The Best Ashwagandha Benefits for Menopausal Women!

Ashwagandha is excellent support for your menopause symptoms! It balances your body, calms your mind and keeps your body functioning in harmony.

Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb for women. It’s widely studied for its libido and fertility-boosting effects. Ashwagandha is a true wellness promoter that I love!

Relieve menopause discomforts, regain hormone balance, boost your energy and make your menopause journey more enjoyable by tapping into 6 of the best Ashwagandha benefits!

Mood swings, Anxiety and Depression. Ashwagandha balances your emotion-regulating hormones, like serotonin and dopamine. These hormones make you calmer, which helps us gain better control of our emotions. This aids mood swings, anxiety and depression during menopause.

Sleep troubles. Elevated cortisol, caused by stress, impedes sleep and causes serious sleep problems such as insomnia. When your cortisol is high, your body is always on alert mode, which explains your sleep troubles. Ashwagandha stimulates melatonin production, a hormone that aids in better sleep, as well as releasing calming hormones!

Sluggish metabolism. Your metabolism usually slows down during menopause. As a result, you tend to gain weight. Ashwagandha increases the conversion of T4 hormone into active T3 hormone, which is responsible for boosting metabolism.

Low libido. Loss of sexual desire is a common menopause symptom. There are many reasons for this. Vaginal dryness, anxiety, depression and stress are some of the culprits. Ashwagandha is a powerful aphrodisiac according to the Kama Sutra. It increases reproductive health by promoting better blood circulation to your vagina. This can promote better lubrication and increased sexual sensitivity. You don’t need to go through a long dry spell even if you hit menopause!

Hot flashes and night sweats. Although the herb does not affect estrogen production, Ashwagandha can decrease the occurrence of vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. Stress has a profound effect on the frequency and severity of these vasomotor symptoms (VMS). Taking Ashwagandha reduces stress, thereby allowing you to manage these symptoms better.

Memory lapses. Ashwagandha helps in reducing memory decline according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. The herb protects the brain from oxidative stress and halts neuro-degeneration. To experience memory improvement, you need to take this herb daily.

What is Ashwagandha?

This herb has many names. It’s also known as the “winter cherry” or “Indian ginseng”. Ashwagandha is a popular Ayurvedic herb from India, but women all over the world use it for a variety of health reasons.

If you translate the word Ashwagandha, it means “odor of horse”. Sounds pretty weird, right? But there’s a logical explanation for this!

According to many herb users, the prepared Ashwagandha powder and tablets normally don´t smell. But it can be intolerable in its raw form! Aside from this, Ashwagandha gives you so much energy, endurance and strength – pretty much like a horse!

In Ayurveda, this herb is known as “Rasayana”. It helps calm the mind and body and lengthens life. Ashwagandha falls under the class of small shrubs called “Solanaceae”, where tomatoes and eggplants also belong. You can identify this herb because of its red berries and five-petal flowers.

Although most of its parts are usable, the roots are the most important part of the plant. They are made into powders, tinctures and extracts.

Dr. Axe highly recommends Ashwagandha to his patients, and he has a great video where he talks about Ashwagandha benefits and how you can use it to improve overall health and well-being [8:04]:

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How Ashwagandha Works

Ashwagandha is rich in adaptogens, natural compounds in plants that fight off stress. Sometimes, we blame our menopausal discomforts and symptoms on hormonal imbalance, but the reason can be as simple as stress. Contrary to what many of us believe, adaptogens are not plant-based estrogens, nor do they directly affect estrogen levels.

According to freelance health and nutrition writer Edward Wallace, an adaptogen enhances the body’s ability to resist a stressor. Ashwagandha, promotes a normalizing influence on the body, without over-stimulating or inhibiting the normal body function — instead, it gives off an overall tonifying effect!

This means that the herb doesn’t really have a specific effect, but it is effective in maintaining our body’s balance. So, how can this herb help us in menopause?

First, Ashwagandha acts on our adrenal glands by recharging them. During menopause, the dance of hormones can come in full swing. Our hormones can drop or increase at any given time, causing menopause symptoms. Ashwagandha helps our adrenal glands to function at an optimum level, preventing hormonal imbalance. Our adrenal glands produce just enough estrogen, progesterone and cortisol (stress hormone) with the help of this herb.

According to a study by the University of Buffalo, menopausal women who experienced hot flashes had high IL-8 (Interleukin-8). This is a type of protein that the body releases when it is under stress. This also happens when estrogen decreases. Ashwagandha neutralizes this protein. This can be a potential explanation why the herb is an effective solution to hot flashes.

Aside from all these, healthy adrenal glands mean that they can balance the secretion of our emotion-regulating hormones such as serotonin, dopamine and endorphin. These three hormones, when imbalanced, can cause anxiety, depression and mood swings, which are common menopause symptoms.

In a study by the Indian Journal of Medical Research, Ashwagandha mimics the activities of GABA (Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid). This neurotransmitter is a natural tranquilizer. It relaxes the mind and body. Since Ashwagandha can stimulate GABA activity, menopausal women will generally feel calmer and better.

Ashwagandha delays degenerative changes in our bones. When we go through menopause, or as we age, we tend to be more prone to osteoporosis or osteoarthritis. And more than men for that matter! Estrogen fluctuation is not the only explanation. One study claims that women have preconditions that can place them at more risk of osteoporosis or osteoarthritis.

Before we reach menopause, we have regular periods every month and we lose about 70 ml of blood each time. To replenish this loss and maintain enough circulating blood, our body increases hematopoietic activity ─ the creation of new blood.

For hematopoietic cells to create new blood, it needs spaces inside our bones where it can work. To accommodate this need, our osteoclasts responsible for breaking down our bones will also increase their activity. This is to provide a space for hematopoiesis. With many holes or spaces forming within our bones, we can develop osteoporosis. However, by taking Ashwagandha, you can balance bone breakdown and bone formation, thus preventing the condition.

A study by the National Institutes of Health also explained how taking ashwagandha can combat osteoporosis. The herb delays degeneration in our chondroblasts. The main function of chondroblasts is to support the bones and fill in spaces caused by bone breakdown. Apart from this, it also has Withaferin A, which stimulates a rapid increase in cells, that can synthesize the bones.

Balance Your Hormones

Dr. John Douillard is a natural medicine expert! He is an advocate of Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient healing system that I truly believe in. Natural herbs like Ashwagandha are a big part of Ayurvedic medicine. Dr. Douillard even calls Ashwagandha the “herbal intelligence” because of its strong adaptive properties.

Dr. Ray Sahelian says there are unknown severe side effects, related to the use of Ashwagandha. However, those who are going to operate machinery and go on long drives must observe proper caution because Ashwagandha supplements have sedative effects.

Sometimes, supplements may also give you too much energy and you may become hyperactive. You may want to take the supplement in cycles!

In some rare cases, the herb can cause some minor digestive problems. If this happens, reduce your dose and gradually increase once you get more used to it. Pregnant women should consult their doctors before taking Ashwagandha.

More Ashwagandha Benefits!

Ashwagandha is more than just a hormone balancer! It also strengthens your immune system by activating fighter or killer cells. This makes it easier for the body to fight off allergens or antigens (toxins).

According to a write-up by drugs.com, the herb also has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects. It prevents swelling, redness and pain, which are characteristics of inflammation. Arthritis pain is reduced with the help of this superfood. With its antipyretic property, it can relieve fevers and regulate body temperature.

Have you tried Ashwagandha? Did it help you feel better? Check out a full list of the best herbs for menopause in our article!

Share your experience with us below! And don´t forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter!

References:
Sanders, Karen: “Ashwagandha can cure insomnia and anxiety” 
www.naturalhealth365.com/0887_ashwagandha.html
University Health News: “Ashwagandha Benefits: Ease Stress and Anxiety by 44%” universityhealthnews.com/daily/depression/ashwagandha-benefits-ease-stress-and-anxiety-by-44-percent/