver or blood sugar issues. However, early on, I tried arctic root, and it really seemed to help me move into winter, as the people in the plant's native areas have done for centuries.

Their effects will work best when the body is supported in healing with all the ways it needs. They can't do it by themselves. But they still do wonderful things for me.

I've discovered three that really help me, and there's many more to explore.

• Arctic Root
  
  I took it in capsules which were clearly ground up roots, so taste was not an issue. Unlike ginseng (tried both North American and Siberian), I wasn't reminded I didn't like the taste at random moments during the next hour Which was another reason to cross all forms of ginseng off my list.
  
  I take it daily for a couple of months as fall appears and wanes. They don't know how it works, but since I come from Alpine regions and herding more than farming, I eat more dairy than plants. I figure this would have a geographic advantage and I still rely on it.
  
  
• Ashwaganda is a real champ for me. When I discovered that it shared some of this quality with green tea, I switched from coffee to tea. Science had even isolated the active ingredient, l-theanine, and I bought a tub of this tasteless, easy to blend, white powder.
  
  Now I use l-theanine capsules so I have a consistent 600 mg a day, spaced out, and worked my way that high over months. Because I have severe cortisol resistance, and this lowers it. I merely drink my green tea as a beverage, and drink different kinds of tea.
  
  Part of my morning routine is a giant mug of chai, instead of coffee. I can add my l-theanine powder if I feel the need, but then, this is how I worked my way up to 600 mg of this neurotransmitter a day. At such high doses, I've stopped other non-food sources temporarily.
  
  
• Shankhapushpi is a GAME CHANGER. It's about revitalization and that's how it worked for me.
  
  But then again, I was sooooo close from all the bed rest and successful supplements I only got -- at last! -- the fall of 2021. At first, while it made me feel much better, it actually made me more tired. But I felt I was getting in touch with my body's needs at long last.
  
  With the new supplements, my body said, for months, "Let's stay in low gear while I try to get my act together." And for the first time, I had the opportunity to give it what it wanted for as long as it wanted, which was the whole, long, mountain winter.
  
  Spring came and the cats were cavorting and I was cavorting too, but only mentally, and not for very long. I was cheered that there was still brain matter left to work with, and I figured the bed rest meant I need to build my stamina. Slowly. Which worked, but Shankhapushpi turbocharged the process.
  
  I hadn't added anything new for at least a month, one of my Best Practices. I hadn't changed anything else. I started in April and since then effects have been undeniable. I TINGLED every time I took it the first week, in a very pleasant way. While that effect has faded, my stamina, in all ways, has gotten far better than can be accounted for via effort on my part.
  
  I'm still cautious. So now, I do not push. I only extend as much effort as I have. Which is much faster than I ever expected, coming from such a low.
  

Pro tips:

Don't plan on tea unless you actually like the taste.

Funnily enough, the Shankhapushpi smells like it would be horrible tea, which it is. It doesn't even dissolve. Like cinnamon, it needs to be muddled into some kind of carrier. The package suggested water, fruit juice, or milk for a shot glass approach. I had gotten the least-messed-with version, which is powder which came in a bag and needs a measuring spoon to accurately dispense.

I don't drink milk, but I put it in my morning yogurt/whey protein smoothie, which worked. And it even made the smoothie taste better. Some kind of exotic undertone crept in, and livened up something that needs it

Dairy and this herb have magical effects on each other. And, perhaps, on me

Source well, dose well.

I've always had good results with the NOW and Wild Harvest brands. I prefer to go online if I don't have a health food store which has rotating stock and some sense of good companies to deal with. Fakery and carelessness is rampant in the supplement industry, and many people give up on things that would actually help them, if they were good quality.

Shankhapushpi was only readily available online in bags of ground herb, so I checked the back of the photos online and saw batch numbers, manufacturing and best buy dates. That's rather professional, as was the organic certification with an accreditation number. Of course, these can be faked, but scam artists wouldn't bother with what seems like an obscure herb with no marketing.

L-theanine is readily available in capsules, or powder. Bulk powder is cheaper, but you might need a reliable way of weighing grams. Either ground herb or a distilled ingredient might have guidelines like 1/4 teaspoon twice a day, which takes the guesswork out, but it might not dissolve in your favorite beverage, or enhance it. That part is a gamble

Keep track.

The effect is usually subtle. I think I got a such-a-surge from my Shankhapushpi because I was feeling well, except in the department this herb was said to address. Had this been the first thing I tried, any good effects would not have been able to activate.

Settle on an herb, don't do anything else different for a month, note any shifts in mood or performance.

It's a little thing that can be a big help.