Ashwagandha - Intelligent Stress Reduction
Below is a deep dive into some of the science and common benefits of taking Ashwagandha root as a supplement. At the bottom of the article is a comprehensive list of just the benefits on their own along with a link to the product page. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to contact us!
Who is Ashwagandha?
I think it’s safe to say that most medicinal herbs used today have a history going back thousands of years. Indigenous people have taken herbs and their extracts for a variety of uses. Some of these are well documented and others have just been resurfacing in recent years as scientific research has included more of these medicinal plants.
Yet of these Ashwagandha (withania somnifera) is considered by some to be the King of Herbs and is revered in many cultures. It is the king because the use cases are far more numerous, affecting most parts of the body from your head to your toes in some capacity, where as other herbs might be more specialized. We are blessed to have thorough scientific studies on it as well as ancient documents highlighting its many uses.
This plant naturally grows in and around India and North Africa and appears as a small shrub up to 2 feet tall with yellow flowers that produce orange berries. Though the leaves and berries do have some medicine in them, it is the roots that are the medicinal powerhouse that we see used in tinctures and powdered forms. The roots contain compounds known as withanolides which contain most of the healing power.
The Ultimate Adaptogen (How to Reduce Stress)
The name Ashwagandha comes from the sanskrit meaning “ashwa” - horse and “ghanda” - odor and its roots are commonly said to smell like a sweaty horse. This is taken as a metaphor of the strength and vitality of a horse that one can achieve by taking Ashwagandha. But how exactly does this happen in our bodies?
First of all, Ashwagandha is a powerful adaptogen. This means it helps your body to adapt to situations, seeking to create balance for you. For example if you’re tired, it can give you energy or if you’re feeling anxious it can calm you. Let’s take a look at how exactly it does this in our bodies.
Cortisol - Balance is Key
When our bodies are running high levels of cortisol for too long this can result in a number of symptoms: lack of sleep, depression, weight gain, weakened immune system, anxiety, irritability, headaches, high blood pressure and more.
Cortisol is the stress hormone that is active all day long balancing inflammation in the body, rising in the morning to help wake you up and be alert and lowering at night to make you sleepy. It raises the blood sugar if you need energy or are reacting to a stressful situation. It also regulates blood pressure. It is a vital part of our bodies, but especially in our modern times our environment is saturated with cortisol-inducing triggers from fear-filled media, to financial worries and daily stresses that keep cortisol in higher than usual levels and this imbalance can result in some of the symptoms mentioned earlier.
How does a plant actually affect my body?
When a stressful event happens your Hypothalamus (part of your brain that is like a watchdog) detects the event and quickly sends a message (CRH) to the Pituitary Gland (imagine this like a central dispatch). The PG then transmits a signal (the hormone ACTH) to the Adrenal Glands to get them ready to come to the rescue. These glands sit above the kidneys and will then release cortisol to raise your heart rate and increase your alertness to help protect you in that situation.
Imagine falling into an enclosure with a dangerous animal and now your body is on high alert with the only goal in mind being to keep you safe. This is called fight or flight and in this state other hormones will fall in line and be less of a priority to make.
But here comes Ashwagandha to the rescue. Ashwagandha’s compounds Withanolide A and Withaferin A will reduce the CRH the Hypothalamus is sending out. With the lessened CRH the Pituitary Gland will then in turn also excrete less ACTH and finally the adrenals receive a weaker “make cortisol now” signal. What this means is that your body’s stress alarm is less erratic and harder to trigger over “smaller” issues.
Pressing the “Calm Down” Button
We all have receptors in our brain called GABA that act as calming buttons. These can be activated by GABA-mimetics which can be found in Ashwagandha (glycowithanolides and withanine) and act as a key to the GABA lock. This sends out the message “relax”. The more these messages increase, the more the stress messages decrease and in turn your nervous system stays relaxed and requests less cortisol.
Enough is Enough
Another helpful compound being introduced are sitoindosides which fix your cortisol receptors and improve their sensitivity. This is important so that your body knows when the cortisol levels are already high and to then halt production when you don’t need more.
Adrenal Health
Oxidative stress can cause damage to the adrenal glands (cortisol producers). Ashwagandha’s withaferin A acts as a powerful antioxidant and will protect your adrenals tissue from free radical damage. The healthier these glands are, the better your body’s alarm system works and cortisol will be made only as needed, in a balanced way.
Benefits of Lower Cortisol
Sexual Health
Just like in war time luxury goods are less in demand, our body decreases production of sex hormones when cortisol is elevated. Ashwagandha helps bring that balance so that our hormone factories can function at normal capacity and produce testosterone and estrogen as they were designed to. For this reason some say that Ashwagandha is great for fertility and sexual health, and although this is true in its effects, this happens more indirectly as the balancing of cortisol is what leads to our bodies simply being allowed to operate under more normal conditions again. As a result according to multiple studies men see an increased sperm count and an increased libido in men and women has also been reported.
The increased testosterone in men can positively affect energy and muscle mass. In women it may help in regulating menstrual cycles.
Blood Sugar and Thyroid Health
Cortisol is responsible for causing the liver to release sugar into the blood stream which is helpful in emergency situations but can be damaging for extended periods of time. When Ashwagandha lowers cortisol, your blood sugar stops spiking unnecessarily and in turn with less blood sugar spikes, less cortisol needs to be produced and a damaging cycle can be stopped.
In a similar way lowering cortisol helps the hormone production in the thyroid and can lead to overall increased energy and a better metabolism.
Social Inhibitors Lifted
In stressful situations our prefrontal cortex (thinking brain) can shut down. Ashwagandha lowering cortisol levels will improve your brain’s social engagement by staying aware and responsive instead of becoming reactive and in fight or flight mode. This is major in helping reduce social anxiety and can support better relationships.
Immune System Support
Normal immune functions can be suppressed by chronic high levels of cortisol in the blood. As this is normalized your immune system comes into balance and lowers inflammation and autoimmune issues. This also strengthens the body’s resilience towards infections. Studies have found a 25% remission rate in rheumatoid arthritis linked to Ashwagandha.
We can see how Ashwagandha is affecting the body in various seemingly unrelated ways and yet all being connected by the commonality of cortisol being significantly affected and regulated.
Other Benefits of Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha has been found to balance other parts of the brain as well, being known for crossing the blood-brain barrier, fixing Seratonin (happy chemical) pathways and even creating new synapsis. Benefits have been seen in Alzheimers, OCD and also weaning off addictive patterns such as alcoholism where the calming chemicals are created and excited chemicals are reduced to help ease people in to the lifestyle transition.
Anti-cancer properties
One of the active agents in Ashwagandha is Withaferin A whose superpowers are: triggering apoptosis (this tells the cancer cells to self destruct), stops the bad cells from multiplying, prevent metastasis (keeps cancer from spreading) and sensitizes tumors to conventional treatments. These compounds in Ashwagandha target these cells especially in breast-cancer, melanoma and other tumors while mostly ignoring other positive cells in the body.
Sleep support
In a controlled study it was found that people who would wake up feeling exhausted after 8 hours of sleep had their sleep patterns reset by taking Ashwagandha. Their sleep efficiency was improved to the point of feeling fully rested with the same amount of sleep due to a healthier REM sleep amount of shorter time of sleep latency (time to fall asleep).
Plant Intelligence
Taking Ashwagandha can at times have a counter-intuitive effect. We are used to western medicine with its straightforward effects and taking them for the desired outcome. However with Ashwagandha one might be looking for an immediate influx of energy or motivation and take a dose of it to tackle a big project that day, and yet it may work in the opposite way and actually calm the body to the point of being sleepy instead.
This is because of the process we’ve learned in the paragraphs above. The compounds are working first to support the body’s cortisol balance and especially in a state of prolonged high cortisol the body will need to first find a calming and relaxed state to transition into as it heals from the previous one.
Instead of having one main target that Ashwagandha pushes the body towards, it’s actually simultaneously working with different systems in the body and helping them each achieve their individual balance.
Research has shown that after this initial calming phase the continued use of Ashwagandha will then lead to that increased energy and enhanced cellular energy production.
Think of it as a protective mechanism. You’re wanting to set out and achieve something, so you try to take a supplement that focuses your energy and intention to accomplish your task. Yet your body is depleted from extended times of being overworked, stressed over different situations and just trying to make it through each day. The Ashwagandha is now working with your body’s current state to realize you need to first recover from high cortisol levels and its effects before starting your new project. As it then calms your body and ushers in some normalcy, you keep taking it and are then increasing your energy on a much stronger foundation that will enable you to achieve your goals you set out to do.
Conclusion
Ashwagandha is an amazing gift to us, to help restore balance in our lives in a time in history where our environments have created an artificial existential dread in almost every facet of life. Balancing our stress and fear responses, improves our quality of life and aims to create a new normal from which we can pursue the things important to us individually.
There is no miracle drug or one-fix-all medicine. Each herb or medicine should present us with a conscious decision to partner with and to be aware of what the relationship to that herb could produce in your life. But as any other relationship, it is a journey and a process to embark on that will hopefully produce some positive effects along the way.
How Do I Take Ashwagandha?
If you are taking our tincture, we recommend starting with smaller doses. Try a dropperful and see how your body feels and responds to it. This is not about finding side-effects but learning the plant’s effects on your body and tuning in to that relationship a little bit. This is a plant that even scientifically has been shown to not need high doses and even indicates sometimes that the efficacy doesn’t increase with higher doses. Otherwise for powdered extracts, follow whatever instructions or guidelines are included on the packaging.
We tend to recommend dosing intuitively. In this way you are honoring your own place of authority over your body and your intimate knowledge of what you currently need. You are also learning the effects of the supplement and can then decide what direction you would like to go in, in terms of changing your dosage.
Thankfully when it comes to actually taking a supplement there is no wrong way to do so. One way to try out, can be to be aware of what you want the plant to achieve in your body as you take it. Similar to tackling a project with a friend, and you first brief them on what needs to be done so you’re both on the same page. We get to work together with these herbs and their medicinal properties to bring those benefits to our bodies.
A lot of the studies done on Ashwagandha that I reference here, were done with controlled placebo groups. This means that while they were testing the effects of Ashwagandha on people, others received capsules that were empty without knowing it, to test the effects of the actual compounds found in Ashwagandha versus just the placebo of believing they were taking Ashwagandha. Now the studies all showed clear evidence that the ones who were taking the real supplement all had much higher positive changes to report. However that means they were higher than the 30-40% rates of even the placebo group. So even a third of those who didn’t take any of the actual supplement still reported similar positive symptoms, due to the power of their own mind.
I mention this little anecdote to point out that even scientifically speaking just consciously adding that awareness of what your supplement is doing for you has been shown to increase the efficacy of it by 20-40% at times. And so whether you are a spiritually minded person and already use these principles or are new to all of this, the science points to there being more potential benefits to the conscious interaction with what we are taking into our bodies than without it.
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Summary of Benefits
Keep in mind these are all potential benefits that may or may not have scientific backing. In any case the supplement may support the body in one or more of these areas, but is not guaranteed to cure or heal any disease.
Alzheimer's disease protection - neutralizes toxic effects of β-amyloid
Neuroprotective effects - regenerates neurites and regrows synapses in the brain
Parkinson's disease support - protects dopaminergic neurons
Huntington's disease assistance - reduces mutant Huntington aggregates
Cognitive enhancement - improves memory, attention, and information processing
OCD symptom reduction - helps alleviate obsessive-compulsive behaviors
Stress & Mental Health Benefits
Anxiety reduction - lowers symptoms on clinical anxiety scales
Stress relief - reduces cortisol levels by up to 30%
Adaptogenic effects - helps body adapt to physical and mental stressors
Depression management - shown to help improve mood in clinical studies
Sleep Benefits
Improved sleep quality - increases deep sleep phases
Helps with insomnia - makes it easier to fall and stay asleep
Resolves non-restorative sleep - helps people wake feeling refreshed
Helps with sleep deprivation recovery - restores normal sleep patterns
Hormone & Reproductive Benefits
Thyroid support - helps normalize thyroid hormone levels
Male fertility enhancement - increases sperm count, motility, and morphology
Testosterone support - increases testosterone levels in men
Female sexual function improvement - enhances arousal and satisfaction
Menopause symptom relief - helps manage hot flashes and mood changes
Physical Performance Benefits
Increased muscle strength - shown in multiple clinical trials
Enhanced endurance - improves cardiovascular capacity
Faster muscle recovery - reduces exercise-induced muscle damage
Improved physical performance - increases VO2 max in athletes
Reduces exercise-related stress - lowers physical stress markers
Metabolic & Cardiovascular Benefits
Blood sugar regulation - helps maintain healthy glucose levels
Cholesterol normalization - brings levels into healthy range
Cardio-protective effects - reduces damage to heart tissue
Weight management support - helps reduce stress-related weight gain
Anti-inflammatory effects - reduces systemic inflammation markers
Immune System Benefits
Immune modulation - balances immune system function
Enhanced natural killer cell activity - improves innate immunity
Antibacterial properties - effective against many bacteria including MRSA
Potential anti-viral activity - may help against some viral infections including COVID-19
Potential benefit for rheumatoid arthritis - shown in some studies
Cancer-Related Benefits
Anti-cancer properties - induces apoptosis in cancer cells
Reduces cancer cell proliferation - slows tumor growth
Prevents metastasis - reduces cancer cell migration
Enhances effects of conventional treatments - works synergistically
Other Benefits
Alcohol withdrawal support - reduces symptoms and cravings
Aging support - may help slow cellular aging processes
Social functioning improvement - shown to improve social interactions
Brain health - supports overall brain function and longevity
Rejuvenation effects - traditionally known to promote longevity and vitality
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We are not medical professionals and do not present this as medical advice for any person to follow for any guaranteed outcome. This is a collection of information gathered from the sources below that individually reference various studies and research. When it comes to your body and well-being you are the highest authority and should refer back to what you feel comfortable with and choose to partner with.