Supriya Yadav, Microbiologist at Vital Neutraceuticals Pvt. Ltd.
“There are no incurable diseases — only the lack of will. There are no worthless herbs —only the lack of knowledge” rightly said by Avicenna that if you are willing enough no disease can harm you provided you have right knowledge about the natural supplements to support your health. There are remarkable health benefits of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera, fam. Solanaceae) which is also known as “Indian Winter cherry” or “Indian Ginseng”.
This pandemic has taught us many new things which we were not even aware of. One such thing is about herbs and especially Ashwagandha nutrition supplement has created much of buzz along with other herbs. It’s medicinal leaves are rich in antioxidant properties. This is why Ashwagandha is considered an ancient herb that has been a boon to mankind. And with plenty of health benefits it is considered as the best healing medicinal herb in the Ayurveda.
Key Highlights:
- Researchers have found that ashwagandha can reduce a marker of inflammation called C-reactive protein by 36 %.
- In the study, the peak analgesic effect of Ashwagandha was recorded as 78.03% that helps in soothing arthritic pains.
- The animal study found 70-80% reduction in tumour growth and complete inhibition of metastasis to other organs.
It improves the function of the reproductive system promoting a healthy sexual, vitality and reproductive balance thus also known as “smell of horse" in Sanskrit because it’s consumption makes you feel as energetic as a horse. It enhances your body's resilience to stress, as it is a powerful adaptogen and works on your mental health. It has strong antioxidant properties that help protect against cellular damage caused by free radicals. Apart from this, Ashwagandha has also got many other remarkable health benefits which you will get to know in this literature.
Here are Some Remarkable Health Benefits of Ashwagandha:
- 1. Helps against Chronic inflammatory diseases with anti-inflammatory properties.
- 2. Boosts immunity and protects from infection.
- 3. Improves Heart Health by regulating Cholesterol and Triglycerides level.
- 4. Improves sleep quality and reduces fatigue.
- 5. Provides anti-arthritic effect with it’s analgesic property.
- 6. Acts as anti-carcinogen by preventing tumour growth.
- 7. Controls diabetes by reducing blood sugar levels
Chronic inflammation is one of the major causes behind diseases like heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid lung, cancer, arthritis, and bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Ashwagandha has got a strong anti-inflammatory property. Researchers have found that Ashwagandha can reduce a marker of inflammation called C-reactive protein by 36 % and is used in inflammation treatment thereby reducing the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases. C-reactive protein is a substance produced by the liver in response to inflammation.
In this time of pandemic our health is declined by several factors daily most often by intrinsic factors such as stress, inflammation and lack of sleep. Ashwagandha can improve our immunity significantly by improving the activity of natural killer cells, the immune cells such as the T-cells that are important soldiers of our defence mechanism that help to fight infection.
Higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides are the main enemy for your chronic heart diseases. Studies have found that Ashwagandha can reduce the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in a significant amount in the bloodstream. In a 60-day study of chronically stressed adults, it reduced levels of cholesterol by an average of 17% and levels of triglycerides by an average of 11% thereby lowering the risk of heart diseases.
In this lockdown period, there have been a lot of stressful and sleepless nights for all of us which directly or indirectly may affect our health. It is of utmost importance to have a good sleep to maintain our good health. Ashwagandha has got Ayurvedic healing property, if you consume Ashwagandha as powder during night time, it can help you with sleeplessness and stress.
It is seen that about 22-39% of adults are affected by arthritis in our country annually. The strong anti-arthritic properties i.e. antipyretic as well as analgesic property of Ashwagandha are now widely accepted and documented. Ashwagandha is an excellent analgesic that soothes our nervous system from pain response. In the study, the peak analgesic effect of Ashwagandha was recorded as 78.03% that helps in soothing arthritic pains.
Cancer treatments are a continuously evolving process as there is always risk of having a new tumour growth in different parts of the body (called metastasis) once you have cancer. Ashwagandha has strong anti-cancer properties and many experiments have shown that it is a potent medicine against cancer. Ashwagandha can kill the already existing cancer cells in the body and it also has the ability to stop the further tumorous growth. In the animal study, it was found that consumption of ashwagandha caused 70- 80% reduction in tumour growth and complete inhibition of metastasis.
Nearly 8.5% of the world's population is affected by diabetes. In the study it was found that ashwagandha has the ability to control the blood sugar levels and increase insulin secretion in our body. It is advisable to consume ashwagandha for proper regulation of our blood sugar levels in people with and without diabetes.
Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb. It supports your body’s response to its environment and circumstances. Medhya Rasayana like Ashwagandha, is used to promote your mental health like intellect and memory and best seen in children with memory deficits, or when memory is compromised following head injury, or a prolonged illness and in old age. To boost your immunity and to acquire all the amazing benefits as mentioned to keep up your good health you can have 3-6 g of ashwagandha as a powder daily or 0.5-1 g/ day as an extract and can top it up with other herbs to vitalize its effect. To have these holistic benefits of Ashwagandha when are you supplementing yourself to improve your health and quality of life?
