Ashwagandha is an herb I use often in my care regimens in my Seattle practice. It is an Ayurvedic adaptogen, which means it supports the ability to withstand stress.

Here is what chronic stress does. When the adrenal system is working right, it releases hydrocortisone, adrenaline, and mineral-regulating hormones in correct amounts. Under chronic stress that regulation goes out of balance, and the result is low energy and stamina, immune dysfunction, low thyroid function, increased inflammation, and at times anxiety. The research and my own experience both point the same direction: ashwagandha supports healthy balance in stress.

There is real science here. Controlled trials show reductions in perceived stress and anxiety scores and in morning cortisol. Animal research adds that it supports normal inflammatory cytokine levels, thyroid hormone levels, and white blood cell function. The exact mechanisms are not fully known. The clinical results are what I rely on.

How I use it: this is a daytime adaptogen. I typically have people take it in the morning and early afternoon, and I do not find it overstimulating the way some adrenal herbs are. Some colleagues prefer Siberian ginseng, licorice, or rhodiola, but I find those too energetically hot for the people I work with. Ashwagandha is neutral.

Not for pregnancy. And if insomnia worsens on it, the afternoon dose is the one to trim first. This is a steady workhorse, not a fast-acting agent, and I tell people to judge its effects over weeks.