Ashwagandha tea is an Indian herbal tonic made from Ashwagandha plant roots. It is often referred to as Buddha tea, Indian winter cherry, or Indian ginseng, and has been said to possess important health benefits, including the ability to relief you of stress and boost your immune system. The tea is an ayurvedic herbal supplement.
Ashwagandha tea is one of the remedies that are given to small children as tonics, and are also taken by the middle-aged and elderly to increase longevity. Among the ayurvedic Rasayana herbs, Ashwagandha holds the most prominent place.
Ashwagandha herbal plant
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) plant is short but very tender perennial herb that grow at most up to 75 cm tall. It is usually covered with short, silvery-gray, short branched hairs. The stems are brownish. The leaves are green, elliptic, and usually up to 12 cm long. The flowers of Ashwagandha are small, green in color, and bell-shaped. The fruits are hairless spherical berries that are orange-red to red in color when thy are ripe and enclosed by the enlarged calyx. The seeds are numerous and usually pale-brown in color, kidney-like in shape, and compressed with a rough netted surface. The plant is native to India, and is commonly available as a churna, a fine sieved powder that can be mixed with water, ghee (clarified butter) or honey.
Can you drink Ashwagandha everyday?
Although the herbal tea is relatively safe, it has been considered safe to be taken on a daily basis for six months. After drinking the tea for six months, either for medicinal purpose or for general wellbeing, it is advised that you stay off ashwagandha tea for the next three months. After the three m0nths of non-ashwagandha herbal tea, you may continue taking it for another six months.
Read also: 12 Amazing benefits of sweet leaf stevia
Ashwagandha tea benefits
Herbal teas generally known for their antioxidant properties, and the ability to prevent most autoimmune and infectious diseases. Ashwagandha is one of such herbal teas with special attention from native Indians and scientists at large.
Ashwagandha for stress and anxiety
As an adaptogen, ashwagandha tea is compared to such great rejuvenators like Siberian Ginseng and Panax Ginseng. This is why it is also referred to as Indian ginseng. Due to its anti-stress and adaptogenic properties, ashwagandha tea reduces the negative effects of increased cortisol levels, and also helps to reduce the symptoms of chronic stress and anxiety.
Ashwagandha tea may be best served after dinner, as this would help you enjoy sound sleep and wake up strong and rejuvenated, ready for the day’s tasks. It can also be taken in the morning before going out for work. Whichever method you prefer is good so long as you gain what you want out of the tea. When taken with milk, or honey, ashwagandha tea promotes deep sleep and relieves your body of stress.
May be a great tea for managing depression.
So many people are being depressed everyday, and many people suffer chronic anxiety disorder. Most times, these people end up committing suicide. If you are passing through a depressed condition, or have someone who is battling chronic depression, you may suggest ashwagandha tea to the patient.
The antidepressant properties of ashwagandha tea is due to the presence of a bioactive compound, glycowithanolides. Glycowithanolides were shown in a study conducted on rats in a forced swim-induced ‘behavioral despair’ and ‘learned helplessness’ tests to exhibit antidepressant activities that is comparable to that of imipramine. This supports the traditional use of ashwagandha tea for treating people with anxiety disorder. It also supports the use of Indian ginseng as a tonic.
Ashwagandha for men
When it comes to herbal remedies for improving sexual performance and increase libido in men, ashwagandha root tea is one of the few trusted tonic. It also increase sperm volume, improve sperm motility and morphology.
Because ashwagandha tea has no side effects, it has been preferred as a better alternative to pentoxifylline for the treatment of male infertility. So, as a sexually active man, you should make ashwagandha tea a top drink. Another herbal tea with such sexual improvement is Uziza seeds and leaves.
Ashwagandha tea for women
Like in men, ashwagandha root also improves female reproduction. The herbal tea supports female reproductive system, and increases ovarian weight and folliculogenesis.
In traditional medicines, ashwagandha tea or herbal mixtures are recommended for the two partners who are expecting to conceive and have their own children. This way, both the man and the woman would benefits immensely from the reproductive improvement of the tea.
Indian ginseng boosts immune system
Ashwagandha tea is also a potent immuomodulatory agent. The active components in the herbal tea, mainly withanolide glycosides exert their immunomodulatory action by mobilizing and activating macrophages and induce proliferation in murine splenocytes.
The involvement of immune-regulatory cells induced by ashwagandha tea might have several functions, such as regulating antigen presentation and control of immunosuppressive microenvironment along with a physiological cytokine milieu for an effector T cell function.
Ashwagandha tea for diabetes
Ashwagandha tea has been recommended for those who suffer diabetes mellitus. It has the potential to reduce blood glucose levels drastically. It also possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds that help improve insulin secretion and sensitivity.
Ashwagandha tea improves memory
The herbal tea has been recommended for Parkinson disease patients. It contains L-dopa, stabilizes mood, and improves learning. The tea enhances memory through cholinergic channels.
Ashwagandha tea is usually given children to improve their learning ability and memory. It is also given to older people to help prevent some diseases that relates to brain degeneration.
Thus, ashwagandha tea performs the same function on your memory in the same manner that black sapote fruits acts on your brain functions.
Indian ginseng is hypolipidemic
One good thing about ashwagandha tea is that it performs the function of green tea. It is also readily available in the market. The hypolipidemic activity of the tea is very important for your health, as the more fat you accumulate in your body can pose health challenges to you.
Bad cholesterol is not good for your body. They can be harmful, and usually leads to cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension.
When you drink Indian ginseng tea on a regular basis, these health challenges associated with bad cholesterol would be far from you.
Ashwagandha tea possesses anti-aging compounds
The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds present in the herbal tea protect your body from the harmful effects of free radicals.
These free radicals, when they overpowered your natural antioxidant, glutathione, they would begin to attack your cells and DNA. These would result to mass death of your cells and the consequences is premature ageing of your skin.
Ashwagandha for skin care
In addition to its antioxidants and anti-inflammatory activities, ashwagandha tea also help in keeping your skin moistened and firm. This way, it retains the skin texture and freshness.
Boosts blood production
Ashwagandha tea possesses hemopoietic properties. It is common knowledge that hematopoiesis is the process blood productions and circulation. Ashwagandha tea therefore, supports blood production and circulation.
What the side effects of ashwagandha?
Although the herbal tea is highly praised by all, and rightly so, there are certain health side effects associated with ashwagandha tea. Some of these side effects include:
- Stomach upset
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- I’m rare cases, liver damage
Who should not drink ashwagandha tea?
- Ashwagandha root can cause abortion. It is therefore very important that you do your best to avoid the herbal tea during pregnancy.
- If you are treating any gastric related diseases, such as ulcer, do not drink ashwagandha without first consulting your doctor.
- People with liver diseases may do well to avoid taking ashwagandha tea, except where it is approved by your doctor.
Ashwagandha tea recipe
Although there are several ways you can take ashwagandha, ashwagandha tea remains the most common means of enjoying the ayurvedic tonic. In this article, we shall share with you those several ways you can enjoy your herbal mixtures, aside the tea.
Ingredients for making ashwagandha tea
- 1 tea spoon of Ashwagandha root powder
- 1 1/2 cup of water
- 2 spoon of natural honey ( for taste. You can actually enjoy your tea without honey or sugar)
Method
- Heat the water till it boils.
- Add your ashwagandha powder and allow to steep for 5 minutes
- Strain your tea and add the two spoon of honey
- Stir very well to homogenize and drink
Ashwagandha and ghee recipe
When you combine ashwagandha and ghee together, you would have for yourself one o the most potent ingredients used in ayurvedic tradition. This is because like ashwagandha, ghee also possess strong medicinal properties, especially with regards to inflammation and cardiovascular health.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons of ashwagandha powder
- 1 teaspoon of ghee
- 1 teaspoon of date sugar
- A glass of milk
- 1/2 glass of water
Method
- Mix the ashwagandha, ghee and date sugar in the 1/2 cup of water.
- Add the glass of milk to it and stir thoroughly
- Drink the mixture immediately or place in a refrigerator for future use.
Conclusion
This article is but for an academic consumption and should not replace your medical doctors. If you are pregnant or breast feeding a new born, do not drink the herbal tea. Doing so may be endangering your baby. Also do well to consult your doctor in any case of side effects, and quit drinking the tea forthwith.
References
Singh, N., Bhalla, M., de Jager, P., & Gilca, M. (2011). An overview on ashwagandha: a Rasayana (rejuvenator) of Ayurveda. African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM, 8(5 Suppl), 208–213. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v8i5S.9
Bhattacharya SK, Bhattacharya A, Sairam K, Ghosal S. Anxiolytic-antidepressant activity of Withania somnifera glycowithanolides: an experimental study. Phytomedicine. 2000 Dec;7(6):463-9. doi: 10.1016/S0944-7113(00)80030-6. PMID: 11194174.
Tharakan, A., Shukla, H., Benny, I. R., Tharakan, M., George, L., & Koshy, S. (2021). Immunomodulatory Effect of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) Extract-A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial with an Open Label Extension on Healthy Participants. Journal of clinical medicine, 10(16), 3644.
