When Did Ashwaganda Become a Big Deal?
Twenty-five years ago, when I was a herbalist and naturopath in training, a “new” (yet ancient) herbal medicine had just hit our apothecary shelves. Withania somnifera, the botanical name of the medicinal plant now commonly known as Ashwagandha, added an exciting host of beneficial actions to our medicine chest and expanded our understanding of the ways that herbs can support health.
Whilst we herbal medicine practitioners fell quietly and deeply in love with Ashwagandha, we remained very aware of its specific indications – where it could help, where it couldn’t, and where it may even be detrimental. Adding it to formulations for our patients, we saw it working gentle magic, but only for the people that it suited.
It’s only been in the last few years that this once-obscure root has catapulted itself into the zeitgeist. Ashwagandha is now so mainstream, in fact, that it’s sprinkled into lattes at the local café and it’s fast becoming one of Australia’s most popular baby names. (Well, maybe not, but give it a few years…)
But why is everyone so excited?
Ashwagandha works primarily as an adaptogen, and that’s what has the world obsessed. Adaptogens are substances, usually medicinal herbs or mushrooms, that help to regulate our inbuilt stress-response systems, namely the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the adrenal glands. Quite unlike pharmaceutical drugs, adaptogens don’t push the body in one particular direction. Instead, they modulate stress hormones and improve cellular signalling in ways that help to bring your internal systems into homeostasis, even when you’re under external stress. Ultimately, adaptogens read your body and work to bring it back into balance.
If this sounds too good to be true, it’s not. Ashwagandha is now one of the most robustly studied herbal medicines in history, and the news is good. One 60-day trial showed that Ashwagandha significantly reduced both patient-perceived and biological markers of stress and anxiety when compared to placebo, and significant reductions in cortisol, our most dominant stress hormone, were also seen. [1] Similar trials have shown that Ashwagandha significantly outperforms placebo in reducing symptoms of depression [2] and improving sleep quality. [3] Ashwagandha has also been shown to significantly reduce inflammation[4], [5] and oxidative stress; [6] factors that we know influence our health in a multitude of ways.
The hype isn’t bullshit.
But despite Ashwagandha being well established as safe and well tolerated (while promising the world), it’s truly not the right herb for everyone. It can, for example, influence blood sugar levels and thyroid function, and it could interact with medications like antidepressants, thyroid medications, and diabetic or weight-loss drugs. In the Ayurvedic tradition, Ashwagandha is often considered a medicine more closely associated with men’s vitality, while women’s formulas are more likely to include other adaptogenic herbs like Shatavari or Licorice Root, which can have similar anti-stress effects while being potentially more suited to a cyclic body. In other words, there may be far better herbs for you, or Ashwagandha may perfectly fit the bill. The nuances of herbal medicines and their prescription is the very art of herbalism, and that’s where seeing a trained and experienced professional can make every difference to your outcomes.
If we find ourselves picking up the half-price Ashwagandha at Harris Farms along with a loaf of bread and a case of mangoes, we need to take pause. Because as jazzy and legitimately effective as adaptogens can be, a herb can’t replace a good night’s sleep, an afternoon in the sunshine, dinner with your best mate, an encouraging and supportive partner, and amply subsidised childcare. If we’re stressed, it’s usually for good reason. We can’t invent relaxation, energy, spaciousness, and calm from the void, nor from a bottle. No herb can smash down the systems and structures that exhaust and oppress us, but they might just help us gain the muster to fight the good fight for ourselves.
xo Gem
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