Shopping Cart
QUALIFIED FOR FREE SHIPPING!
SPEND TO QUALIFY FOR FREE SHIPPING
QUALIFIED FOR FREE SHIPPING!
SPEND TO QUALIFY FOR FREE SHIPPING
Your cart is empty
Besides being one of the most fun words to say of all time, ashwagandha is a heavy hitter in our natural stress management supplements, Calm and Unwind. The Meryl Streep of the adaptogen world, ashwagandha has stood the test of time in both ancient medicinal systems of healing like Ayurveda and modern clinical studies at your favorite universities. Here's the 101 on ashwagandha and why it does a body and brain good.
Ashwagandha is a vitally important herb in Ayurveda, the 3,000-year-old healthcare practice, which recognizes the body as a whole being with separate regions that can be tuned to improve health. No longer a regional practice, Ayurveda has been modernized and globalized and is sometimes referred to as “alternative medicine.”
So, what’s making it work? Withanolides are the principal metabolites that are responsible for the therapeutic properties of ashwagandha. The phytochemicals, biologically active compounds in plants, in ashwagandha are thought to counteract the negative effects of stress by increasing levels of GABA signaling and preventing overstimulation of the brain, similar to the activity of L-Theanine (Singh et. al., 2011).
GABA is extraordinarily important when it comes to quelling and quieting negative stressors. It's referred to as the "major inhibitory transmitter in the brain," but you can think of it as your brain brakes. When GABA is increased, it tells your brain to chill-out and settles down the activity in your brain cells. Research suggests that GABA controls fear and anxiety in the body, essentially putting on the brakes so you don’t go 120 mph into a sturdy stress wall. Too little GABA can lead to anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, so you can see why we want to increase GABA whenever we can (and we do!).
We use Ashwagandha in both our Calm and Unwind supplements to promote relaxation, calm, and ultimately aid in stress management. It also has wonderful anti-inflammatory effects, which supports immunity and increases healing in the body. When used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise, this gold-star adaptogen can make stress management a lot more manageable.