NOW Foods Rhodiola Extract

Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) is indigenous to the Arctic and Alpine regions of Europe, Asia and America and has long been used as a tonic by many cultures, including the Ancient Greeks. Rhodiola is generally known as an “adaptogen”, a term which refers to any agent possessing the ability to increase the body's capacity to adapt to stressful conditions. This standardized extract of min. 3% Total Rosavins and min. 1% Salidrosides is the highest potency of Rhodiola available.

• Adaptogenic Herb
• 3% Standardized Extract
• Helps body to adapt to stress
• Vegetarian Formula

When NOW Foods set out to find an herbal product that offered a rich history of traditional use as well as modern scientific studies substantiating what our ancestors inherently knew, we looked into Rhodiola rosea. I was raised by European parents that taught us to go directly to the source, to the people who know the product from the ground up. This search brought me face to face with a man who I’ve come to trust as a man of integrity, Dr. Zakir Ramazanov. Zakir educated us on the science behind Rhodiola that separated fact from fiction. His book Stress and Weight Management Effective Herbal Therapy using Rhodiola rosea and Rhododendren caucasicum reveals the most credible information I’ve read regarding this legendary Siberian “Golden Root” as it’s sometimes called.

Rhodiola rosea root extract has been the subject of 21 human and 42 animal studies that tested its beneficial effects for mental performance, physical performance, antioxidant activity and cardio-protective performance, to name a few. After reading the various studies and becoming more familiar with this herb, it is quite evident that Rhodiola rosea is indeed the premier adaptogen. An adaptogen is a safe substance that enables the body to resist adverse stressors whether they are physical, chemical, or biological, while assisting recovery and maintaining homeostasis.

The information regarding pharmacological activity and chemical composition we attained through Dr. Zakirs’ research proved to be very valuable to our Quality Assurance department as we had analyzed samples from various vendors before qualifying a true Rhodiola rosea extract powder. Analytical testing performed at two independent 3rd party laboratories utilizing High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) confirmed that our chosen vendor was indeed providing us with the authentic rosea species of Rhodiola and not one of the other 19 known species that have been marketed world wide with inferior chemical compositions completely void of the most active compounds known as Rosavins.

All known species of Rhodiola contain an active compound known as salidroside and in the past were tested and standardized to contain a minimum .6%of it. Research by Russian scientists seemed to indicate that the rosea specie produced dramatically superior results in various animal and human studies and they set out to investigate why. Years of intensive research and the development of a new HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatographs) analysis method enabled them to discover a group of compounds peculiar to only the rosea species called Rosavins. These Rosavins are actually comprised of rosavin, rosin and rosarin. The bottom line is that based on decades of Russian and European research the only Rhodiola product that has been clinically tested and proven safe for human health is the Rhodiola rosea root extract standardized to a minimum 3 percent Rosavins and a minimum 1 % salidrosides.

NOW's Mission
The NOW mission is - To provide value in products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives. NOW Foods is an award-winning and highly respected manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements and natural foods.

In 1948, with the natural food and supplement industry in its infancy, entrepreneur Paul Richard paid $900 for the purchase of Fearn Soya Foods—a Chicago based manufacturer of grain and legume-based products. This began a six-decade legacy of providing health-seeking consumers with high-quality, affordable nutrition products.

History of NOW
In 1968, NOW Foods was founded under the belief that good health was not a luxury available only to the wealthy. For the past forty years, NOW has made it their life's work to offer health food and nutritional supplements of the highest quality, at prices that are fair and affordable to all those who seek them. Today, NOW Foods is one of the top-selling brands in health foods stores, an award-winning manufacturer, a respected advocate of the natural product industry, and a leader in the fields of nutritional science and methods development. And while NOW has grown considerably over the past four decades, one thing has never changed – NOW's commitment to providing products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives.

NOW Commitments

• Customer Focused and Information Driven - NOW believes that their products, services, and the decisions they make should be primarily influenced by the desires and needs of NOW customers. The decisions that NOW makes should be based on accurate information and therefore NOW places a high value on knowledge and learning within their organization.
• Quality and Value Oriented - Acting in the best interest of NOW customers, NOW endeavors to produce the highest quality products at competitive prices. NOW's first priority is to maintain quality where it counts the most – in the products. NOW's exceptional cost-conscious team of employees then focuses their energies on driving costs down. Nurturing this competency of value drives NOW's ability to provide high quality products at the very best prices.
• Natural is Better - NOW is convinced that natural products are better than their synthetic counterparts and produce better results in human health. Therefore, wherever possible, NOW strives to provide products that contain natural ingredients because they are better for their customers.

NOW Science
NOW's experienced professional and technical staff formulates their products to be of the highest quality. NOW has a group of biochemists, chemists, nutritionists, and food technologists who review current science and nutritional parameters, and formulate our products to be effective for the intended use. NOW's structure/function claims are based on science for active ingredients, and on nutritional science for nutritional content. Serving sizes are based on doses from clinical studies and other published data. NOW's contemporary formulas are designed to meet the health and wellness needs of today’s consumers. NOW uses ingredients that have been tested for effectiveness in clinical trials and laboratory studies. The heart of NOW science is third party independent research. NOW investigates and review clinical studies and other lab studies conducted on their ingredients and their formulas. Best science is used to support best formulations which lead to best quality. NOW products are constantly being tested in clinical trials conducted at top universities and research centers around the country and in various parts of the world. NOW products are being tested to determine such things as effectiveness for joint support, quality of life for cancer patients, cardiovascular support, and athletic endurance. Effective products mean health and wellness benefits, which mean quality.

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NOW’s GMP certification covers standard operating procedures, employee training, product specifications, expiration dating, vendor certifications and much more. Standard operating procedures include sampling and testing incoming materials according to NOW Foods specifications, inspecting manufacturing processes, and testing finished products to specifications. Tests include organoleptic evaluation (human senses such as sight, taste, smell), physical testing of tablets and capsules, chemical identity of ingredients, potency and contamination testing by the company’s in-house state-of-the-art analytical testing lab, as well as microbiological testing by NOW Foods’ in-house rapid analysis microbiological lab.