Can Ashwagandha Help with Stress?

What is Ashwagandha?

A herb made from the roots of a small shrub, used in Ayurveda medicine, Ashwagandha is a member of the nightshade family and is native to India, northern Africa and across the Middle East. Long known for its health benefits, the history of Ashwagandha as a medical treatment goes back to the start of civilization, providing treatment for many kinds of illnesses throughout history until the present day. Officially named Withania somnifera, but often referred to as Winter Cherry, its extraordinarily long history as a medicine and the wide variety of benefits that can be gained from Ashwagandha make it one of the most important restorative herbs in use today.

It is the scope of those health benefits that really do make Ashwagandha stand out, it offers such a variety of treatments that it is no surprise it is referred to as a superfood. However, while it can help with everything from heart health and aging to reproductive health, it is the ability to help with stress related issues that have brought Ashwagandha to the attention of many.

Modern, everyday lifestyles exert pressures leading to many people living with mild depression.  As a supplement to help ease stress and anxiety Ashwagandha is extremely popular.

Anxiety

One of the most common reasons for people to take Ashwagandha is to relieve stress and help combat anxiety, with proven effectiveness, Ashwagandha is a safe and easy herb to use that can help significantly. It is so effective in this area for good reason, Ashwagandha contains adaptogens, which are substances that assist the body in dealing with stress. So effective has it been that several studies have been carried out on the herb.

In the August 2009 issue of the medical journal PLoS One, a study into the effects of taking Ashwagandha was published by a group of researchers. This extensive work found that Ashwagandha was an effective and safe naturopathic solution that can assist in alleviating anxiety. The study itself looked at patients with moderate to severe anxiety who had those symptoms for longer than 6 weeks, ensuring that it was tightly focused.

Each participant was given either a naturopathic care approach, which featured 300mg of Ashwagandha, dietary counseling, deep breathing relaxation techniques and standard multivitamins, or the standard psychotherapy intervention. This included the deep breathing relaxation techniques, regular psychotherapy sessions, and a placebo. In both cases, the treatment was continued for 12 weeks.

At the end of the study, those who had undergone the naturopathic care, including taking Ashwagandha regularly, found significant improvements in their mental health, improved concentration and vitality, lower fatigue levels and better social functioning when compared to those who undertook the standard psychotherapy intervention. In terms of measurable results, using the Beck Anxiety Inventory Form, those who took Ashwagandha decreased their scores by over 26% compared to those who took the placebo.

A 2011 study on the subject published in the medical journal ‘Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine’, showed that a formula using Ashwagandha provided as effective as the most commonly prescribed anxiety medication, benzodiazepines, and the polyherbal formula containing Ashwagandha was a viable alternative treatment for anxiety.

These studies show, Ashwagandha can be a highly effective anxiety treatment, which does so in a safe, all-natural way and avoids the many known issues with prescription anxiety medication. In addition, it also provides a feeling of energy, alertness, and rejuvenation that aids general well-being, making Ashwagandha a true superfood and very useful part of your diet.

Depression

Ashwagandha can also be used to help alleviate depression, with many people reporting success in this regard.

The December edition of the medical journal ‘Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology’ compared Ashwagandha with the most common prescribed treatment for depression and anxiety associated with social isolation, diazepam, and found it to be just as effective in terms of results. Again, the natural remedy does this while being safe, and avoiding the issues associated with the mainstream pharmaceutical solutions.

Download our E-book

As you can see, Ashwagandha is incredibly effective as a viable, natural medication for anxiety and depression, matching the abilities of traditional prescribed pharmaceuticals while avoiding the drawbacks of those chemicals. However, that is only a small part of just what Ashwagandha can do for you, which is why we have created this wonderful E-book with more details about this amazing superfood and how it can help in so many aspects of your life.

You can download it today and learn more about this amazing herb, it’s easy to do and completely free!