8 Health Benefits of Ashwagandha

Your gut health is usually disturbed by 5 key disruptors sleep, stress, hydration, physical activity, and also your diet. And Stress can be a major player in throwing your gut health off track. 

Ashwagandha is one of the most important herbs in Ayurveda. It is traditional to South Asia, primarily in India, and its usage dates back nearly 3000 years. It is commonly known as an adaptogen used for relieving stress and its calming benefits. The ashwagandha plant is a small shrub, and each of its parts, like its leaves and roots, has been shown to treat conditions like anxiety, sleep disorders, and even fertility.

Here are the top 8 benefits of Ashwagandha

Promotes Stress Relief

Stress is our body’s natural way of responding to daily life challenges and demands. It activates our sympathetic nervous system also known as the fight or flight reaction. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are also released into our system, affecting our entire body, especially our gut. Here’s how:

a)    Inflammation: With constant stress, one can get inflammation, leading to several heart and gut issues. 

b)    Digestive Issues: Chronic stress alters gut motility, the movement of food and fluids through the body, and microbiome diversity, leading to constipation, bloating, or diarrhea. 

Ashwagandha, an adaptogenic herb, helps the body control stress by regulating cortisol levels. 

a)    Reduces cortisol levels: Ashwagandha in several studies has been shown to reduce cortisol levels, helping reduce the physiological effects of stress. Lower cortisols equal less inflammatory cytokines, which ultimately help in reducing stress-related inflammation and the resultant bloating. 

b)    Balances nervous system: Ashwagandha can calm the overactive nervous system while supporting the parasympathetic system, which is responsible for relaxation. It also helps in balancing the HPA (Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis. Which controls the body’s stress response. Improves sleep quality:

By calming the mind and anxiety, ashwagandha promotes deeper and calmer sleep.
In a double-blind placebo study conducted in 2019, the researchers found that a group of individuals suffering from sleep issues showed significant improvements in their sleep patterns after consuming Ashwagandha. This was also noticed in tests for stress and anxiety, where the participants noticed significantly lower levels of stress and anxiety than the placebo group.

Promotes Athletic Performance:

In a study examining the effects of ashwagandha supplementation on muscle strength and recovery, it was noticed that people consuming ashwagandha in their diet routine showed significant improvement in muscle strength on a bench press and leg extension exercises than that of the placebo group.

Promote Blood Sugar Levels

Ashwagandha is one of those kind of adaptogens that can holistically elevate your well-being. A 2020 meta-analysis study found that ashwagandha supplementation can reduce fasting blood sugar levels and HbA1c levels in people with diabetes and metabolic disorders. 

Along with disrupting your gut health, chronic stress can also increase your blood sugar levels. Ashwagandha’s stress-relieving properties help your body lower cortisol and, in turn, also lower blood sugar.  

Another way Ashwagandha supports regulating blood sugar levels is by regulating inflammatory responses induced by high stress and cortisol. Ashwagandha reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines, thus improving glucose regulation. 

Improves Brain Function

Chronic Stress and anxiety can impair cognitive functions, especially focus and memory. Ashwagandha has several benefits that can support this cognitive decline, It has also shown results in a study conducted in May 2024. Acute ingestion of ashwagandha has shown enhanced measures of executive function, short-term working memory, and the ability to hold focus for up to 6 hours.

Final thoughts?

Ashwagandha is a versatile and powerful herb that can not only aid you with sleep and stress but also several factors of your daily life like gut health, blood sugar level, and enhancing athletic performance. When crafting Lumy, we identified the powerful benefits of the Ashwagandha herb on gut health and how, with its relaxing properties, it can reduce intestinal inflammation and lower the risk of bloating.