Ashwagandha could be regarded as an evergreen shrub, and you could find it in India, parts of Africa and the Middle East. It is traditional medicine and has been used for several purposes for different years.
The leaves and the roots of Ashwagandha could help in serving several medicinal purposes. Due to this reason, the herb is also referred to as the winter cherry or Indian ginseng.
Besides being classified as an ancient medicinal herb, Ashwagandha is also an adaptogen. Due to this, it could help your body to deal with stress.
If you use an extract of the root of Ashwagandha, it could provide you numerous health benefits evade fatigue, depression, insomnia and even anxiety. Now let us have a look at the meaning of Ashwagandha in detail.
Contents
- 1 What Is Ashwagandha?
- 2 Why Is Ashwagandha Beneficial?
- 3 Benefits Of Ashwagandha
- 3.1 Truncated Blood Sugar Levels
- 3.2 Deal With Anxiety
- 3.3 Treating Inflammation
- 3.4 Deal With Alzheimer’s Disease
- 3.5 Cancer Treatment
- 3.6 Dealing With Asthma
- 3.7 Ameliorate Your Heart Health
- 3.8 Enhance Fertility In Men By Bolstering Your Testosterone Levels
- 3.9 Reduce Triglycerides And Cholesterol Levels
- 3.10 Augment Your Stamina Levels
- 4 Why Is Ashwagandha Considered One Of The Best Herbs?
- 5 Let Us Wrap It Up!
What Is Ashwagandha?
Being used in traditional medicine for hundreds of years, Ashwagandha is also referred to as Withania somnifera.
The roots and even the berries of this plant could help to deal with a number of medicinal problems. The term Ashwagandha is because of the smell of the root of this plant which is just like a horse. Hence, the word ‘ashwa’ refers to a horse and the term ‘Gandha’ refers to odour.
Some of the practitioners of the herb also claimed that it might help to deal with Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety and even cancers. However, in Ayurvedic medicine, this herb is used as a ‘Rasayana.
The term ‘Rasayana refers to the fact that you could use ashwagandha to deal with ageing problems both physically and mentally. Besides this, the herb may even have certain anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties.
Here is a overview of Ashwagandha by NCBI.
Why Is Ashwagandha Beneficial?
The major reason behind a plethora of benefits of using ashwagandha could be its unique medicinal elements. The plant has a myriad of special compounds known as phytochemicals.
Since the plant itself cannot physically move around, the vital chemicals present might help to evade the antibodies attacking it.
So these vital chemicals may kill certain insects that move around it, or simply help the plant to grow quickly.
Besides this, when these phytochemicals are consumed by humans, they may provide positive impacts on your body.
Since Ashwagandha consists of a large number of different phytochemicals, it has a large number of positive impacts on your body.
Benefits Of Ashwagandha
With a plethora of benefits, Ashwagandha is a very useful medicinal herb. It has been used in the different Indian principles of natural healing. Let us have a look at the different benefits of this prominent herb due to which it is even a popular supplement.
Truncated Blood Sugar Levels
Ashwagandha could help to truncate blood sugar levels in both healthy people and people suffering from diabetes. Besides this, another test tube study conducted also showed how the consumption of Ashwagandha augmented the right insulin secretion and also supported the sensitivity of insulin in the muscle cells.
Deal With Anxiety
Since Ashwagandha is classified as an adaptogen, it could help to deal with stress and anxiety. At the same time, the herb may even bolster your brainpower and evade the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
So if you experience chronic distress, depression and anxiety regularly, then you could use the traditional Ashwagandha oil. Massaging your body with any oil that has Ashwagandha in it could help to truncate your anxiety.
The credibility of using Ashwagandha to treat your anxiety is further enhanced by a study conducted in 2019. This study was conducted on humans. According to the research, humans consumed a regular dose of 250MG of Ashwagandha each day.
When the results of this research came out, it showed how the people that consumed Ashwagandha regularly had lower stress levels as compared to using placebo.
The reason behind the reduction in stress levels was primarily because Ashwagandha could lead to a truncation in the cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone.
Treating Inflammation
Your body may face inflammation in a variety of conditions like any trauma, infection, or toxins. To fight the inflammation, your body may produce an anti-inflammatory response in normal situations.
However, in abnormal situations or situations related to chronic and extreme pain, the inflammatory response may not be generated by your body. The reason behind this is the chronic imbalance due to the high pain.
Due to this, you may need to use an additional supplement that could help to deal with excess inflammation.
One of the best Ayurvedic herbs that could deal with inflammation is Ashwagandha. You could use the Herbal Ashwagandha tea that is prepared from the leaves of Ashwagandha to deal with your excess inflammation.
Here is a study that confirms the same.
Deal With Alzheimer’s Disease
According to a study conducted in 2011, Ashwagandha could even help to deal with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease or Huntington’s disease.
As you receive any of the neurodegenerative diseases, the connective parts related to your memory, and function may become damaged. However, Ashwagandha may prevent this damage and help to augment your concentration level, focus, and might as well boost brain memory.The reason behind the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by Ashwagandha is because it could stop the production of beta-amyloid plaques. These plaques lead to a growth in neurodegenerative diseases because they are quite harmful to the brain cells.
Cancer Treatment
Ashwagandha could help to deal with cancer due to a compound known as withaferin present in it. The major reason behind the treatment of cancer through Ashwagandha is because this medicinal herb might induce apoptosis.
The Apoptosis process may damage the cancer cells. At the same time, Ashwagandha does not only damage the cancer cells but also prevents the growth of new cancer cells.This is done by the medicinal herb due to the formation of reactive oxygen by Withaferin. This formation further damages the function of the cancer cells. Hence, Ashwagandha may be beneficial in treating different types of cancers like brain cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and colon cancer.
Here is a research work conducted.
Dealing With Asthma
Being a respiratory disease, Asthma could lead to coughing, chest congestion, and shortness of breath. So you could use Ashwagandha as a natural cure for asthma. There are a plethora of reasons for getting asthma like pollution, stress, dust, anxiety and even pollen.
No matter what is the major reason that triggers asthma in you, different Ayurveda cures related to Ashwagandha could help to deal with asthma in both adults and children.
At the same time, you may even have to opt for a significant change in your lifestyle. If you consume the roots of Ashwagandha regularly, then it could reduce stress, and even evade different respiratory diseases.Here are some guidelines from Indian government for the same.
Ameliorate Your Heart Health
Ashwagandha may help to bolster your heart health due to a variety of functions. This is because the herb could help to ease your chest pain, truncate your high cholesterol and high blood pressure and even evade different heart diseases.
Besides, this Ashwagandha may pain improve your heart help and cardiorespiratory strength.
Enhance Fertility In Men By Bolstering Your Testosterone Levels
If you are facing the problem of infertility, hen Ashwagandha may be an ideal ingredient to deal with it.
It is considered as one of the fertility boosting foods for men.
The primary reason behind this is because it may help to bolster your testosterone levels and hence ameliorate your reproductive health.
Not to miss, it may as well act as a semen enhancer.
At the same time, the consumption of Ashwagandha might even augment your antioxidant levels in the blood. Hence it could result in better sperm quality, count and even motility.
Here is a paper confirming the same.
Reduce Triglycerides And Cholesterol Levels
Besides having positive impacts on inflammation and brain health Ashwagandha might also improve your heart health by truncating your triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Due to this Ashwagandha might truncate your susceptibility to different heart diseases.
More on it here.
Augment Your Stamina Levels
In this digitalized era, you may feel tired and drained out easily. This may be because of your unhealthy diet and lifestyle.
Due to this, your stamina levels may truncate and you may feel exhausted quickly. This could even lead to a disruption in your daily errands. In all such situations, you may use Ashwagandha to augment your stamina and energy levels.The same has been confirmed in this paper.
Why Is Ashwagandha Considered One Of The Best Herbs?
Since the plant has a plethora of benefits, it is considered one of the best herbs. It could help you to fight bacterial infections, common cold, cough and augment your immunity at the same time. However, if you do not consume the plant in the right quantity, then it might even lead to adverse circumstances.
Not only this, but Ashwagandha is also beneficial to maintain your nervous system. Due to this, it might maintain the neurotransmission of your nerves. If you experience backache or knee pain then also you could consume Ashwagandha.
So you may consume Ashwagandha, in the form of powder of its roots. Then after that, you could consume half to one tablespoon of this powder. On the other hand, if you do not consume Ashwagandha in the form of a powder, then you might even take its tablet. You may consume one tablet in the morning and one in the evening each day.
But if you face constipation or the heat of your body increase while consuming Ashwagandha, then you may truncate its dosage. One of the best ways to consume Ashwagandha is along with milk. But if you want, then you may also consume Ashwagandha along with water, ghee or honey.
Let Us Wrap It Up!
Thus, Ashwagandha, which is the king of herbal medicines, provides three types of effects on your body. These effects could include calming, rejuvenating and restoring effects. This means Ashwagandha could help in building the muscles and cells along with detoxifying your body. The major purpose of this herb is to revive important bodily functions.
So when you eat Ashwagandha, you could get a sensation of bitter, pungent and sweet taste. This plant could promote happiness, vitality and longevity. You might give Ashwagandha to the elderly people as well as the children. The nature of the plant is warm. So whenever you feel weak, then you could eat Ashwagandha along with milk to augment your immunity and strength.
How long can I use Ashwagandha…?
Generally, Ashwagandha comes in the form of capsules and powder. But one needs to make sure you go with a brand you trust.