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Welcome to Mindful Drinking and Moderation in Midlife, Drinks 101, where in just a couple of minutes each week I help you to understand some of the mysteries behind low, no, and light alcohol drinks. Today we're looking at adaptogens. Following last week's first Drinks 101, where we looked at the broader topic of functional beverages in general, for the next three weeks we'll be looking more closely at the main types that we find in the low, no, and light drinks space. Now, adaptogens are ingredients, usually naturally occurring herbs, fungi, and botanicals that have bioactive compounds that help the body to adapt to stress and restore balance. They've been used for centuries in Eastern medicine and they're now finding their way into more mainstream beverage consumption amongst those of us who are looking to do things a little bit differently. Now, many brands are including adaptogens in their low-no drinks to help users still achieve a sense of personal or social ease that they would have previously tried to get from alcohol. Examples of adaptogens include ingredients like lion's mane mushroom, which we use for memory and overall cognitive function. You'll see lion's mane absolutely everywhere at the moment. Reishi mushrooms, which we use for immune support, ashwagandha, which we use for stress reduction and improved sleep. And then we've got things like Ltheanine, which is extracted from green tea, which is used for reducing anxiety and improving focus, and then ginseng for natural energy boost. Now, obviously, there are a lot more ingredients out there that can be included, and you'll find these and other ingredients in drinks from brands like Sentia, Collider, and 3 Spirit. Other adaptogenic ingredients may have more health and fitness focused roles, such as the 10 grams of protein found in non-alcoholic beer brand Lifted Brewing. That's made for those post-workout moments so that you don't lose any of your gym gains, but still get that great beer taste that you love. Although I reckon you might still get some funny looks from other gym goers. I spoke to the founder of Lifted Protein Beer in episode 94. So I'll link to that in the show notes for you. And you'll also find my email address there if you'd like to send me a question to answer in another drinks 101. Next time we're looking at new tropics. Until then, cheers to a life less intoxicated.