Ashwagandha: The Wonder Herb

Since childhood, I have been hearing this name but nobody explained what it is exactly. In my late teens, I saw this herb on the footpaths of Mumbai, being sold by self-proclaimed Ayurvedic practitioners. They would sell it primarily for sexual weakness and energy and knew nothing else about it. Yes, it is very good for sexual weakness and stimulates sexual desire in both men and women but that's just one aspect of this wonder herb.

The botanical name for Ashwagandha is Withania Somnifera. It is a small shrub with yellow flowers and native to India and North Africa. It has been used in Ayurveda for more than 6000 years, according to the Charak Samhita in Sanskrit Ashwagandha literally means "smell of a horse" referring to its unique smell and ability to increase strength. Let's find out what this wonder herb can actually do.

1. Adaptogenic

Its best quality according to me is that it is an adaptogenic herb, which basically means that it doesn't especially do one or two things, it balances out the issues in the body. For example, it can regulate the Thyroid hormone in Hypothyroidism, where the gland is producing less of the Thyroid hormone by boosting its levels and in Hyperthyroidism, where the gland is producing too much of the thyroid hormone by getting the levels down. Scientists don’t completely understand how adaptogens work, but it is well known that they can be extremely effective especially at balancing hormones.

Ashwagandha is a superstar when it comes to improving the health of your thyroid.

2. Anti-Carcinogenic

It has anti-cancer properties. Ashwagandha trials have demonstrated numerous and dramatic healing properties for many diseases and presented encouraging prospects in others. Cancer cell apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is one of the ways Ashwagandha is thought to exert cancer-resistant effects. It may also have an ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill cancer cells without harming normal cells.

3. Affects Insulin

One valuable use for this herb is in relation to lowering blood sugar levels, as evidenced by a study showing its dual actions of increasing insulin secretion along with muscle cell sensitivity.

In trials on people with schizophrenia, scientists found subjects to have reduced fasting blood sugar after four weeks. Similar results were recorded in another assessment, which showed effectiveness comparable to an oral diabetes drug.

Chronic inflammation threatens individuals suffering from diabetes, as well as heart disease, obesity and cancer. The best defence against inflammation and the pain associated with it is in your diet, as multiple studies have demonstrated.

Oxidative stress has been described as "an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants."

Ashwagandha has exhibited reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in multiple studies and may be helpful for arthritis symptoms, as well.

4. Powerful Stress Buster 

Ashwagandha can help decrease depression, stress, anxiety and insomnia.

There's no denying that the rest of your body reacts to stress. One of the attributes of Ashwagandha is its ability to induce calmness and clarity by regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin and the stress hormone cortisol.

Our adrenal glands are endocrine glands that are responsible for releasing hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) in response to stress on your body.

If your adrenals are overtaxed due to too much of emotional, physical and mental stress, it can lead to a condition known as adrenal fatigue.If your adrenals become exhausted it can also disrupt your other hormones, including progesterone, which can cause infertility and lower DHEA — which can cause you to age faster.

Your adrenal glands release cortisol when your blood sugar level drops too low and also when you're stressed. When cortisol levels get too high, it can wreak havoc on your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, your hormone balance, immune system, and may even increase fat storage. Ashwagandha has been proven to be extremely effective in overcoming Adrenal Fatigue and Stress

The good news is research has shown that consuming Ashwagandha may not only reduce cortisol levels but also, as an adaptogen, can substantially reduce chronic stress to help your body adapt to and alleviate the stomach-churning anxiety stress can cause.

Ashwagandha was found to be useful in the prevention of stress-induced ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract.

5. Menopausal Support

Ashwagandha acts on the endocrine system by encouraging hormone balance. A study involving 51 menopausal women supplementing with Ashwagandha noted a significant reduction in symptoms such as hot flashes, anxiety, and mood.

6. Testosterone booster 

Ashwagandha can boost testosterone levels in men and increase fertility. It has been proven to cure erectile dysfunction, low sperm count and infertility.

The Kama Sutra, one of the oldest surviving texts on human sexuality, mentions Ashwagandha in its literature as a potent sexual stimulant. Research indicates that the herb supports sexual health and vitality by increasing blood flow and reducing bodily tension. Women taking Ashwagandha typically experience an increase in sexual desire and satisfaction.

Here let me please clarify this misconception that Ashwagandha increases sex drive only in men, it is as effective if not more, in women too.

7. Brain Functions

One of the traditional uses for this herb was to improve memory and sharpen brain function, the age of the individual notwithstanding. It helps in learning, memory and cognition.

Recent research has proven Ashwagandha is more than a stress reliever, it also protects the brain from degeneration and improves symptoms of Alzheimer's, depression, and anxiety.

One of the main reasons Ashwagandha is so effective at healing the brain has to do with its powerful antioxidants that destroy free radicals that cause ageing.

Ashwagandha has been described as a nervine tonic in Ayurveda and that is why it is a common ingredient of Ayurvedic tonic. Tonics, rejuvenators and vitalisers of Ayurveda appear to allay disease and induce immunity and longevity in the users.

In patients with Alzheimer's disease, neuritic atrophy and synaptic loss are considered the major causes of cognitive impairment, as based on the results of neuropathological post-mortem studies of the brain. There are dozens of studies that show that Ashwagandha slows, stops, reverses or removes neuritic atrophy and synaptic loss. Therefore Ashwagandha can be used to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and other neurodegenerative diseases at any stage of the disease, even before a person has been diagnosed and is still in the state of mild forgetfulness, etc.

It is a herb gifted to us by nature and is too important to ignore. Why are Ayurvedic medicines ignored or looked down upon when they are way more effective in curing your health condition as compared to the allopathic drugs which only "handle the situation" but never ever cure you of disease. If these drugs actually cured you, the pharmaceutical companies would go bankrupt and shut down. It is only in their best interest to keep you dependent on their drugs so that you continue to buy them till the day you die. Even if they have a cure, nobody will ever know about it since it goes against their business and profits. But Ayurveda has no such agendas. Thousands of years research has been put into each and every aspect of the issues of the body and mind and medicines are made only using ingredients which are found in nature, that too from purely vegetarian sources like trees, barks, leaves, flowers and roots. Most people don't even know that there are plant-based steroids in nature and that Ayurveda uses these immensely potent steroids in life-saving situations.

I have witnessed one such situation first hand. I was in Mcleod Ganj near Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India for my back treatment in June 1992. Dr. Yeshi Dhondhen, the personal physician of Dalai Lama was treating me for my back condition and I was put up in his lodge along with other patients. One night at about 3 am, I heard some knocking on my door from one of the patients who was in the adjoining room. She was 40-year-old British national who was getting treated for MS (multiple sclerosis) and was a paraplegic so she couldn't get up from her bed. I had to break open her door. I saw and immediately understood that she was having a massive heart attack. When I woke up the managers, Dr. Dhondhen came into the room very calmly and used me as his interpreter since he doesn't know English. He asked his man to get him something and within minutes an earthen pot with burning coal came into the room. He took this smoking pot threw in some herbs and placed it under her face for her to inhale. She resisted abusing him that she isn't able to breathe anyways and he would kill her. So he very simply caught her hair and yanked it close to the smoking pot. Within seconds all her symptoms of cardiac arrest were completely gone. While abusing the doctor with the choicest profanities suddenly she realised that she was in no pain, breathing normally and she did not even have any kind of weakness which one has after such a massive heart attack. Now I don't know the name of this herb or herbs which was used but obviously, it was so potent that just by inhaling it not only did the heart attack symptoms disappear, it even took care of the weakness and she didn't need to see a regular doctor for it at all.

Before I'm made fun of and people asking me "oh so are we going to have a Dr. Dhondhen around us all the time?" let me say, yes, that's not always going to happen but also remember too many people die even before they reach an emergency room.

But by applying Ayurveda in our daily lives we can avoid our dependency on modern day drugs.

Please give this powerful herb just 50% of the trust you give to allopathic drugs made of toxic chemicals and industrial poisons.

For your convenience I'm listing all the benefits of Ashwagandha below:

Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzeimer's diseases.

Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis.

Rejuvenator

Anti-stress

Anti-tumor, prevents and treats cancer

Neuroregenerative

Tonic

Aphrodisiac

Diuretic

Stimulant

It is commonly used in emaciation of children

Debility from old age

Rheumatism

Leucoderma

Constipation

Insomnia

Nervous breakdown

Goiter

It is also locally applied in carbuncles, ulcers and painful swellings

It also helps in leucorrhoea, boils, pimples, flatulent colic, worms and piles

Benefits brain health

Improves Mood

Enhances Libido

Increases stamina and Endurance

Cures Thyroid problems

Adrenal Fatigue

Stabilizes blood sugar

Lowers cholesterol

Boosts immunity

Treats PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome)

Menopausal symptoms