The Amazing Ashwaganda

Ashwaganda is part of a group of plants called the adaptogens.  Just as the name sounds, an adaptogen helps you adapt to stress.

Increased Well-Being

One trial found that Ashwaganda increased energy, reduced fatigue, improved sleep, and promoted a greater sense of well-being.  Cortisol levels dropped 26%.  Cortisol is an important and potentially destructive stress hormone that is responsible for many of the harmful effects of stress.  Along with substantially lower cortisol, the people in the trial experienced lower fasting blood sugar and improved blood lipids, both good things.

Anxiety and Depression

In another study, Ashwaganda was found to be as effective as the drug Tofranil for depression, and as effective as the anti-anxiety medication Ativan for anxiety, after only 5 days.

Phytomed 2000. Unpublished Study NutrGenesis, LLC. 2005.

Acid Blocking Drugs Deplete Magnesium

Stomach acid blocking drugs significantly lowered magnesium levels.   Magnesium deficiency is assoicated with muscle pain and soreness, insomnia, irritability, and other symptoms.

Less stomach acid means that your body will not absorb as much of the nutrients that require on a higher acid environment for absorption, like many minerals.  These drugs also change the pH of your intestines and are linked to a harmful overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine.  Symptoms of this overgrowth include chronic bloating, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Instead of acid-blocking drugs, identify which foods trigger your symptoms and avoid them.  If you are overweight, try to lose weight in order to take physical pressure off the stomach valve that keeps acid out of your esophagus.

FDA Drug Safety Announcement 2011. Current Gastroenterology Reports 2003.