November has arrived, and fatigue is starting to set in. If you’re like most of us, you’re feeling more tired than you were in the summer months. As the sun becomes significantly weaker, most people find themselves feeling more fatigued…and many turn to caffeine to give them a boost. But is caffeine the proper solution?

It’s a common belief that caffeine can give you a quick jolt of energy, so it’s no surprise that so many of us are so addicted to it! In reality, however, caffeine doesn’t provide any extra energy, it just temporarily masks fatigue by enhancing your state of alertness. This effect is short-lived (as many of us have experienced!) and you’ll need another dose of caffeine an hour or so later to keep staving off the fatigue and prevent it from hitting you like a ton of bricks. It’s called the rebound effect — once you start consuming caffeine, you have to keep consuming it or risk feeling even more tired than you did before you had that coffee or energy drink.  If don’t want to drink a cup of coffee or knock back an energy drink every hour (for obvious health-related reasons — yes, there is a maximum safe dosage of caffeine per day), look to energizing plants as the long-term solution.

Energizing plants, often called “ginsengs”, do not contain caffeine and they don’t mask fatigue. Instead, they enhance your body’s ability to resist stress. Fatigue is a stress factor for your body, and ginsengs help you to combat it by giving you renewed energy. Unlike caffeine, ginsengs do not produce instant energy, but rather a long-lasting result with no rebound effect. A word of caution: Because ginsengs do have longer lasting effects, we’d recommend taking them in the mornings to start your day in order to avoid insomnia at nighttime.

Want to try swapping out your daily dose of caffeine for ginseng? Adrien Gagnon’s Super Energex formula is a great blend of energizing plants. It contains Siberian ginseng, Chinese ginseng, Indian ginseng, Peruvian ginseng and Brazilian ginseng. It also contains vitamin B and Kola Nut, which naturally contains a small amount of caffeine. These two ingredients give Super Energex a fast-acting energizing effect. Once this effect wears off, the ginsengs take over to maintain your energy level throughout the day and evening.

Remember, only proper rest and sleep can really overcome fatigue — ginsengs can be really helpful, but aren’t a long-term solution meant to be taken continously. Take a week long break from ginsengs after you’ve been taking them for a month — your body will let you know if it needs another boost or if it’s back to it’s normal energy level!