Ashwagandha Spagyric Tincture

Biohacker Review: Tinctured Ashwagandha for Tranquility

This is an alcohol tincture infused with the active components of Ashwagandha. A dropperful, which is a squeeze of the dropper, produces a relaxed but not necessarily drowsy headspace.

Importantly, this Ashwagandha is made in America, in Oregon and it undergoes stringent lab testing (which you can find linked below) for purity and lack of toxins. When I read the book Food Forensics, I learned that the majority of Indian-sourced herbs (even those convincingly labeled organic) are rife with heavy metals from sloppy manufacturing.

As I also documented, many organic foods and superfoods can be surprisingly high in toxic heavy metals. As a general rule, anything imported from China, India, or Thailand has a much higher risk of being contaminated than foods from North America, Europe, New Zealand, or many South American countries like Bolivia. In my lab, I’ve seen alarmingly high levels of lead in mangosteen powder, and almost all spices from India are consistently contaminated with lead.

The main benefit to a biohacker of this stuff is as a sleep hack, I get some rockstar sleep on two little tincture-fulls of this stuff. I fall right asleep, slumber deeply, and wake up feeling fully rejuvenated. The Spagyric tincture doesn't taste bad at all, I typically washed it down with a glass of water.

I think I prefer powdered Ashwagandha, as it tastes nice, especially in an anxiolytic before-bed tea. A heaping teaspoon or two of Ashwagandha knocks me out at bedtime better than the tinctured stuff does.

Summary of Recent Ashwagandha Studies

The most recent study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial, a collaboration between Australian and Indian universities.

• 60 adults received either an Ashwagandha extract (like this Spagyric Tincture) or a placebo. 
• Statistically significant improvement in measured depression, anxiety, and stress.
• It decreased cortisol while increasing testosterone in men but not women, so ladies don't need to worry that they are going to start growing hair on their chest (or getting in bar fights) as a result of taking Ashwagandha.

It concluded

These findings suggest that ashwagandha's stress-relieving effects may occur via its moderating effect on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week study was done in Mumbai, India. It found that sleep and stress scores improved at a dosage of only 250 milligrams. From the study abstract:

Background Stress, anxiety and impeded sleep are a frequent feature of life in modern societies... Compared to the placebo group participants, the participants receiving Ashwagandha had significant improvement in sleep quality. Conclusion Ashwagandha root aqueous extract was beneficial in reducing stress and anxiety.

A meta-analysis of 6 in-vitro, 13 pre-clinical and 5 clinical studies concluded that it's unclear whether Ashwagandha is a beneficial treatment for Diabetes.

A Singaporean systematic review focused on age-related cognitive decline, concluded

...adults with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. In most instances, W. somnifera extract improved performance on cognitive tasks, executive function, attention, and reaction time. It also appears to be well tolerated, with good adherence and minimal side effects.

Finally, a little bad news, an American-Icelandic paper documented Five cases of liver injury attributed to ashwagandha-containing supplements were identified. So apparently five people suffered jaundice and symptoms such as nausea, lethargy, pruritus and abdominal discomfort as a result of Ashwagandha supplementation - fortunately, none of them suffered liver failure. The paper suggests that Ashwagandha's hepatotoxicity should be further studied. I find it highly unlikely that Ashwagandha itself is toxic, it has been used for thousands of years and is a very popular supplement. If it caused liver damage I think that there would be abundant evidence of that in the numerous human clinical trials. I suspect that these five people were taking bunk, cheapo Ashwagandha. Indian supplement purity standards are infamously poor, if you're buying supplements of Indian origin without seeing a COA from a credible lab (ideally in the USA) they may be rife with heavy metals and toxins, which could cause hepatotoxicity. But, I'll revise my Ashwagandha recommendations, I wouldn't recommend anymore taking grams and grams of powdered stuff, especially if you're a little unsure of its quality. And if you notice any of those symptoms while taking Ashwagandha, stop!

If you're using Ashwagandha you'll want to read or listen to my meta-analysis of the herb, Ashwaghanda an Anti-Anxiety Adaptogen to give your Ambition an Edge

For Over 4000 Years Considered India’s Most Potent Sexual Herb and All-Around General Tonic*

In Ayurvedic medicine, it is considered a rasayana, which means the path of essence, and speaks to its longevity properties. It enhances Ojas, which is the equivalent in Chinese Medicine as Jing and has been in use for over 4000 years.*