Ashwagandha: Herbal Help for Anxiety That Really Works

Ashwagandha is an ancient herb from India that has many modern applications. Its Ayurvedic name taken from a Sanskrit term meaning "smell of a horse," ashwagandha traditionally gave men the "strength of a stallion" in bed. That doesn't mean that this plant is an herbal Viagra. Although it can improve sex life in both men and women, it works on the brain, not regions of the body a little lower down. However, in both men and women ashwagandha relieves anxiety and releases the mind to sleep.

There's no shortage of scientific evidence that this Ayurvedic herb really works, but the form in which you use the herb affects how well it works.

• One clinical trial observed the effects of giving participants either a placebo or a whopping-big dose of 12,000 mg of dried ashwagandha root every day. Just taking the powdered, dried root of the plant as an whole herb showed no significant benefits.
• Another clinical trial observed the effect of giving participants either a placebo or a 125 mg or 250 mg dose of a water extract of ashwagandha. A water extract uses hot water to dissolve medicinally active chemicals from finely chopped root. The water is then (usually) evaporated way to leave the relevant medicinally important plant chemicals. In this study, the researchers used a protocol to create a product "standardized to minimum of 8 percent withanolide glycosides and 32 percent oligosaccharides, with maximum withaferin A." This is the same standard used to make the over the counter product Sensoril. In this study, all of the patients given this relatively low dose of ashwagandha improved on all the psychological tests of anxiety. Some researchers are skeptical, since the maker of an ashwagandha supplement hired the researchers and paid for the study.
• Yet another clinical trial recruited people with anxiety to take either a daily placebo or a a daily tablet relatively high-dose product that contained 1000 mg of the 8 percent glycoside mixture. This was equivalent to taking four to seven times the recommended dose of ashwagandha. In this study, half of the volunteers who got actual ashwagandha dropped out, probably because of unpleasant side effects. Only half of the volunteers who remained in the study reported any benefits. Clearly, 1000 mg of ashwagandha extract every day is too much.
• An American study attempted to calibrate the dose of ashwagandha to find maximum herbal benefits. Naturopaths assigned patients either to get 600 mg of ashwagandha extract every day or to see a psychotherapist once a week. Both groups improved significantly, but the group taking ashwagandha reported significantly greater reductions in anxiety (as measured by a psychological test called the Beck Anxiety Inventory). 

READ Herbs to Boost and Build a Healthy Immune System

The results of clinical testing tell us that just chomping down on an ashwagandha root isn't really going to do you any good. The whole herb doesn't liberate its psychoactive compounds through the human digestive process. Just a relatively small dose of an organic, hot water extract, 125 to 250 mg a day, is enough to make a real difference, and 600 mg a day is even better. An overdose of ashwagandha, however, is counterproductive.

What Can You Expect When You Take Ashwagandha?

I have some personal experience with ashwagandha. When I took my own product, the night after the first dose I had an unusually erotic dream. Other men also report that taking ashwagandha gives them erotic dreams first, then they find themselves "in the mood," and then when the time is right, they find they have more sexual stamina than even before. Then they usually add, "And more sexual stamina than usual for a guy like me is, well, of course amazing."

Women I know well enough to discuss the use of the product on a purely personal level tell me it has a different effect. They start noticing the things about their lives that make them feel secure. It's almost as if ashwagandha is an aphrodisiac for women with a safeguard. It seems to keep women from getting involved in bad relationships or intensifying relationships in bad situations. This is just a personal observation, not a pharmaceutical claim. The important thing to understand is that ashwagandha doesn't change the performance of the sex organs. It releases the mind to be appropriately sexy, or not.

The kind of ashwagandha supplement that has the greatest effect on your life is a supercritical carbon dioxide extract. The herb is placed in a chamber with highly pressurized carbon dioxide, under so much pressure that the carbon dioxide turns into a liquid. The liquid carbon dioxide dissolves all of the compounds that dissolve in water and a few more, and when the pressure in the chamber is released, these compounds are left behind, along with the remains of the whole herb. There's something about supercritical extracts that makes them more useful in treatments of a lagging love life. However, other kinds of ashwagandha preparations also work. They just don't work as quickly or as well.

If you're not concerned about your love life, what else can this Ayurvedic herb do for you? There are scientific studies that support the use of ashwagandha for:

• Reducing the effects of stress on the immune system, and treating colds and flu that develop in people who are under emotional or physical stress.
• Reducing anxiety and/or depression without drowsiness and without reducing libido.
• Improving learning, short-term memory, and reaction time.
• Stabilizing blood sugar levels.
• Slowing down the deterioration of brain tissue.
• Fighting parasitic infections, especially malaria.

READ The Most Powerful Herbs And Spices To Heal Your Flu

None of this means should throw your medications away and just take ashwagandha. It is an extremely helpful herb, but it is no panacea. Just be sure that you get a water extract or a supercritical extract of the herb, and don't take too much of the extract. A "whole herb" product that the manufacturer tells you take by adding a teaspoon to a cup of warm milk at night certainly won't hurt you (unless you dump in a tablespoon or more of the powder), but you will need to take an extract to get the full range of benefits. Be patient for results. Ground whole herbs will get you slight beneficial changes over the course of a few weeks. Water or supercritical extracts may change your dreams on the first night after you take them, but also take a week or so to kick in to deliver their full benefits.