Ashwagandha is a medicinal plant that has been common in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for three thousand years and is classified as an adaptogen, meaning it has the effects of fighting stress, improving physical fitness and metabolism, also known as rejuvenating medicine, similar plants include maca, ginseng, Eleuthero and Rhodiola Rosea.
Ashwagandha contains a variety of plant active ingredients, including saponins, alkaloids, and amino acids. Potential pharmacological effects include anti-anxiety, blood pressure-lowering, sedation, immunomodulation, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumors, and antioxidant effects.
Do you know the benefits of ashwagandha supplements?
Table of Contents
- What are the benefits recommended by Ashwagandha?
- Are there any side effects of Ashwagandha?
- Where to buy the most recommended Ashwagandha capsules?
What are the benefits recommended by Ashwagandha?
1. Beneficial obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a disturbing mental symptom that affects about 1–3% of the population. The average age of onset is about 19.5 years, and it is the top ten of disability factors.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is mainly manifested in periodic and invasive thoughts or repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, which often leads to reduced work efficiency and seriously affects concentration and execution.
A double-blind controlled study pointed out that (for 6 weeks, the subject was 30 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder treated with SSRIs), compared with medication alone, Ashwagandha and drugs can further improve the score of the obsessive-compulsive disorder scale (Yale-Brown Obsessive- Compulsive Scale) may be an option for complementary therapy.
The underlying mechanism is related to the enhancement of serotonin synthesis and regulation of synaptic conduction receptors possessed by Ashwagandha.
*Conclusion: Ashwagandha combined with conventional therapy may improve the treatment effect of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it is limited by the scale of the study and still needs to be confirmed by large studies
2. Beneficial male reproductive function
For healthy partners, the probability of pregnancy in each reproductive cycle is about 25%, and the progressive probability in the first year is about 84%, that is, under normal sex and without contraception, 80% of pregnancy Probability.
When you can’t get pregnant for more than one year, you need to confirm the possibility of infertility. According to the survey, infertility has a prevalence rate of about 15%, and malefactors account for 40% to 50%. Common causes include abnormal sperm morphology, reproductive system infection, Testicular inflammation, cryptorchidism, varicocele, etc.
A controlled study (a 60-day study of 95 patients with psychogenic erectile dysfunction) pointed out that Ashwagandha had no significant improvement in psychogenic erectile dysfunction compared to placebo.
Another double-blind controlled study (a three-month, 46 spermatozoa patients) pointed out that Ashwagandha can not only help improve sperm count, semen volume and sperm motility but also increase serum testosterone (serum testosterone) and The concentration of luteinizing hormone may have a positive effect on infertility.
*Conclusion: Ashwagandha can help improve sperm quality-related parameters, but the effect of improving infertility is still unknown and needs to be confirmed.
3. Improve female sexual dysfunction
Sexual satisfaction is an important part of a healthy partner relationship, and female sexual dysfunction is often associated with psychogenic performance, hormones, and neurovascular function. Common symptoms include lack of libido (77%), loss of clitoral sensation (62.5%), and vaginal dryness ( 37.5%), vaginal discomfort (41.6%) and orgasm disorder (49%).
A preliminary double-blind controlled study found that (for 8 weeks, the target was 50 healthy women with sexual dysfunction), Ashwagandha can help improve the two psychological measurement scale scores (including orgasm, satisfaction, vaginal wetting, sexual excitement) and the number of successful sexual encounters.
The underlying mechanism may be related to reducing patient stress and increasing testosterone (female androgen deficiency is also a factor in sexual dysfunction).
*Conclusion: Indians may have an improvement effect on some women’s sexual dysfunction, but it is limited by the scale of the study and remains to be confirmed by large studies.
4. Good cardiopulmonary function and muscle strength
Insufficient exercise is one of the main causes of illness in modern people, and proper exercise does help prevent many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity, depression, and osteoporosis.
A double-blind controlled study found that (for 8 weeks, the subject was 57 men participating in resistance training), compared to placebo, Ashwagandha can help increase muscle mass and strength, and reduce sports muscle damage, or can be combined with the resistance training program.
An alternative double-blind controlled study pointed out that (12-week, 50 male athletes), Ashwagandha in addition to helping to increase the maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max), improve cardiorespiratory endurance, but also improve the quality of life satisfaction (including physical and mental health, social relations and environmental factors).
*Conclusion: Ashwagandha may help improve sports performance, but it is limited by the scale of the study and is still to be confirmed by large studies.
5. Improve anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder is mainly defined as excessive worry, disgust, and fear in the environment. It is estimated that the prevalence of men is about 19.2% and women is 30.5%. Common types of anxiety include panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, social phobia and agoraphobia Syndrome, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome, etc.
Animal experiments have found that Ashwagandha and drugs have similar anti-anxiety and emotional stabilization effects.
A systematic review (including 5 human studies) pointed out that Ashwagandha can significantly improve the anxiety and stress scale values compared with placebo, but because some of the literature is full of potential errors and heterogeneity, the results are still held. Remaining attitude, to be further verified by more large-scale experiments.
Are there any side effects of Ashwagandha?
Ashwagandha is generally safe and well-tolerated for short-term use at small to medium doses, but the safety of long-term use is still unknown, and high-dose use may produce side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, and stomach pain.
Safety Precautions
Do not use it for pregnant women, breastfeeding women, children, and people with liver and kidney dysfunction (the relevant safety is unknown).
May have the effect of lowering blood pressure and blood sugar (please pay attention to taking related antihypertensive or hypoglycemic drugs).
Do not use it for patients with autoimmune diseases (may have an immune activation effect, which will make the disease worse. Common disease names such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and type 1 diabetes).
May have a thyroid hormone-enhancing effect (please be careful if you have thyroid disease or receive related medications).
Do not use in patients with gastric ulcers (may irritate gastrointestinal mucosa).
Use two weeks before the operation (may have a slowing effect on the central nervous system and interfere with the effects of anesthesia and drugs).
Do not use in combination with sedative sleeping pills or immunosuppressants (may interfere with or strengthen the action of the drug).
Where to buy the most recommended Ashwagandha capsules?
In recent years, food safety problems in various countries have exploded, and it is not healthy but black-hearted products that everyone spends on. Therefore, European and American products with relatively strict quality control have become popular products.
And iHerb.com is a large-scale medical cosmetics e-commerce company in the United States. It has a high satisfaction rate of 97% in the evaluation of Google customers. It provides global home delivery so that you can buy it without risking buying fakes through purchasing high-quality health products.
