Ashwagandha is an extra strength herbal supplement of powdered ashwagandha root. It’s sold by BRI Nutrition, whose location is either California or Delaware depending on where you look. Some products and parts of their website have both states as locations. The company was founded in 2011 and they use GMP certified facilities, ensuring high levels of quality. This product doesn’t have any fillers or unnecessary ingredients, just one herb inside a vegetarian capsule. Its effectiveness on its own may be questionable at times, so this supplement might be for advanced users of nootropics. People looking to develop their own high quality nootropic stacks with individual ingredients, rather than already blended formulas.
1) What’s Inside Ashwagandha?
Ashwagandha contains the following ingredients: Ashwagandha powder
2) Does Ashwagandha Work and it is Safe?
Each bottle contains 90 capsules of 500 mg ashwagandha. It can also be called Withania somnifera, Indian ginseng, poison gooseberry, and winter cherry. It should be taken with meals, and breakfast is especially important if you plan to only take one capsule a day. The lowest effective dose is considered 300 to 500 mg a day, although it works for some people at 50 to 100 mg. There isn’t sufficient scientific evidence for any of ashwagandha’s many benefits, but a number of studies seem to have discovered ashwagandha’s importance.
People now use ashwagandha for stress, fatigue, depression, anxiety, blood pressure, inflammation, and more. Some researchers have noticed potential correlations with ashwagandha for testosterone, follicle growth, and triglyceride count. There are no known side effects for short term use, although very high doses can cause upset stomach and vomiting. It’s historically been used for a great many things, and when done properly, has almost zero toxicity. There are basically no known downsides to using ashwagandha as a daily supplement.
3) Ashwagandha: Pros and Cons
- BRI Nutrition guarantees quality, value, service, and purity. The potency is clearly high at 500 mg per capsule (1000 mg per serving, which is two capsules).
- No taste and easy to swallow. The capsules are a standard size that don’t provide any difficulty.
4) Precautions of Ashwagandha Use
- Expensive for a supplement of one ingredient. Other products with ashwagandha root tend to be the same price or lower, despite having more ingredients and a still-relevant concentration of ashwagandha.
- It’s not 100% clear that this is a powdered root supplement. It may include powdered stem or leaves, although this is practically impossible to verify. Some users report inconsistencies from bottle to bottle, in powder color and effectiveness of the supplement.
5) How Much Does Ashwagandha Cost?
This is fairly expensive if you follow the label’s recommendation of taking 2 capsules a day, especially considering how this is just one ingredient. Even supplements with several nootropics are often less expensive than this product. The company behind it does offer a 30 day money back guarantee, but their website says items must be unused and opened. However, this section of their site is rather jumbled, and it’s difficult to clearly make out what their terms and conditions are. Some other pages of the website are blank or not working properly. They do have free shipping, and if you order from sites like Amazon, you can get free shipping there as well.
6) Directions For Taking Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a plant from the Nightshade family and has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. It’s thought to be an adaptogen. Traditionally the powdered root is mixed with warm milk and honey, with the patient drinking the mixture before bed. People in Yemen make a paste from the dried leaves as a treatment for burns and other wounds. In modern medicine it’s sometimes given to cancer patients to reduce immunosuppression, stress, and fatigue. Studies show it’s effective for decreasing anxiety, cortisol levels, blood glucose, and cholesterol. It may have potential to aid people in regards to blood pressure, depression, and perceptions of fatigue. Ashwagandha does interact poorly with some types of medicine, so it’s important to consult your doctor before deciding to buy any.
7) Bottom Line – Does It Really Work?
This supplement has a lot of positive reviews and testimonials. It might not work for every user, but it does have a good impact on the majority. One reviewer was skeptical of whether this product was derived from the root or leaves, saying it was ineffective. Another person explained this as a potential lapse in quality or reformulation of the product. They added that they had great results with this product in the past, but newer bottles of Ashwagandha were of lesser quality. A third person said they suspected that this supplement was from the entire plant, and not just the roots, which could cause complications as far as effectiveness and purity goes. So while most people are satisfied with this supplement, some people might get better bottles than others.
