14 Great Products That Sneak More Adaptogens into Your Diet

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Made from the roots, stems, and leaves of assorted plants, adaptogens are typically sold as powders, and even marketers acknowledge that they taste “bitter” and “earthy” — and those are the kindest descriptors. The flavor may work for dedicated health nerds, but for those of us who prefer to actually enjoy what we put in our mouths, chugging down slimy, brown adaptogen drinks that taste like blackened chicory root just isn’t our idea of a good time.

Read next: 7 Ways to Eat for Reduced Stress

However, adaptogens are well-proven to enhance our bodies’ stress responses, and can do everything from improve libido to better sports performance. We’re definitely in favor of getting more of them into our diets for all of their great benefits… we’d just like to avoid taking them straight because their flavor tends to be intense. 

Fortunately, a slew of brands have recently come out with adaptogen-boosted food and drinks that contain healthful, flavor-masking ingredients to offset the strong taste of the adaptogens used. We’ve collected a list of adaptogen-enhanced foods and drinks that make adding this important nutrient group to your diet as painless as possible.

Adaptogenic granola

Starting your day with cereal is quick and fun, but it isn’t exactly the healthiest breakfast. Enter Clusterbucks and Supernola — they aren’t your grandma’s granolas!

Clusterbucks granolas utilize buckwheat instead of oats, making them a grain-free option for those who prefer to avoid grains. They feature flavors like chocolate reishi and lemon cookie crunch, and add adaptogens such as turmeric, ashwagandha, and lion’s mane.

Clusterbucks Granola ($12 for two 6-oz bags; Amazon)

They like to think of themselves as “superfood clusters,” but Supernola most closely resembles granola and can absolutely be eaten with milk. This whole food snack is keto and vegan, and in addition to sprouting the nuts and seeds they use, it’s boosted with adaptogens such as maca. Flavors include Pineapple Ginger Lemon and Dark Chocolate Nut Crunch. They make for a perfect travel snack, with the bonus of helping you feel good. 

Supernola ($15 for six 1.7-oz bags; EatSupernola.com)

Adaptogenic chews and gummies

Gummy vitamins are surprisingly effective, so it’s no surprise that they’d be a useful vehicle for adaptogens. Portion control is key with these guys, but their chewy nature satisfies with the recommended serving size.

For your anxious days (and who doesn’t have one of those on occasion?) PYM Chews rely on amino acids and adaptogens like rhodiola to help you chill out. We love how chewy the texture is, and how about twenty minutes after eating one, we tend to shift from stressed to content. 

PYM Chews ($27 for 60; YouCanPYM.com)

Gaia Herbs is a gold standard brand in the supplement space and they recently expanded their gummy line significantly. They’re sweetened with fruit such as blueberries and dates, rather than sugar or sugar alcohols, and oils from citrus and spice mellow out the herbal notes. The Sleep gummies with ashwagandha and passionflower make for a perfect late night snack, while the Relax ones, featuring holy basil, are a solid choice anytime.

Gaia Herbs Gummies (from $15 for 40; Gaia.com)

Adaptogenic nut butter

Seeking a way to add adaptogens to your next PB&J? Not only do Butterfly nut butters come in gorgeous colors thanks to ingredients like blue spirulina, they’re also enriched with adaptogens like reishi. They use several different nuts to get a wonderfully creamy texture, and also come in savory flavors like rosemary for those of us who have more of a salt tooth than a sweet tooth. The added MCT oil provides a smooth mouthfeel, helping the adaptogens go more unnoticed, and the varied nuts make for a complex flavor profile. 

Butterfly Chocolate Reishi Nut Butter ($7 for 9-oz; Amazon)

Adaptogenic cookies

Dessert always tastes delightful, but isn’t always a great idea — unless, of course, your dessert is working for your health, too. Cookies are possibly the friendliest way possible to add adaptogens to your daily eating habits. 

Naturebox cookies look pretty mainstream, but they’ve got some unusual ingredients. Think Mocha Krispy Squares packed with cordyceps, or their tasty Peanut Butter Maca Cookies. Because their adaptogen cookies contain standard cookie ingredients like wheat flour and butter, they’ll taste just as nostalgic as you’d hope.

Peanut Butter Maca Cookies ($12 for 6-oz; Naturebox.com) 

Read next: 7 Things You Might Not Know About Adaptogens

Adaptogenic chocolates

Chocolate itself contains a wide array of feel-good chemicals, and those are only strengthened by the addition of adaptogens. This was one of the first retail food areas for adaptogens to land in, and this list isn’t at all exhaustive — these are just a couple of our favorites.

Because chocolate naturally contains magnesium, craving it around your period is quite natural. Moody Girl chocolates has a PMS chocolate with the vitamins you need at that time added, but they’ve got you covered the rest of the month, too. The Lover flavor contains maca and horny goat weed, while the Chill Out flavor features ashwagandha. 

Moody Girl Chocolates ($26 for three 2-oz bars; Amazon)

Raw, sugar-free, and vegan, Addictive Wellness chocolates aren’t just beautiful, they’re also full of powerful ingredients like chaga and turkey tail mushrooms. Try the Focus with ginseng and cordyceps, or the Beauty with mucuna. This chocolate brand goes all out on the lesser known herbs too, such as rehmannia and eucommia. 

Addictive Wellness Chocolates ($50 for seven 1.7-oz bars; Amazon)

Adaptogenic drinks

Cracking open a cold one has never been so functional. We love how adaptogen drinks take so little time and effort to make our days better. They travel well, and new brands pop up constantly. 

Not everyone loves carbonation, and Elements knows that. They use clinically proven quantities of their adaptogenic ingredients, meaning you never have to worry if the beverage was worthwhile. While all are excellent, it’s the blueberry and lemon combo of the Focus flavor that has us opening the fridge for another. 

Elements ($36 for twelve 11.5-oz cans; Amazon)

Free Rain doesn’t overthink their drinks; they keep it simple with the ingredients list. Think of it as an enhanced sparkling water — like La Croix but healthier. The tart cherry and siberian ginseng Energy flavor gives us a kick when and where we need it, with no come-down after. Cheers to not getting exhausted by 2pm!

Free Rain ($36 for twelve 12-oz cans; FreeRain.com)

You may have seen Kin Euphorics at your local bar: Their drinks are functional, but are designed to help you socialize, too. Choose the kin Spritz for “social energy,” which features rhodiola, or the Lightwave with reishi when you want to relax. They also offer liquid concentrates so that you can craft your own mocktails and zero-proof beverages with your favorite mixers. 

Kin Euphorics ($34 for eight 8-oz cans; Amazon)

Rather than telling you to forgo your very important morning coffee for an adaptogen drink, Four Sigmatic went ahead and put the two together. The line, which was among the first to bring adaptogen drinks to market, now has everything from protein powder to creamer, but it’s their staple adaptogen-boosted coffee that takes the cake. They come in single serving packets for on-the-road needs, or twelve ounce bags for home usage. 

Four Sigmatic (from $15 for 12-oz; Amazon)

Adaptogenic cocoa

Like your childhood favorite with a little extra brain booster thrown in, adapotgenic cocoa mixes can be added to water, milk, or coffee and offer a liquid adaptogen boost. 

Golden Cocoa, Mushroom Cocoa, or Rose Cocoa? Wooden Spoon Herbs offers all three, and each contains coconut cream so that when added to water, you still have a rich, creamy hot drink. The Mushroom has a host of adaptogens, including astragalus, lion’s mane, and chaga; and the Rose, which features shatavari in addition to Damask rose flower and vanilla bean, is every bit as bliss-inducing as the company claims. We add it to our coffee every. single. morning. 

Wooden Spoon Herbs ($38 for 9-oz; Amazon)

Elements Truffles fortifies their dark hot chocolate mix with ashwagandha and turmeric (and it’s sweetened with coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar, so yay for that, too). Their cocoa is raw, organic, and fair trade, and is technically more of a “drinking chocolate” than a proper cocoa due to the cacao paste added in addition to powder, but we’re not here to split hairs, we’re here to enjoy tasty adaptogenic drinks. 

Elements Truffles ($35 for twelve 1.6-oz bars; Amazon)

Quick recap

Adaptogens are well-proven to improve our lives, but they don’t exactly taste great. With these foods and drinks, you can get more of them into your daily life while you snack and sip like always. From granolas to gummies, these adaptogenic foods and drinks can have you feeling your very best, morning to night. 

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