Ashwagandha: The Ancient Herb for Modern Life
If there was ever an herb that satisfies the needs of the modern lifestyle, it’s ashwagandha. With its rejuvenating and relaxing qualities, it’s the perfect balance for a busy and demanding way of life.
It is truly an herb of vitality, stamina, and peak physical performance, providing us with an opportunity to reach our greatest potential and maintain optimal health.
Why We Need Ashwagandha
With the typical stress load of daily living, it’s not surprising that many people are feeling the effects on their mental and physical health.
The busier we get, the less we can prioritize health, and the body begins to wear down under the added pressure. Everyday immune, hormonal, and sleep issues are common in our overworked society. It’s not hard to see that daily stress levels are impacting our health in countless ways.
Enter ashwagandha.
This ancient, adaptogenic herb is a powerful ally in maintaining overall health despite life’s challenges. Benefiting healthy energy, immunity, and hormonal balance and promoting deep, restful sleep, ashwagandha provides the potent support that we need to preserve many aspects of our health.
What Is Ashwagandha?
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is also known as Indian ginseng. Native to India and North Africa, it grows well in dry climates and poor soil. It is a shrub with orange-red fruit that ripens in the winter, giving it the name “winter cherry.” It is an adaptogen that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for over 3,000 years.
Research is growing on what Ayurvedic practitioners have known for centuries, which is the incredible potential ashwagandha has to influence multiple systems in the body for profound effects on overall health.
As a rejuvenating adaptogen, ashwagandha provides support for:
♦ neurological and cognitive health
♦ hormonal balance
♦ immune function
♦ adrenal gland activity
♦ parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) activation
♦ resistance to everyday mental and emotional stressors
♦ keeping cortisol levels in healthy ranges
♦ the release of GABA, a calming neurotransmitter
What Is an Adaptogen?
You’ve probably heard this word thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean? An adaptogen is an herb or mushroom that affects the body’s innate stress response and has a strengthening and rejuvenating effect on overall health. They help the body to be resilient to everyday stress and promote vitality and balance throughout the body. Often, adaptogens have positive effects on mental health by having uplifting and invigorating qualities.
What to Look For in an Ashwagandha Supplement
Just like a cup of coffee, not all ashwagandha supplements are created equal. To get the most potent dose, look for a product that has an extracted form of ashwagandha. When formulating T-hero® Platinum, our premium male health and testosterone support supplement, we turned to the industry-leading Shoden®† Ashwagandha Extract. Shoden® captures the wide range of benefits of ashwagandha in its highly effective extract form and has been the subject of multiple robust scientific studies.
What is the Shoden® Ashwagandha Extract Difference?
♦ High potency with high bioavailability
♦ Industry-leading 35% withanolide glycosides (an effective compound found in ashwagandha)
♦ Clinically shown to improve testosterone in men^
♦ Clinically shown to support healthy DHEA levels in men
♦ Supports restorative sleep
♦ Reduces daily stress levels
♦ Rigorous purity and potency testing
♦ Patented food-grade ethanol extraction process
Benefits of Ashwagandha
Helps Manage Everyday Stress
Ashwagandha helps the body to adapt and build resilience to ongoing stressors and can help you maintain a calm state of mind amid the chaos of life. Daily stress is not always a bad thing, but when it is out of proportion, it can cause negative effects on the mind and body. By helping the body keep cortisol levels in check, ashwagandha keeps the typical stress responses throughout the body and mind in balance.
This plant also has effects on neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which can have uplifting effects and help your mind stay clear under pressure and calm throughout the day.
Supports Brain Function and Memory
Ashwagandha’s active compounds, withanolides, have neuroprotective properties and promote healthy cognitive function. Extracts show effects on important neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and dopamine that support mental recall, normal reaction time, and optimal task performance. It also helps to protect the brain from age-related decline and supports lifelong memory and learning. It also contributes to mental clarity and focus by reducing the effects of everyday stress.
Promotes Healthy Testosterone Levels in Men
Ashwagandha has a long history of use for promoting male vitality, and modern research confirms its importance to male hormonal health. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, Shoden® ashwagandha, a potent and proprietary extract, improved testosterone levels in men^.
Other hormones important to male health are also positively affected by ashwagandha, including luteinizing hormone (LH), which plays a crucial role in testosterone production in the testes. Shoden® ashwagandha also improves DHEA-S levels, which is a precursor used by the body in the production of testosterone.
Because ashwagandha helps keep cortisol levels under control, it has a wide range of effects related to male hormonal health. Cortisol has a direct relationship with testosterone, and reducing daily stress levels is an important factor in keeping testosterone levels in healthy ranges.
Promotes Mental Health
Ashwagandha helps to uplift the mind and provides a sense of calm — mentally and physically. Ashwagandha’s adaptogenic properties help the body respond effectively to daily stress and encourage emotional balance. It may also support neurogenesis (the production of new nerve cells) in the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with emotions. Neurogenesis in the hippocampus has been linked to emotional well-being.
By helping to maintain healthy cortisol levels and promoting the release of feel-good neurotransmitters (GABA and serotonin in particular), ashwagandha sends signals to your body to calm down and promote a serene and joyful state of mind. These effects contribute to the plant’s neuroprotective properties, which are influential to mood stability and neurotransmitter functions that relate to many aspects of mental health.
May Keep Blood Sugar Levels in Healthy Ranges
Naturally occurring compounds in ashwagandha promote healthy blood sugar levels by helping the body utilize glucose effectively. Withanolides, especially withaferin A, a kind of phytochemical in ashwagandha, support insulin sensitivity and secretion. Ashwagandha has also shown promise in helping maintain blood glucose levels through actions that protect pancreatic cells and fight against common oxidative stress.
Another way ashwagandha benefits blood sugar levels is by keeping down cortisol levels, which directly affects the way the body utilizes glucose and plays an important role in maintaining stable blood sugar levels.
Supports Sleep Quality
Another byproduct of ashwagandha’s calming, adaptogenic properties is its impact on sleep quality. Managing the body’s stress response and cortisol levels has a relaxing effect on the central nervous system, promoting restful sleep. Plus, its influence on neurotransmitters, like GABA, may also work to inspire a deeper sleep experience.
Incorporating ashwagandha into your bedtime routine can be a great way to relax at the end of a long day, but consistent, long-term use will likely have the most noticeable effects on overall sleep quality and relaxation. 
Reinforces Physical Performance and Endurance
Athletes and fitness enthusiasts often incorporate ashwagandha into their routines to optimize endurance and assist with the physical demands of exercise. It can support cardiovascular function, benefit oxygenation, and help expand overall exercise capacity and physical stamina. With its effects on maintaining normal inflammatory processes, it is useful in reducing exercise-induced muscle impairment.
If that isn’t enough, ashwagandha is also a go-to powerhouse for strength and muscle gains. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study featuring participants who took ashwagandha exhibited increased muscle mass and strength. It also showed added support for muscle recovery and a positive correlation with a healthy body fat percentage.
Benefits Immunity
Ashwagandha supports the body’s defensive immune actions and helps the immune system regulate itself. It encourages the everyday activity of certain immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells responsible for identifying and eliminating unhealthy cells. It helps the immune system maintain equilibrium.
With its benefits influencing both innate and adaptive immunity, ashwagandha can be an important addition to your wellness routine, helping to prevent common environmental immune threats, as well as maintaining healthy day-to-day immune function.
How to Take Ashwagandha
You can take ashwagandha in tablet, capsule, or liquid extract forms or simply as a powder. It is slightly bitter, but one traditional way to use ashwagandha is to simmer the root or root powder in milk with other herbs. You can also use the powder in smoothies and other recipes. It is usually recommended to take ashwagandha with food, but many people can tolerate it on an empty stomach without discomfort.
You can take ashwagandha in the morning or evening, and it is often recommended to take a dose with breakfast and another dose about an hour before bed, depending on formula potency.
The benefits of ashwagandha are most noticeable after taking it consistently for about 4-6 weeks. It is often recommended to use consistently for 4-6 months for maximum whole-body benefits.
Recommended Dosage
The dose you take will depend on the kind of supplement you use. For instance, an extract will be more potent than the powder, so you will need less of it to reach the desired dose. Most extract dosages will range anywhere from 250 - 1,000 mg daily. However, because of Shoden® Ashwagandha’s unique extraction process and calculated bioavailability, the effective dose is 60 - 120 mg daily. Because it’s so potent, less is needed to experience the health benefits of ashwagandha in this form.
If you are using the powdered root, recommended dosages range from 1-5 grams daily. It is best to start with a lower dose and slowly increase it as needed.
Risks & Side Effects
Ashwagandha is generally well tolerated with minimal side effects. High doses can cause digestive upset, diarrhea, and vomiting, but side effects are rare. If you have any health concerns or take prescription medications, talk with your doctor before starting any new health supplement. It is not recommended to take ashwagandha during pregnancy.
The Essential Element
Adding ashwagandha to your wellness routine can make all the difference in how you feel and what you can accomplish each day. Shoden® Ashwagandha is a premier supplement for strengthening the mind and body against the daily stressors of life. It can assist with your fitness goals and help you maintain a positive mental state, as well as provide support for overall vitality and daily energy levels.
T-hero® Platinum is our most advanced male health formula to date. It’s precision-engineered to support healthy testosterone levels, unlock peak physical performance, and reinforce stamina and strength. With the potency of Shoden® Ashwagandha, along with our Signature Proprietary Platinum Blend, it will ignite your ambition and provide comprehensive support for testosterone health.
Find the perfect balance between relaxation and invigoration. Let ashwagandha guide you into a way of living that’s filled with motivation and vibrancy and results in long-lasting health.
†Shoden® is a registered trademark of Arjuna Natural Pvt. Ltd.
^For testosterone levels already within the normal range
