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How Ashwagandha Helps Performance, Testosterone & Sleep | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
Expert dietitian explains what Ashwagandha is and what the benefits are.
Ashwagandha has been traditionally used within Indian medicine for centuries, and more recent research has provided evidence to suggest that it may actually be worth the hype.
Elle Kelly a registered sports dietitian looks at all the benefits of taking Ashwagandha. The benefits range from better performance in exercise, a higher quality sleep, reduction of anxiety and support in muscle growth that attributes to increasing testosterone.
Watch this video to hear the research that backs up the benefits.
Follow Elle on IG: ellekellynutrition 📱
***
Chapters
00:00 - What is Ashwagandha
01:31 - Benefits
02:22 - Performance
04:14 - Risks?
04:39 - Have any questions?
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
ashwagandha has been traditionally used
0:01
within Indian medicine for centuries a
0:04
more recent research has provided
0:06
evidence to suggest that it may actually
0:08
be worth the hype
0:12
hi my name is Al I'm a registered Sports
0:15
dietitian and today we're going to look
0:17
at what ashwagandha is what the benefits
0:19
may be to taking it and what the
0:21
research says so firstly what is
0:23
ashwagandha ashwagandha is a herb used
0:25
in ayurveda which is a traditional form
0:27
of alternative medicine based on Indian
0:29
principles of natural healing it is also
0:32
known as Indian ginseng and winter
0:33
cherry ashwagandha is classified as an
0:36
adaptogen which means that it helps the
0:38
body to adapt and cope with stress one
0:40
of the most common known benefits of
0:42
ashwagandha is its ability to combat
0:45
Stress and Anxiety ashwagandha appears
0:47
to interact with the mediators of stress
0:49
such as cortisol and also acts on the
0:52
hypotonic pituitary adrenal axis known
0:55
as our HBA axis which is the system in
0:57
our body that regulates the response to
0:59
stress Studies have shown that
1:01
ashwagandha helps to reduce morning
1:03
cortisol levels and has an ability to
1:05
reduce HPA access activity in stressed
1:07
individuals this is thought to be why it
1:09
can lower stress levels as the HPA axis
1:12
becomes less
1:13
stresses in a study published in the
1:15
Indian Journal of psychological medicine
1:16
they observed the impact of ashwagandha
1:19
root extract on subjects with chronic
1:21
stress they reported that cortisol
1:23
decreased by almost 28 versus 7.9 for
1:27
the placebo group and also found a
1:29
significant reduction in depression and
1:31
anxiety scores in the placebo group
1:33
there was actually a slight increase in
1:35
anxiety and a small decrease in
1:37
depression and stress similar findings
1:39
were also observed in a more recent
1:40
study in 2019 where those who took
1:43
ashwagandha supplements for eight weeks
1:45
had significantly reduced perceived
1:47
stress levels as well as cortisol levels
1:49
in comparison to the placebo group The
1:51
participants who took the ashwagandha
1:52
supplements also noticed an improvement
1:54
in Sleep Quality we'll talk a bit more
1:56
on this later so hang around if you want
1:58
to know how ashwagandha may be able to
2:00
help you get some more good quality Zeds
2:02
as an adaptogen ashwagandha has been
2:04
seen to have beneficial effects on
2:06
athletic performance with a
2:08
meta-analysis in 2021 concluding that
2:10
active individuals who took ashwagandha
2:12
saw improve in strength power and
2:15
fitness levels as well as in their
2:16
recovery there were some limitations to
2:18
this study though predominantly that
2:20
there is such little evidence in this
2:22
area the ability of ashwagandha to
2:24
improve things like strength and
2:25
performance is likely attributable to
2:27
its ability to enhance recovery and
2:29
regulate stress within the body however
2:31
ashwagandha is also known to help
2:33
naturally boost testosterone levels in
2:35
men which may be responsible for the
2:37
increases in muscle mass and strength
2:38
that is observed in many of these
2:40
studies researchers from one study
2:42
advise that the ability of ashwagandha
2:44
to support muscle growth was
2:45
attributable to its effects on
2:47
increasing testosterone which supports
2:49
muscle growth and decreases levels of
2:51
cortisol which can be catabolic and may
2:54
reduce gains in muscle mass a study of
2:56
43 overweight men aged between 40 and 70
2:59
who experienced mild fatigue took
3:02
ashwagandha extract or a placebo for
3:04
eight weeks those who took ashwagandha
3:06
had an 18 increase in dheas which is a
3:10
sex hormone involved in the production
3:12
of testosterone this led to an almost 15
3:14
percent greater increase in testosterone
3:16
than those who took the placebo aside
3:18
from the role of testosterone and
3:20
strength and performance testosterone is
3:21
also a key hormone for male fertility
3:23
when it comes to improving fertility
3:25
though the science is mixed and there
3:26
isn't enough data at present to confirm
3:28
the potential benefits of ashwagandha
3:30
from male fertility ashwagandha has also
3:33
been studied for its potential immune
3:34
boosting properties some research has
3:36
found that it has an ability to modulate
3:38
immune responses this again can be
3:41
attributable to ashwagandha's effect on
3:43
cortisol a stress can reduce the immune
3:46
system's ability to fight infections but
3:48
also can be related to ashwagandhas
3:50
anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
3:52
properties finally ashwagandha May
3:54
promote restful sleep and even improve
3:56
sleep in those who have sleep issues
3:58
such as insomnia
4:00
a review conducted in 2021 of five high
4:03
quality studies found that ashwagandha
4:05
has a small But Mighty effect on overall
4:07
Sleep Quality with the effects on sleep
4:10
being more predominant in the subgroup
4:11
of adults diagnosed with insomnia
4:14
it appears that the prestige benefits
4:16
outweigh potential risks when it comes
4:18
to taking ashwagandha with most studies
4:20
highlighting that there has been no
4:21
adverse side effects observed with
4:23
various dosages so many of you have told
4:25
us in reviews on the website that you've
4:27
personally experienced benefits from
4:29
taking out and let that be the take-home
4:31
message if it benefits you take it but
4:34
remember not all supplements work for
4:35
everyone I hope that this video has
4:37
cleared up some of the science around
4:39
ashwagandha and its benefits if you have
4:41
any questions please drop them in the
4:43
comments box below and be sure to like
4:45
this video and hit subscribe to the my
4:46
protein YouTube channel for more great
4:48
evidence-based nutrition information
4:50
[Music]
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