@BODYAGEBUSTER Fitness After 50, Living Longer Better
  • Home
  • Test Yourself
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Blog
  • Fitness After 50 Free eBook

 Blog

SEARCH My Blog (Opens in new tab)

This Ancient Herb Could Be The COVID Stress Cure You've Been Looking For

9/5/2020

Comments

 

Ancient Indian Ginseng will help you reduce anxiety, make better food choices and lose weight

Picture
(Solanum, nightshade, or potato family) » Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal | Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
An ancient treatment may hold the answer to relieving your stress during the pandemic and improve your health afterwards - for the long-term.

Withania somnifera (WS), commonly known as Ashwagandha or Indian Ginseng, possesses diverse biological functions. These include reducing anxiety, and reducing weight. That's a beautiful combination.
Think about it. Right now, most of us are exercising less, and putting on a little extra weight. We are feeling more stressed as a result of everything from losing our jobs, to having to do home-schooling, to just not getting outside in the fresh air often enough.

Not only that, but these two things are linked. Our stress level affects what we eat - as it gets higher, we tend to make poorer food choices. That is, we eat more sugary junk foods - comfort foods. That makes us heavier, which raises our stress level, which puts us into a vicious cycle. 
Stress, And How To Break
​The Cycle Of Poor Food Choices

Is Ashwagandha the Covid stress relief wonder drug?

WS may help us reduce our anxiety and simultaneously reduce weight. Either of these, individually, is a positive for our long-term health. Both together is a massive benefit.

Let's first look at the weight-loss claims for Ashwagandha, as proof of this is very recent - February 2020 in fact! Korean researchers conducted controlled experiments with mice, and reported what I would describe as spectacular results.
WSE (0.5%) supplementation significantly suppressed the increases in body weight and serum lipids, and lipid accumulation in the liver and adipose tissue induced by HFD. WSE supplementation increased oxygen consumption and enhanced mitochondrial activity in brown fat and skeletal muscle in the HFD-fed mice. In addition, it promoted browning of subcutaneous fat by increasing mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression
Translation: Withania somnifera turned white fat into high-energy burning brown fat, reduced the accumulation of unhealthy fats in the liver and white fat, and was associated with weight loss.

Summarised, WS reduces diet-induced by obesity enhancing energy expenditure via promoting mitochondrial function in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle.
☑ Impressive.

Sure, but how can we use this knowledge?

Firstly, we know (2013) that improving mitochondria is very relevant to the prevention or treatment of metabolic diseases and age-related dysfunction, for example, Type 2 diabetes. 
​
The available literature strongly suggests that the lower mitochondrial capacity associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and aging is not an irreversible condition. For example, increasing physical activity "improves mitochondrial content and perhaps the function of individual mitochondrion".

Since Withania somnifera was found to improve mitochondrial condition and activity in mice, it may also do so in humans. For those of us with Type 2 diabetes that's good news as a potential supplement.

But can it help me sleep better? Sure ...

But wait, there is more. WS has many talents.

Ashwagandha is a central herb in Ayurveda, the traditional home medicine native to India. In the Latin name — Withania somnifera — somnifera means sleep-inducing.

WS it has been recommended for sound sleep through the centuries, but scientists had struggled to understand which of its active components induces sleep - until recently.

Research in Japan at the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, investigated the effect of various components of Ashwaganda on sleep in mice (2017).
​
[Remember, Withania somnifera = "WS" commonly known as Ashwagandha.]

A water extract of Ashwaganda leaf, rich in triethylene glycol (TEG), promoted non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep significantly. In contrast, the alcoholic extract containing active withanolides showed no effect on sleep. Furthermore, "commercially available TEG also increased the amount of NREM sleep". They thus concluded that "TEG is the active component that induces physiologically sound sleep".

 Insomnia is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders, with an estimated incident of 10-15% in the general population and 30-60% in the elderly population. Insomnia is associated with other age-related diseases, including obesity, cardiovascular diseases, depression, anxiety, mania deficits etc. 

According to the authors of this study, Ashwagandha crude powder, including the significant amount of TEG can be consumed for better sleep without any side effects. 

The Ashwagandha herbal trifecta

Taking all the above, Ashwagandha offers us a trifecta of benefits — especially in this time of the pandemic. At this time we are vulnerable to descending into a vicious circle:
  1. We are feeling stressed because of the pandemic.
  2. This stress causes us to make poor food choices.
  3. We gain weight.
  4. We stress more because we feel unhealthy and overweight.
  5. We then make even poorer food choices because we are more stressed.
Ashwagandha offers a potential way to short-circuit this vicious circle and to transition us into a virtuous circle, for these four reasons:
  1. Ashwagandha has been found to mitigate stress and correct imbalance of various nervous systems.
  2. This will help promote sleep, which Ashwagandha as also been proven to do.
  3. Less stress and better sleep will help us make healthier food choices.
  4. Ashwagandha will help us lose weight and improve the condition of our fat and muscle tissue - even without exercising.

This amounts to a trifecta of three key benefits: better sleep, less stress, and weight control.
More Headaches? Me Too --
​Here’s Why And How To Relieve Them
But now, I want you to hold on to your hat. There's more.

India has started 
clinical trials of Ashwagandha as complementary medicine for COVID_19! One of the aims is to see if Ashwagandha can help protect high-risk populations like health care workers.
​
That's a phenomenal set of credentials for Ashwagandha. 
Up to now, I have ever used it myself, but I see here advice from WebMD, and there are many options to buy it, e.g. Amazon. It's not particularly expensive but make sure that you are getting the best value as the strength per tablet varies from 50mg to 2100mg.

In Australia, Ashwagandha can be purchased as a safe dietary supplement without a prescription. Supplements that contain Ashwagandha have been approved for sale by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which is responsible for regulating natural supplements that claim to have medicinal value. 
​
Good luck.

I'm off to Chemist Warehouse to pick up a couple of bottles.
Resilience - Four Habits
To Get Back In Touch
​With Your Best Self
> More posts to help you with EXERCISES
> More posts to help you with DIABETES
> If you are a @MEDIUM reader my publication Body Age Buster has hundreds of categorised posts which I have written especially for men and women over 50.
Want To Discover The Active,
​Healthy Person Inside You?
Follow me on Quora for more health and fitness tips.
If you valued this article >> Follow me
​
​Leave a comment >> Share it >> Stay healthy
If you have any questions email me and I will get back to you.

RSS Feed


Latest: get your free customised fitness plan designed uniquely for you.
Let me match you to your personal choice of exercises,
equipment (or none), frequency, duration and your goals.
 ☞ CLICK HERE



Get More Like This To Help You ⭑Live ⭑Longer ⭑Better
Sign Up For My Free Weekly ⭑Newsletter



Not yet convinced? More details - click here
Read previous newsletters - click here



No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or another qualified clinician. Disclaimer.

Comments

    Choices

    Since I was diagnosed at 50 with Type 2 diabetes I've been learning how to do bone-building fitness training which lowers my age. You can too. It's your choice. Walter


    Instant Newsletter Subscription
    CLICK HERE


    Categories

    All
    Aging
    Back
    Balance
    Bodyweight Exercises
    Bones
    Brain
    Cancer
    Cardio
    Cardiovascular
    Covid19
    Dental Health
    Diabetes
    Diet
    Energy Systems
    Exercise Plan
    Fitness After 50
    Food Plan
    Functional Training
    Healthy Gut
    HIIT
    Inflammation
    Insulin
    Isometric
    Joints
    Keto
    Kettlebells
    Life
    Men
    Mental Health
    Newsletter
    New Year Resolutions
    Nutrition
    Pain
    Plant Based
    Quotes
    Running
    Sleep
    Stamina
    Strength Training
    Stretching
    Sugar
    Walking
    Women

    Archives

    May 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    February 2022
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    View my profile on LinkedIn
    Picture
    My 300 Health And Fitness Answers On Quora
    Picture
    ⭑Medium Top Writer on Food⭑

Home  

About Walter
Blog
Disclaimer
​Privacy

Services

Consulting
Mentoring
Facilitation
Keynote Speaking
Ambassador
Content

Contact

[email protected]
+61 403 345 632
Message Me
Fitness After 50 FREE EBOOK
© COPYRIGHT 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photos from jar [o], Alan Light
  • Home
  • Test Yourself
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Blog
  • Fitness After 50 Free eBook