The ashwagandha bandwagon is a party bus heading straight to TikTok anecdotes and WebMb speculation. That mental list of pros and cons towards actually taking the natural supplement has become the game “two truths and a lie.” Speaking from experience, the wellness movement has merged with the traditional and medicinal properties of natural supplements to create recent buzz surrounding the reported stress and anxiety remedy. “Indian ginseng,” its Sanskrit name Ashwagandha– “ashwa” for horse and “gandha” for smell and gaining the power of a horse from consumption–and scientific root name Withania somnifera is a medicinal herb that accumulates many names from a rich history based in traditional Ayurvedic and Unani medicine dating back to 6000 BCE.
Ashwagandha is derived from an evergreen shrub native to the subtropical areas of India, Africa, and the Middle East. The supplement is often taken in the form of powders, capsules, tablets, liquid drops and gummies that contain the plant root extract with the packaging often promising less stress and improved beauty sleep.The latin word somnifera refers to “sleep-inducing” as the plant belongs to the nightshade family and is most commonly used to reduce anxiety and stress. The wellness community’s broader claims such as boosting concentration and immune health, dulling emotions, and weakening birth control are unconfirmed due to glaring research gaps that haven’t fully explored the long-term effects of ashwagandha on a credible scale.
So what is the chemical component of the plant and who should or shouldn’t take it? Ashwagandha is classified as an adaptogen, a compound or product that increases the ability of a person to resist or adapt to biological, physical, or chemical stressors, through the active components of withanolides, alkaloids, and sitoindosides which and are conventionally used for the treatment of multiple brain disorders. To break down the components in action, withanolides found in the roots and leaves are considered similar to steroids in their biological activities and contribute to anti-inflammatory properties comparable to hydrocortisone. In the leaves, a compound called triethylene glycol was identified as an active sleep inducing agent with prospects for alleviating insomnia. The TikTok claims of reduced stress and improved sleep hold true as the Ashwagandha is being investigated as an anti-inflammatory and immune boosting agent. In the fine text, reported side effects include stomach and bowel irritation, nausea, and drowsiness which can surface after about three months of consecutive use. Health providers advise that pregnant people should steer clear from the supplement as high doses can lead to miscarriage in rare instances.
Despite prominent use in homeopathic medicine, a form of alternative medicine, and traditional botanicals, the full extent of the health benefits are still under review and current studies have limited data. Most studies have examined ashwagandha in the context of traditional Ayurvedic medicine based on holistic healing, as the prototypical botanical medicine and pharmacopeia remains isolated from the clinical data.
“There’s a lot of wisdom in tradition,” says Denise Millstine, an integrative medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, “so that shouldn’t be thrown out the window just because there [is] a lack of randomized controlled trials,” she tells Science News. A 2021 study in the Journal of Herbal Medicine found that the supplement can alleviate perceived stress and anxiety, while reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol released by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis when compared against placebo treatment. To corroborate, in another double-blind study of 64 subjects, on average the subjects rated their stress 44% of them lower after taking ashwagandha for 60 days. Sleep studies of 144 subjects suggest the supplement can help people fall asleep faster and for longer, sleeping up to 25 minutes longer and wake up to 12 minutes less, which was most effective for insomniacs.
With relatively smaller studies that don’t last beyond three months, pre-clinical data suggests mood enhancing benefits that mirror traditional Ayurvedic use. Regulated tablet doses of Ashwagandha have been used in homeopathic settings to manage stress and fatigue, and clinical data is playing a game of catch-up to explore further drug potential.
