Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is the most effective herb when it comes to reducing stress and its negative side-effects.
(find a more detailed description of its effects below)

Quality is very important when it comes to Ashwagandha. The effect of the herb is mainly due to the percentage of Withanolides in the product.

Most companies don’t even test for the percentage of Withanolides.

That’s why I recommend Nootropicsdepot, who test and standardize all their products. This product contains 12% Withanolides (decent strength).

Dosages

Typical dosages to take with Ashwagandha are 300 – 600 mg/day.

Wait at least a few hours after waking before taking it. You don’t want to suppress your natural cortisol peak that occurs in the morning and helps you to wake up.

Description

Ashwagandha is an herb which has been used for centuries in Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine).

It is classified as an adaptogen, which means that it can enhance the body’s resilience to stress.

Ashswagandha’s main benefits, which have been supported by numerous studies, are:

  • Relieving stress & reducing anxiety [s]
  • Reducing cortisol (a hormone elevated when you are stressed) [s]

These effects have a number of great side effects, namely that Ashwagandha has been shown to also

  • Improve sleep
  • Improve fertility & testosterone levels
  • Increase muscle gain & performance
  • Improve cognitive perfomance

The reason for this is that many people are suffering from chronic stress, which negatively effects all these aspects of health.
By relieving the root cause of the issue, stress, these other aspects also improve.

On the flipside therefore, if you are not stressed whatsoever, it is unlikely that Ashwagandha supplementation will still benefit your sleep, fertility, testosterone, and performance as much as it would if you are stressed.