ASHWAGANDHA AND ANXIETY

There's a herbal supplement that's not all that famous, although it does have some health benefits to offer - ASHWAGANDHA. It may be able to help you manage your anxiety levels a bit better. Let's have a look at a study that came to this conclusion.

WHAT IS ASHWAGANDHA?

Withania somnifera, known commonly as ashwagandha, Indian ginseng, poison gooseberry, or winter cherry, is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family

- Wikipedia

It's a herb found in parts of India, Sri Lanka, and China. It's been used in traditional Indian medicine because of its beneficial health properties.

HOW CAN IT HELP

MY ANXIETY?

There is an interesting study from India in 2020, which looked at how this herbal supplement affected anxiety levels in healthy individuals.

This study from India in looked at healthy participants aged 18 to 65, with no diagnosis of mental illness, and no significant chronic medical conditions that could trigger episodes of anxiety (such as heart or lung disease).

There were a total of 60 participants, with 30 in each arm of the study. The mean age was 40 and 42 yrs old in each arm - one group took Ashwagandha and the other took a placebo pill (a pill without any medication in it).

These volunteers took 240mg of Ashwagandha once daily (or a placebo if they were in the placebo arm of the study). This is not considered a high dose of this supplement, since some herbal supplement companies do recommend 400mg once to twice daily, and other studies looking at the benefits of this herbal supplement did administer a total daily dose of 600mg to their participants.

Participants were then assessed on their levels of anxiety at 4 intervals over the course of 60 days, based on some clinical scoring tools.

The participants who took this herbal supplement were found to have lower levels on anxiety based on these scoring systems.

THEY EVEN DID

BLOOD TESTS?

In this study, the researchers also looked at the serum levels of Cortisol in the participants. Cortisol is a steroid hormone, and is known as a stress hormone because its levels rise in response to stress factors. Another medical study found that patients with anxiety disorder had higher morning cortisol levels.

In the study we're looking at, participants taking Ashwagandha were found to have lower Cortisol levels over the 2 months of this study, compared to participants who took the placebo.

IS ASHWAGANDHA

SAFE FOR YOU?

A separate medical study in India in 2021 looked at participants taking a total daily dose of 600mg of Ashwagandha extract, in doses of 300mg twice a day, and compared this with a group taking a placebo pill, over 8 weeks.

Looking at some important markers of health, no significant difference was found in blood pressure readings, or in blood tests like blood counts, liver enzyme levels, and thyroid function tests.

This study concluded that this supplement is safe, but more research was needed to evaluate the safety profile of this supplement in the long-term.

WRAP IT UP!

Ashwagandha is a health supplement with some promising health benefits to offer - reducing anxiety levels is one of them. If you have anxiety, (and are not pregnant or breastfeeding), why not consider giving this supplement a try? Just look for it online on iHerb.com - they sell health supplements at very reasonable prices.