Ashwagandha : Most People Take It Wrong – Right Dose Timing & 30 – Day Results

Introduction to Ashwagandha Benefits 0:00

You might have heard that Ashwagandha is one of the most powerful supplement that everybody should take on the regular basis. And yes, that is correct that Ashwagandha does have several health benefits. But here's the problem. Most people are using Ashwagandha in the wrong ways. So either they are getting side effects from it or they don't see any health benefits from using it. So today I am going to share with you three common mistakes that people make while taking ashwagandha and the exact clinical protocol that has been shown in research studies to work for people.

So stay till the end because I am going to show you how 30 days of ashwagandha can completely transform your life. Hi, I am Dr. Anshul Gupta, a former Cleveland Clinic functional medicine physician from US. I help people improve their chronic diseases by making personalized functional medicine plans. Ashwagandha is one of those supplements that a lot of health and wellness gurus have been talking about. It has several health benefits from improving your anxiety, improving your sleep, helping lowering inflammation, getting more energy, having anti-aging and also improving your longevity.

Plus it improves person's immunity as well as can help them to lose weight.

Why Chronic Stress Drives Health Problems 1:12

Most people do not understand why one supplement has so many different health benefits. Well, here's a reason. The new research suggests that majority of the chronic health problems that we are dealing with is because our body is stuck in this survival mode. Now, what does that actually mean in layman terminology? It means that the root of all of these chronic diseases is this chronic underlying inflammation. And if you look at the reason of this chronic underlying inflammation, it is your body being stressed out all the time.

And no, I am not talking about the psychological stress, I am talking about the physical stress, I am talking about cellular stress as well as I am also talking about the stress your body goes through because of the exposure to several toxins. And because your body is chronically stressed out, what it does, it raises your cortisol level. Because of this your body goes into a chronic inflammation mode. This chronic inflammation starts affecting your mitochondria, your adrenals, your heart, your brain and that ultimately causes the body to start storing more fat so you ultimately gain more weight.

Plus it starts affecting your energy levels. It starts affecting your brain activity. So you become brain foggy and plus it starts affecting your hormones. So it affects your sleep as well as your gut. So that is why even though you are eating that perfect diet, you are working out on the daily basis. But you still feel that is not working for you. You feel broken. You still don't feel that your health is perfect. And the underlying reason for that is that cellular stress which you have not yet worked on.

And this is where Ashwagandha comes into the picture and helps at the cellular level and reducing the stress on those cells.

How Ashwagandha Works as an Adaptogen 3:03

So how does Ashwagandha does that? Ashwagandha is actually something called adaptogen. What it means is that it helps your cells in adapting to any kind of cellular stress whether it is because of toxins or physiological stress or chemical stress or even psychological stress. So Ashwagandha is not a hormone, it is not a stimulant, it is not even a vitamin or a mineral. So it doesn't push your body to do anything. It supports your body at a cellular level to perform at its highest potential. So that's where Ashwagandha is very different from any supplement that you might be taking.

That's the reason it has been becoming so popular and is a part of any wellness routine. But here's a kicker that I realized in my practice, most people are using Ashwagandha in the wrong ways. So either they are getting side effects from it or either it is not working for them. So let me share with you the common mistakes that you might be making by using Ashwagandha or you should be knowing if you are going to start an Ashwagandha protocol tomorrow itself. The first mistake that people take is taking the wrong kind of Ashwagandha.

You can go on Amazon right now and if you put Ashwagandha, there will be at least 100 different supplements which will come up.

Mistake 1: Choosing the Wrong Supplement 4:18

A lot of these supplements are useless because they do not have the right quality and the quantity of Ashwagandha in them. Because the active ingredient in Ashwagandha which actually has the health benefits is called the Vithinolides and most of these Ashwagandha powders have very less amount of it. So you need to find a supplement which has a minimum of 5-10% of withinolides into it. Plus there are two forms of Ashwagandha, one being KSM 66 and the other being Sensuril. They are the most studied and standard form of Ashwagandha extract world over.

So look at your Ashwagandha supplement and make sure it does mention that does it come from KSM 66 or sensoril or they have more than 5% of withinolides into them. The second mistake a lot of people are taking ashwagandha on empty stomach. Now some people consider ashwagandha as night shade that they are going to react to it. Most of these people are reacting because they are taking ashwagandha on empty stomach. For most of my patients when they take it with food they do not get these side effects.

Some people are worried about the absorption of ashwagandha when they're taking it empty stomach but the research doesn't support that claim because research suggests that ashwagandha is absorbed very well when you are eating food. So make sure whenever you're taking your ashwagandha supplement you take it with some kind of food so that you have lesser amount of side effects.

Mistake 2: Taking It on an Empty Stomach 5:39

Now the third most common mistake people make is the dosage and the timing of ashwagandha. Now Ashwagandha is a very interesting supplement because either you can take it in the morning or in the night and it has different effects on your body depending on the time you take it. So when you take Ashwagandha in the morning it helps your body in improving energy, improving your fatigue. Now when you take it in the night it improves your sleep and improves anxiety levels. So what that means is that if you are going through a lot of fatigue or tiredness or if you are stressed out a lot then taking Ashwagandha in the morning is the right way to doing it.

But if you are taking Ashwagandha for improving your sleep or you have too much anxiety going on then taking Ashwagandha at night time is a better choice.

Mistake 3: Wrong Timing and Dosage 6:32

Now here's what I do with my patients. I split the dosage between two halves. One time they take it in the morning and one time they take it in the night. So they can get both the benefits of Ashwagandha. Now this is where the next thing comes the dosage of Ashwagandha. Now the research shows the dosage levels have to be between 300 milligrams to 600 milligrams. Because that's the dosage that works for people in majority of the cases. Now here's the catch. Do not start with highest dosage. You have to start slow and then build it up.

So these are the common mistakes that people make. That's the reason Ashwagandha doesn't work for them. So let me tell you the exact protocol that I follow with my patients. First of all, choosing the right ashwagandha supplement. That means that either you find a supplement which has KSM 66 or sensoril ashwagandha. or you have that ashwagandha supplement which has more than 5 to 10% of withanolides into it. The second thing is the dosage. I start slow with 300 mg of ashwagandha first in the morning and then starting with the lowest dosage.

I start with 300 mg of ashwagandha at bedtime so that way that improves the sleep rhythm as well as help in rebalancing the night time cortisol. One week after they have been on this 300mg at night time then I add another 300mg of Ashwagandha during the morning hours because that continues to help support their cortisol rhythm as well as their adrenal glands so people will see an improvement in their energy levels.

Doctor's Ashwagandha Protocol 8:07

Now let me share with you this 30 day experiment of Ashwagandha. What happens when you take Ashwagandha for 30 days? So in the first one to two weeks, you might not see a huge difference. The only improvement that you might see is that your sleep is improving slightly and you might also feel that your stress levels are slightly low. But remember, Ashwagandha is working at a very subtle level. So it takes time to make those changes in your body. So the first one to two weeks is building that dose in your body.

Now what to expect when you continue to use the ashwagandha going into that week 3 to week 4. What you will feel during this time is that your sleep quality has improved dramatically. If you have a sleep tracker like an apple watch or an aura ring, you will notice that your deep sleep is getting longer and longer. Plus you will notice that your stress levels and anxiety levels are also dramatically decreasing that you are able to handle stress better than before.

30-Day Results and Cycling Advice 9:08

Plus interestingly you will also notice that your energy levels during the day are also stabilizing and you feel more physical energy as well as mental energy. Now this is what you are going to feel at week 3 to week 4. After week 4 you are going to see that you have consistent energy throughout the day. Your sleep quality will be at the optimal levels. Plus you will feel that your mood is more stabilized. You will feel happy in general. As well as your stress, depression, low mood as well as anxiety levels will also all fall off.

As well as feeling high amount of inflammation in your body will also decrease. After this 30 day mark, you will also feel that your body is performing at an optimal level. You might also feel that your body is getting lighter and you might have also lost some of that visceral fat in your body. So this is what happens when you take Ashwagandha regularly for 30 days. What I recommend is that you take Ashwagandha on the regular basis for 4-6 weeks, then you take a break for 4-5 days or a week and then you restart it.

This is called cycling of Ashwagandha and I feel that it works better for my patients who are taking it on the longer basis. So here you go, today I told you why Ashwagandha is that magical supplement. that is going to solve a lot of your health concerns.

Conclusion and Call to Action 10:26

But more importantly, you should know what kind of Ashwagandha supplement to get and how to take it so that you can see the maximum health benefits. I hope you like this video. If you do, please like and subscribe to my channel so you keep on getting this information in the future also. Plus, share this information with others who can benefit from it. Until next time, take care, bye bye.