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How Much Do We Know about Ashwagandha?
| What is Ashwagandha? Ashwagandha has been in use as a medicinal plant for thousands of years, especially in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. |  |
Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
- 1. May help reduce stress and anxiety
Ashwagandha is perhaps best known for its ability to reduce stress. It’s classified as an adaptogen, a substance that helps the body cope with stress.
Ashwagandha may helpTrusted Source control mediators of stress, including heat shock proteins (Hsp70), cortisol, and stress-activated c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK-1).
It also reduces the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a system in your body that regulates the stress response.
ResearchTrusted Source suggests Ashwagandha supplements may help relieve stress and anxiety.
In a small studyTrusted Source with 58 participants, those who took 250 or 600 mg of ashwagandha extract for 8 weeks had significantly reduced perceived stress and levels of the stress hormone cortisol compared with those who took a placebo.
Those who took the ashwagandha supplements also saw improvements in sleep quality compared with the placebo group.
Another studyTrusted Source in 60 people found that those who took 240 mg of ashwagandha extract per day for 60 days had significant reductions in anxiety compared with those who received a placebo treatment.
Thus, early research suggests ashwagandha may be a helpful supplement for stress and anxiety.
However, a 2021 reviewTrusted Source of studies concluded that there’s not enough evidence to form a consensus on the most appropriate dosage and form of ashwagandha for treating stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety.
- 2.May benefit athletic performance
Research has shown that ashwagandha may have beneficial effects on athletic performance and may be a worthwhile supplement for athletes.
One analysis of researchTrusted Source included 12 studies in people who took ashwagandha doses between 120 mg and 1,250 mg per day. The results suggest the herb may enhance physical performance, including strength and oxygen use during exercise.
Another analysisTrusted Source that looked at five studies found that taking ashwagandha significantly enhanced maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max) in healthy adults and athletes.
VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during intense activity. It’s a measurement of heart and lung fitness.
Having optimal VO2 max is important for athletes and nonathletes alike. Low VO2 max is associated with increased mortality risk, while higher VO2 max is associated with a lower riskTrusted Source of heart disease.
Additionally, ashwagandha may help increase muscle strength.
In a 2015 studyTrusted Source, male participants who took 600 mg of ashwagandha per day and participated in resistance training for 8 weeks had significantly greater gains in muscle strength and size compared with a placebo group.
- 3. May reduce symptoms of some mental health conditions
Some evidence suggests that ashwagandha may help reduce symptoms of other mental health conditions, including depression, in certain populations.
In one studyTrusted Source, researchers looked at the effects of ashwagandha in 66 people with schizophrenia who were experiencing depression and anxiety.
They found that participants who took 1,000 mg of ashwagandha extract daily for 12 weeks had greater reductions in depression and anxiety than those who took a placebo.
Limited research from 2013 also suggests that ashwagandha may help improve cognitive impairment in people with bipolar disorder.
A 2021 reviewTrusted Source concluded that ashwaghanda may help manage depression, anxiety, insomnia, and other mental health-related and neurological issues.
However, more research is needed into all these uses.
- 4. May help boost testosterone and increase fertility in men
Ashwagandha supplements have been shown in some studies to benefit male fertility and increase testosterone levels.
In one studyTrusted Source, 43 males aged 40–70 with overweight and mild fatigue took tablets containing ashwagandha extract or a placebo daily for 8 weeks.
The treatment was associated with an 18% greater increase in DHEA-S, a sex hormone involved in testosterone production. Participants who took the herb also had a 14.7% greater increase in testosterone than those who took the placebo.
Additionally, a review of four studiesTrusted Source found that ashwagandha treatment significantly increased sperm concentration, semen volume, and sperm motility in males with low sperm count.
It also increased sperm concentration and motility in males with normal sperm count.
However, more studies are needed.
- 5. May reduce blood sugar levels
Limited evidence suggests that ashwagandha may have some benefits for people with diabetes or high blood sugar levels.
A review of 24 studiesTrusted Source, including 5 clinical studies in people with diabetes, found that treatment with ashwagandha significantly reduced blood sugar, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), insulin, blood lipids, and oxidative stress markers.
The reason may beTrusted Source that certain compounds within ashwagandha — including one called withaferin A (WA) — have powerful antidiabetic activity and may help stimulate cells to take in glucose from the bloodstream.
However, research is limited at this time, and more well-designed studies are needed.
- 6. May reduce inflammation
Ashwagandha contains compounds, including WA, that may help reduce inflammation in the body.
Animal studiesTrusted Source have shown that WA may also help reduce levels of inflammatory proteins such as interleukin-10 (IL-10), and there’s some evidence ashwagandha may help reduce inflammatory markers in humans too.
In a 2021 studyTrusted Source, researchers gave people with COVID-19 an Ayurvedic drug containing 0.5 grams of ashwagandha and other herbs twice per day for 7 days. This reduced participants’ levels of inflammatory markers CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α compared with a placebo.
- 7. May improve brain function, including memory
Taking ashwagandha may benefit cognitive function.
One reviewTrusted Source of five clinical studies found early evidence that ashwagandha could improve cognitive functioning in certain populations, including older adults with mild cognitive impairment and people with schizophrenia.
Cognitive functions it may benefit included:
- executive functioning
- attention
- reaction time
- performance on cognitive tasks
A studyTrusted Source in 50 adults showed that taking 600 mg of ashwagandha extract per day for 8 weeks led to significant improvements in the following measures compared with taking a placebo:
- immediate and general memory
- attention
- information-processing speed
The researchers noted that compounds found in ashwagandha, including WA, have antioxidant effects in the brain, which may benefit cognitive health.
However, more research is needed before experts can draw strong conclusions.
- 8. May help improve sleep
Many people take ashwagandha to promote restful sleep, and some evidence suggests it may help with sleep issues.
For example, a studyTrusted Source in 50 adults ages 65–80 found that taking 600 mg of ashwagandha root per day for 12 weeks significantly improved sleep quality and mental alertness upon waking compared with a placebo treatment.
Additionally, one reviewTrusted Source of five high quality studies found that ashwagandha appeared to:
have a small but significant positive effect on overall sleep quality
reduce anxiety levels
help people feel more alert when they woke up
The results were more pronounced in people with insomnia and in those who took more than 600 mg daily for 8 weeks or longer.
Dosage
Dosing recommendations for ashwagandha vary. For example, research has shown doses ranging from 250–1,250 mg per day to to be effective for different conditions. Consult a healthcare professional if you have questions regarding ashwagandha dosing.
You can take ashwagandha in many ways, in either a single dose or multiple doses per day. And you can take it either with meals or on an empty stomach.
Miranda Zhang