Rhaponticum carthamoides is part of the Compositae plant family which grows in southern Siberia. Its pharmacological use dates back to ancient times and it has been used for over 5,000 years in traditional Chinese, Tibetan and Mongol medicine. In 1961, liquid extract of Rhaponticum carthamoides was officially recognized and included in the Russian pharmacopoeia as a natural remedy for fatigue, for improving mental and physical performance and for reducing recovery times following illness.

A number of animal and human studies have shown beneficial effects for Rhaponticum carthamoides and ecdysterones, in particular:

• adaptogenic activity: it increases capacity for work, improves stress response and adaptability to mental and physical challenges, and boosts capacity for physical and mental work in difficult conditions;
• anabolic action: it directly accelerates protein synthesis. It also has the capacity to increase bodyweight by improving muscle/fat ratio, to increase haemoglobin and erythrocyte levels, to raise total protein levels in the blood and to reduce the accumulation of uric acid. This action is comparable to certain anabolic steroids but without the harmful side-effects;
• in trained athletes, it improves endurance, speed, recovery and other physiological parameters;
• taken orally for three weeks, it reduced body fat and increased lean muscle under conditions of daily aerobic-anaerobic training;
• when given to rats for a period of 7 days, ecdysterones extracted from Rhaponticum carthamoides resulted in accelerated weight gain as well as an increase in the weight of their liver, heart and kidneys;
• given to long-distance runners for 20 days, Rhaponticum carthamoides extract combated the immune system-weakening effects of intensive physical exercise, while increasing the athletes’ work capacity by 10 to 15%;
• research into its cardiovascular effects suggests that it is able to increase physical capacity partly because it improves the supply of nutrients to the brain and to muscles;
• a study on military cadets showed improvements in their appetite, their sleep quality and their general physical and mental condition.