Passionflower is prescribed in herbal medicine for nervous restlessness and anxiety. So, is Passiflora an adaptogen? Let’s remember: Adaptogens are plant compounds that help people cope with stress more effectively. Chronic stress is now also considered by conventional medicine to be one of the greatest negative factors affecting health.
Chronic stress causes our bodies to release increased amounts of adrenaline and cortisol. Among other things, these substances cause chronic inflammation in the body, inhibit the formation of new brain cells, and much more. If we succeed in stopping the stress response, this is a blessing for our health.
After alcohol and nicotine, powerful sedatives—so-called benzodiazepines—represent the third-largest substance group on which people in Germany become dependent. Passiflora extract, on the other hand, is in no way addictive. If Passiflora worked similarly to benzodiazepines without the negative side effects, that would be wonderful news for many people. Whether this could actually be the case... science will probably have to examine it in numerous clinical studies first (:
In traditional medicine, people are content with the effects they observe in themselves.
The main reason Pino Gordo contains Passiflora, of course, is that Passiflora contains the aromatase inhibitor chrysin. In laboratory experiments, chrysin inhibits aromatase—the enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. Whether this effect also occurs in humans after oral intake is scientifically disputed, because chrysin is poorly absorbed. We still find the idea behind it exciting enough to include in the formula. What exactly testosterone does, I’m once again not allowed to say here. Let’s simply say: It makes Pino nice and Gordo (:
The fact that Passiflora also seems to have properties related to those of adaptogens beyond its chrysin content is a welcome side effect! As mentioned, less chronic stress also means less cortisol in the blood and therefore more testosterone that we have produced ourselves (!) Isn’t that brilliant!
Learn more about passionflower itself in Passionflower (Passiflora): Constituents, History, and Uses, and about the bigger picture of pine pollen in our comprehensive overview.