If you’re looking to improve your health, then you landed at the right place. Here, you will find 10 scientifically proven health benefits of Ashwagandha which could lead to better quality of life.
India is a country which is vastly known for its vedas, spices, herbs, and shrubs. During the ancient times, people used to treat their illnesses by these herbs and shrubs, commonly known as jadibuti in Hindi.
We are all familiar with the scene of epic Ramayana, where Lord Hanuman went to the great himalayas in search of that Sanjeevani Booti, which was used to save the life of Lord Laxmana.
In modern times as well, these herbs play a vital role in improving the health of a person. It gives them the strength and immunity they require to recover from a disease or illness. During this pandemic, where no other medicine is helping, people are inclining towards these herbal solutions such as having Giloy juice, kadha, or haldi doodh.
Therefore, it has been evident that herbs are, and herbs were a great part of our lives.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| What is Ashwagandha ? |
| How to take Ashwagandha ? |
| Health Benefits of taking Ashwagandha |
| Beauty Benefits of Ashwagandha |
| Ashwagandha negative side effects |
| Takeaway |
What is Ashwagandha?
One of the shrubs that grows in India, the Middle East and parts of Africa is Ashwagandha, where ashwa signifies a horse as its root’s smells like that of a horse. The roots and the orange-red fruit of this shrubs are used for various medicinal purposes from ages. This is also called as Indian ginseng or winter cherry.
In Ayurveda, Ashwagandha is considered as a Rasayana i.e. an herb that helps to maintain youth, both mentally and physically.
Earlier, Ashwagandha was used to treat the diseases mentioned below:
- Arthritis,
- Constipation,
- Insomnia,
- Skin conditions,
- Stress,
- Gastrointestinal issues,
- Diabetes,
- Nervous breakdown,
- Fevers,
- Snake bites,
- Memory loss.
These diseases were cured by the help of Ashwagandha in the historic times.
Ashwagandha is best suited to reduce the stress levels as it is also used as “adaptogen.”
How to take Ashwagandha?
The intake of Ashwagandha depends upon the illness a person is suffering from. No specific dosage is given for its consumption.
One can use this in the powdered form ranging from 450mg to 2g. Ashwagandha is readily available in the form of capsules, powders or liquid extracts from any health food or supplement stores.
Also Read: Best Multivitamin for Women in India
Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha has been an integral part of a man’s life since ages. It has the following mentioned benefits when consumed properly.
Reducing anxiety levels– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
Anxiety can be seen commonly among teenagers. Anxiety can lead to a lot of health problems that can be cured by the use of Ashwagandha.
A study by hearbalgram showed that “full-spectrum Ashwagandha root extract can safely improve resistance to stress, and as a result, improve self-assessed quality-of-life measures”. Apart from combating the anxiety levels it is also helpful in coping up with depression and keeping the nervous system calm.
Cure for arthritis
The pain in joints has been a common problem while one is going on the graph of age. To get the relief from that pain, Ashwagandha can be used.
Ashwagandha can be used as a pain reliever which acts on the nervous system. It helps in preventing the pain signals from being sent to the brain.
According to studies, it has been found that Ashwagandha can be used as the potential treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
Healthy Heart– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
In today’s world, where everyone is moving on a fast pace to climb up the ladder of success. People are not paying much attention to their heart’s health.
A healthy heart leads to a healthy body, therefore one should keep a track of their heart’s health by looking into the following aspects:
- High blood pressure,
- High cholesterol,
- Chest pain and
- Heart disease.
One can use ashwagandha to cure these diseases as these problems are quite serious.
Ashwagandha is also helpful in improving the muscle strength and endurance.
Alzheimer’s treatment– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
Alzheimer disease is a kind of problem where people are not able to retain a great amount of memory and suffers from memory loss, it also affects the functioning of brain.
A lot of studies proved that Ashwagandha can be used as a cure to these types of problems such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s.
A test was conducted on the affected mice. It has been found that they recovered from the above-mentioned problems during their early stages itself.
Works for Cancer patients– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
A certain number of studies showed that Ashwagandha can be useful in stopping the cell growth in certain types of cancer.
Research on animals showed that it has the ability to reduce lung tumor.
According to several findings, it is concluded that Ashwagandha can slow down the effects of cancer including breast, lung, kidney and prostate.
Regulates Blood Sugar levels
Due to changing lifestyle, people are facing a lot of lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, or insomnia.
Ashwagandha can be useful in lowering the blood sugar levels. It is also helpful in lowering down the fasting blood sugar levels.
Enhances Learning, Memory and Reaction time
Lack of retention is a common problem that a child experiences at very young age. In this case, Ashwagandha can be used as it promotes antioxidant activity to protect the nerve cells from harmful free radicals which in turn reduces the oxidative stress levels and improves the memory and functioning of the brain.
One can consume in small to medium quantities to improve the general memory. It also helps in task performance as well as the attention.
Treatment for Thyroid– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha can be used as a treatment for thyroid, specially the underactive thyroid in which a person gains a lot of weight, because of low levels of thyroid hormone.
Taking Ashwagandha as a remedy can be helpful for a person in preventing the problem of thyroid which helps in producing more amount of thyroid hormone.
Remedy for Male Infertility
Taking Ashwagandha is useful for men having infertility issues. It improves the sperm quality and helps them in a great way.
According to a study conducted on 75 infertile men, the group of men that was treated with Ashwagandha showed a great improvement in the levels of testosterone.
Treating Insomnia– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha has rejuvenating properties which helps in eradicating the problem of insomnia as it helps in calming down the nervous system, easing stress and get rid of sleeplessness.
Ashwagandha can be used as a powder with honey and warm milk to calm down the senses and regulate the sleep patterns.
Apart from the above-mentioned health benefits of Ashwagandha, it has some beauty benefits also.
Beauty benefits of Ashwagandha
Skincare
Do you feel sad while looking yourself in the mirror because of that wrinkled or saggy skin?
Ashwagandha could produce Natural skin oils. It also helps in promoting the production of important compounds and proteins that are essential for healthy skin. One can use ashwagandha as a toner along with dry ginger and lemon to get the glowing skin.
Healthy Hair
Ashwagandha is the best solution for oily scalp and dandruff problems. Ashwagandha based shampoos are a great choice in order to get rid of the problems such as oily scalp, dandruff and hair fall.
It also helps in the production of melanin i.e. a pigment accountable for hair color. Apart from that is also delays the greying of hair.
Like everything has it’s owns advantages and disadvantages, same is true with the usage of Ashwagandha. Given below are some of the disadvantages of Ashwagandha:
Ashwagandha negative side effects
When taken orally
Ashwagandha is safe up to 3 months of consumption. But its long-term effects are not certain till now. When taken in large quantities it can cause stomach problems, diarrhea and vomiting.
Skin application
There is no evidence, if Ashwagandha is safe or not when applied to the skin or what are its side effects.
During Pregnancy and Breast-feeding
Use of Ashwagandha should be avoided during pregnancy as there are evidences which proves that using Ashwagandha while carrying a child caused miscarriages.
There are no evidences of the side effects of using Ashwagandha while breast feeding a child. Therefore, one could avoid the use of Ashwagandha to stay safe.
Diabetes
As mentioned above, the intake of Ashwagandha lowers the blood sugar levels. However, situation could be troublesome with the interference of ongoing medications that a person is already taking to lower the blood sugar levels.
High or low blood pressure
Though Ashwagandha is helpful in decreasing the blood pressure, but it might dip the blood pressure too low. It can also interfere with the ongoing medication for blood pressure. one can take this cautiously with the medication.
Stomach ulcers
Ashwagandha should not be used if you are suffering from stomach ulcers as it can irritate the gastrointestinal tract of the stomach.
Auto-Immune Diseases
You are suffering from the diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or other conditions that causes your immune system to become more active. Ashwagandha may increase the symptoms of your disease. Therefore, consumption of Ashwagandha has to be avoided in these situations.
Surgery
Ashwagandha slows down the working of your nervous system. While giving anesthesia or any other medications during or after the surgery, Ashwagandha increases the effect on nervous system. Therefore, one can avoid an intake for at least 2 weeks before a surgery.
Thyroid disorders
As mentioned above, Ashwagandha helps in increasing the thyroid hormones. It can lead to illness if not used cautiously.
Takeaway– Health Benefits of Ashwagandha
Being an herbal thing, Ashwagandha comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it should not be taken blindly and certain norms should be followed with its intake.
One can avoid the high dosage of Ashwagandha in the above-mentioned cases.