It’s ok, you are not alone. I had not heard of ashwagandha either at one time. Nor did I know the benefits of it. It has a few common names too, but I hadn’t heard of Winter cherry, poison gooseberry ( do I really want to take something with that name?) ok I did take it and I still do. It is the root of the plant that is used. Ashwagandha is considered an adaptogen.
Adaptogen 101 class: Don’t worry its quick and to the point. Adaptogens are substances that plants make to help them with stress. Since a plant cannot simply MOVE if it is in the wrong environment, it has to adapt. So it makes substances to help it cope with a stressful environment. And here is the best part…those substances help us with the same issues. Who doesn’t have too much stress in their daily life? How many illnesses do we get when we are stressed?
You see, our bodies work all day trying to find normal. Normal blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, etc. All day we are doing things that are taking us out of normal. So this fight all day between going out of normal and the body’s processes trying to get back to normal are stressful. That’s just physical stress. We are putting pressure on our adrenal glands, thyroid glands, and pituitary gland, with all the types of stress we encounter every day. Adaptogens are herbal products that help the body find normal. And here is the really cool part. They help the body find its normal. If you have high blood pressure and I have low blood pressure, we can take the same adaptogen and it will help us both find normal. It is like they are “smart herbs”.
Please keep in mind that every herbal does not work for everyone, just like prescription medication. If one drug worked or everyone, there wouldn’t be dozens of versions of that drug. The same is true for herbals. Ashwagandha works GREAT for me.
Here is what it does for me…its a chill pill. I can have a stressful day, but not be completely exhausted at the end of the day if I take an Ashwagandha in the morning. I tracked my blood pressure and heart rate throughout the day, and I was well within normal all day. I was not anxious about things, I was also not sleepy or slowed down. I also take it because it is an anti-inflammatory, and I have not had swelling I had before. It is supposed to have anti-tumor properties, but I have no tumors that I know of, so I cannot comment on that aspect of it.