Over half of Americans are women and they tend to live longer than men. But according to surveys, women feel their health concerns aren’t prioritized in the current medical field. It’s no surprise, then, that millions of women have turned to natural or herbal remedies to address the issues that are important to them.
In this article, I’ll look at four important areas of women's health that Ashwagandha root could address. I’ll rely on actual studies with placebo controls and real data to support their claims.
Key Takeaways
✲ Ashwagandha Root may have important sexual health benefits for women.
✲ In laboratory studies of osteoporosis, Ashwagandha was found to have a significant impact on retaining bone mass.
✲ Menopausal women in a number of studies have reported improvements in quality of life and symptom relief.
✲ Ashwagandha has also been seen to benefit a number of other women's health issues.
Female Sexual Heatlh
It can seem like modern medicine and media are overly concerned with men’s ability to perform, while ignoring the other half of the population. In a recent study in India, researchers set about to try and rectify that.
They recruited 50 women, aged 21 to 50, who were in relationships but not achieving full sexual arousal or performance. It’s important to note that they only used data from the women themselves. That means that there was no one to tell the women what was wrong or right–the women themselves reported the problems they thought they’d encountered, and their own experiences in the study.
The study itself found significant increases in arousal, body reactions to arousal, satisfaction, and encounters – all with a statistical score placing it well within the reliability scale.
Again, these data were reported across all age ranges and relied on both the women’s bodies responding as well as their feelings and moods during sexual encounters. This indicates that Ashwagandha may be an important supplement for women’s sexual health.
Osteoporosis
The risks of osteoporosis in women are staggering. Nearly 80% of all people who suffer from this bone withering disease are women, and the risks of it later in life keep going up. According to some numbers, the risk of a woman breaking her hip is equal to her risks of breast cancer, uterine cancer, and ovarian cancer–combined.
Many women are aware of the risks later in life, but it’s never too early to start working on preventing it. And surprisingly to many, it isn’t enough to simply take calcium supplements or drink more milk. The mechanisms behind osteoporosis go far beyond having the raw mineral in our systems, and extend to how the body is using that calcium.
That’s why researchers recently looked to a laboratory study examining animals with calcium deficiencies to see if Ashwagandha root could help.
Their results, published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, found that Ashwagandha “markedly” improved calcium and bone density in treated rats, versus the placebo. These data were taken by blood and urine samples, strength and impact testing, as well as mineral analysis of the bones themselves.
All of this means that Ashwagandha root may help keep calcium in the system as a raw mineral, but also may improve the body’s ability to use the calcium to keep bones strong, a key component of osteoporosis in women.
Menopausal Symptoms
Aging isn’t easy for anyone, and that can sometimes go double for women nearing or during menopause. Menopause affects all women, but it affects them all slightly differently. While most experience the range of symptoms–hot flashes, mood changes, slowed metabolism–they experience these symptoms to varying degrees.
So it can be difficult finding help with menopause–what works for one woman may not work for another. That’s why it’s so important to analyze any data that shows improvements for nearly every woman in a study.
A study presented in the journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology had 100 women participate, with 91 of them completing the study. All of them were perimenopausal (around the age of menopause, but not “through” it), and all of them had what are called climacteric symptoms (hot flashes, night chills, etc.).
In the study, the women reported statistically significant improvements in urinary and genital health, reduction in total menopausal symptoms, and even reported better psychological results compared to the placebo group.
Not only that, but the findings found that Ashwagandha was safe. No reported side effects, no observed side effects, and perhaps most importantly, no changes in hormones as a result of the Ashwagandha.
Health Concerns for All Ages
While many of the health concerns I’ve addressed so far may seem to only affect, or primarily benefit, women in certain age ranges, there are a number of other health issues that specifically concern women, which Ashwagandha has been seen to help.
Thyroid
Women are almost 8 times more likely than men to have a thyroid disorder, with it affecting everything from miscarriages to weight. Recent and prevailing studies have shown how Ashwagandha can be a safe and effective supplement to combat certain thyroid disorders–information no woman should ignore.
Anxiety
Some of the most compelling and scientifically rigorous data regarding Ashwagandha root has been in the areas of stress and anxiety. Nearly all of the research has indicated it is significantly beneficial to incorporate this herb into a supplement routine.
This can be especially important for women, who see an almost 50% increase in anxiety disorders versus men–that comes to nearly 1 in 4 women.
Conclusion
Ashwagandha has demonstrated clear and significant benefits for women’s health issues, including sexual health and issues related to aging. What’s more, it’s been seen to improve health concerns that all people deal with–but which, for women, are especially prevalent.
Many studies are yet to come, and while no supplement can replace medical treatment, a woman’s quality of life can be improved in many ways, and the data suggests one of those ways may well be supplementation with Ashwagandha.