Ashwagandha Benefits Thyroid, Adrenals And Boosts Metabolism

Dr. Josh Axe, Dr.AxeThyroid Nation

If you are looking to restore your energy, look younger, and reverse disease, then ashwagandha may be the herb you’re looking for. As you’re about to see, ashwagandha benefits are impressive.

Ashwagandha, is an adaptogenic herb popular in Ayurvedic medicine that has shown incredible results for lowering cortisol and balancing thyroid hormones. In India, ashwagandha is known as the “strength of the stallion” since it has traditionally been used to strengthen the immune system after illness.
Ashwagandha has also been referred to as Indian ginseng because of it’s ability to enhance stamina and has extraordinary stress relieving properties.

There have been over 200 studies on Ashwagandha’s ability to:

• Improve thyroid function
• Support adrenal glands
• Assist with metabolism
• Reduce anxiety and depression
• Combat effects of stress
• Reduce brain cell degeneration
• Stabilize blood sugar
• Lower cholesterol
• Boost immunity

In this article, I’m going to discuss the benefits of ashwagandha in healing your thyroid, adrenal glands, improving mood, and supporting brain health.

Heal Your Thyroid

Ashwagandha is a superstar when it comes to improving the health of your thyroid. Scientists don’t completely understand how adaptogens work, but we know that they can be extremely effective especially at balancing hormones.
One of the most incredible aspects about adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha is that it can help people with both hypo and hyper thyroid issues.  It has been shown to support a sluggish thyroid for people diagnosed with Hashimotos, and has been shown to improve the health of those with an overactive thyroid or Graves disease.
Adaptogenic herbs work with your body, to bring you back into balance, whether your levels are high or low.
Animal studies reveal ashwagandha has a thyroid hormone balancing effect. In a 20 days study mice were give ashwagandha and their T3 and T4 levels were analyzed along with lipid peroxidation (anti-oxidant protection). Significant increases in serum T4 were found which indicates this herb has a stimulatory effect on a sluggish thyroid.
Also, ashwagandha may benefit thyroid function because it greatly reduced lipid peroxidation by promoting scavenging of free radicals that cause cellular damage. These results prove ashwagandha can be useful in treating hypothyroidism.
There are currently millions of people who struggle with thyroid problems (many who don’t even know it) and ashwagandha may just be the solution they are searching for.

Adrenal Rejuvenation

Ashwagandha has also been proven effective in supporting adrenal function helping you overcome adrenal fatigue and chronic stress.

Your adrenal glands are endocrine glands that are responsible for releasing hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) in response to stress on your body.
If your adrenals are overtaxed due to an overabundance of emotional, physical, and mental stress it can lead to a condition known as adrenal fatigue. As you can see from this chart below, if your adrenals become exhausted it can also disrupt your other hormones including progesterone which can cause infertility and lower DHEA which can cause you to age faster.
                                       
Medical studies have shown that ashwagandha improves cortisol levels, improves insulin sensitivity and naturally balances hormones. A case study reported a case of a 57-year-old woman with non-classical adrenal hyperplasia.  She was treated with ashwagandha for 6 months and after her treatment she saw improvements in 4 adrenal hormone markers including corticoosterone and 11-deoxycortisol which decreased by 69% and 55% respectively, which is a major improvement!
This hormonal improvement was also accompanied by a noticeable reduction in hair loss.

Ashwagandha Benefits Brain Health

Emotional, physical, and chemical stress can all have damaging effects to the brain and nervous system. Recent research has proven ashwagandha is more than a stress reliever, it also protects the brain from degeneration and improves symptoms of alzheimer’s, depression, and anxiety.

One of the main reasons ashwagandha is so effective at healing the brain has to do with it’s powerful antioxidants that destroy free radicals that cause aging. A study published in Phytotherapy Research explain these benefits:
“Several studies have revealed that natural antioxidants, such as vitamin E, vitamin C and beta-carotene, may help in scavenging free radicals generated during the initiation and progression of this [Alzheimer’s] disease.  But we found Ashwagandha afforded lipid peroxidation inhibitory effects more potent than commercial antioxidants.”
Researchers at the National Brain Research Centre found that mice with alzheimer’s were unable to retain what they learned, but after 20 days of supplementing with ashwagandha, this improved significantly. The results of the study found:
A reduction in amyloid plaques (these cause degradation of the brain)

Improved Brain Function and Learning

There is also now, evidence that ashwagandha is effective at treating both anxiety and depression. In fact, in a recent study it’s results were comparable to common pharmaceutical drugs lorazepam and imipramine without the side effects.
In the 12-week controlled study, 87 participants with anxiety were given 300mg of ashwagandha two times a day or two placebo pills two times per day. The group treated with ashwagandha resulted in much greater improvements in anxiety as well as focus, reduced stress, and decreased fatigue than the placebo group.
The other major benefit of ashwagandha is that there are no adverse reactions by taking it compared to anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications which can have terrible side effects.

Ashwagandha Usage

As you can see, ashwagandha is an adaptogenic superstar that can have some tremendous health benefits. I recommend supplementing with 500mg 1-2x daily along with following a diet high in healthy fats, protein, and fiber as well as removing grains and sugars from your diet.
These dietary changes along with supplementing with ashwagandha can help you see great results in aging slower, reducing stress, balancing hormones, boosting energy and metabolism, and improving neurological health.

                               About the Author

Dr. Josh Axe is an expert in nutrition and natural medicine and the author of the real food diet and founder of the burstfit interval fitness program. He has worked with many professional and olympic level athletes and operates one of the largest health websites in the world with DrAxe.com. Dr. Axe is a board certified clinical nutritionist and has earned his CNS from the American College of Nutrition. Find him on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest


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