Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha: what was it used for?

A tonic and restorative. Dymock, Warden, and Hooper record that the Nighantas describe it as “tonic, alterative, pungent, astringent, hot and aphrodisiac,” recommended in rheumatism, cough, dropsy, consumption, and senile debility; Dutt, that it was used in consumption, emaciation of children, and debility from old age, and “is said to promote the nutrition and strength of children.” LiverTox calls it the most frequently used Ayurvedic medicine, now popular in Western countries for stress, anxiety, sleep, and energy.

Ashwagandha: what does modern science say?

The European Medicines Agency’s herbal committee declined to adopt a monograph on the root (public statement of 2013): it could not find evidence enough to describe the herbal preparations to pharmaceutical standards, despite their use in the European Union, nor thirty years of medicinal use with fifteen in the Union. Trials since have multiplied. A 2026 meta-analysis of twenty-three randomised trials found that it lowered cortisol, raised testosterone in men but not women, and raised T4 modestly. Another of thirteen trials found that it may improve exercise performance, especially aerobic endurance, though not uniformly, while a third, of resistance training, judged that current evidence “does not establish” any meaningful gain in strength.

Ashwagandha: what did the older authorities say?

Dymock, Warden, and Hooper, Pharmacographia Indica (1891)

Chakradatta recommends it in decoction with long pepper, butter, and honey in consumption and scrofula, and a medicinal butter, or ghrita, was made by boiling one part of the root with one of clarified butter and ten of milk. As an aphrodisiac and for rheumatism it was combined with aromatics, and made into a paste with them to apply to rheumatic joints.