Stress management is important for a healthy body. Stress and anxiety can be incredibly damaging to your health in many varied ways. It saps your focus and causes you to feel physical pain. You find yourself in harmful habits like overeating, drinking too much, and not getting the amount of exercise you need. You might want to consider trying ashwagandha, if prescription medications don’t appeal to you. Read ahead, and we’ll tell you why ashwagandha stands out from the rest and has a positive benefit on your life.
Can Ashwagandha Help with Stress Management?
What Is Ashwagandha?
Ashwagandha is what’s known as an ayurvedic herb, derived from a healing system originating in India. Herbs in this family help the body heal itself, helping to forgo the need for prescription medications. It’s also classified as a type of adaptogen, meaning it adjusts to your body system responses and can be used over a long period of time.
An herb must provide a wide range of benefits to be classified as an adaptogen. This means those taking them can also find relief from other conditions outside of the primary one they’re treating.
How Does It Help with Stress and Anxiety?
Your body goes through three different phases when dealing with stress.
The Alarm Phase
Your body starts reacting to the cause of your stress. It could be trying to deal with a sick child or the impending deadline for a project at work. You find yourself experiencing different physical responses as you attempt to deal with the pressure.
- A rapid heartbeat
- Increased perspiration
- An inability to keep still
This phase is where the term “fight or flight” comes from. You’ll feel an extra burst of adrenaline rushing through your system as your body frantically tries to find a way out of the situation.
The Resistance Phase
Here, your other systems start kicking in, trying to bring you down from your current high. Everything seems to drain away, lulling you into a false sense of complacency. This phase drives you into a false sense of security that the problem has passed. However, your body simply wants to get away from pressure temporarily.
The Exhaustion Phase
This is where you start to feel the long-term effects of dealing with chronic stress. With your head filled with negative thoughts, getting through the day or feeling motivated to do anything suddenly seems like too much work. You can find yourself getting sick as your immune system succumbs to what you’re feeling.
How Does Ashwagandha Assist with Stress?
Ashwagandha assists you through all three phases of stress. It gives you the capacity to handle a higher level of stress before triggering responses from your body. The hormones released by those responses are broken down and flushed out of the body before they can harm your body’s functions, such as your immune system. This keeps you from reaching the exhaustion phase that causes so many physical and emotional problems.
Has Ashwagandha Been Proven to Work on Stress?
A 2012 study investigated how well ashwagandha performed when used to treat patients dealing with stress. Some were given a high concentration of ashwagandha, while others received a sugar pill placebo. Those receiving the ashwagandha dose saw a significant reduction in the stress they experienced on day 60 compared to their results prior to the start of the trial.
Another noted effect found in those within the ashwagandha group was a 2-3% reduction in their overall body weight. Researchers found that patients in that group ended up doing less stress eating, which may have led to the weight loss experienced. While this does not prove that ashwagandha can be used as any type of weight loss supplement, there is some promise of it having that benefit as a side-effect of being able to better handle stressors leading to anxiety and chronic stress.
What Other Benefits Does Ashwagandha Provide?
Aside from assisting in stress management, ashwagandha benefits the body in other ways. There’s been some research done on the effects of ashwagandha on cancer. One study showed a reduction in cancer cell growth in lab rats given the herb. It killed some cancer cells and inhibited their ability to regenerate. There was also an improvement in the effectiveness of radiation therapy. Nevertheless, a test still needs to be done on humans to confirm the results. Also to identify any potential side effects.
Other Ayurvedic practitioners tout ashwagandha’s effectiveness on other conditions, including:
- Skin conditions
- Impotence
- Sleep issues
- Neurological disorders
- High blood sugar
It’s a good idea to speak with a physician or other professional with knowledge of ashwagandha and what it’s capable of. You should also have them investigate how it might affect any other medications you’re on. Certain combinations could have an adverse effect on your physical or mental condition.
Ashwagandha can help those suffering from chronic stress find some type of relief. Taking the herb could also help with secondary conditions you’re having issues with. Make sure you only take products from trusted sources. Be careful not to take imitations or other substances that may end up being harmful to you.
Proper stress management helps your body become healthier. Have you tried ashwagandha or other herbs to get rid of stress? Share your experience in the comments section below.
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