Ashwagandha, aka Withania somnifera or Winter Cherry, is one of Ayurveda’s workhorses. This member of the nightshade family is a daily-use-for-the-rest-of-your-life friend whose main mission is to help us build general health and well-being, particularly in our immune, reproductive, and nervous systems. Ashwagandha has earned that reputation over and over in both Traditional and modern herbal practice.
The key, as far as modern science is concerned, may lay within a chemical structure known as Withanolides. Ashwagandha roots and berries are filled with withanolides.. Traditionally, both have been used as daily tonics, but Ashwagandha roots have always been considered the primary source for good Ashwagandha medicine. Modern researchers have backed this wisdom by showing that Ashwagandha roots, as opposed to the berries or any other part of the plant, contain a very high percentage of withanolides.
What are Withanolides?
Researchers are still studying withanolides. What we know so far is that they are a lactone-based steroidal chemical that acts on a variety of chemical pathways in the body. Although they are steroidal, which makes them a variety of steroid, they’re not harmful to the body or likely to increase water retention or weight-gain as are some of the steroids, aka corticosteroids, used in modern medicine to treat inflammation in the muscular-skeletal system, digestive system, and other systems of the body. They’re also not harmful to the body or likely to encourage excess muscle development and testosterone levels as are the steroids, aka anabolic or anabolic-antigenic steroids, commonly used and abused in athletics and related industries.
What do withanolides have in common with the steroids and steroid medicines we’ve heard of in the news?
Withanolides are a plant-based, naturally occurring steroidal lactone, which is a fancy way of saying they’re not quite steroids per se. Instead, they’re like the more balanced, gentler cousins of the steroids we’ve heard about in the news. Withanolides are linked with a powerful set of actions, including:
- Anti-inflammatory
- Anti-tumor (cancer-fighting and cancer-preventing)
- Cytotoxic
- Immunomodulating
- Antibacterial
- Anti-fungal
What this all means is that you can safely take withanolides daily for your whole life without developing roid-rage or harming your immune system. Withanolides that occur naturally in plants offer us a powerhouse of healing and protective properties like the effects traditional healers found in Ashwagandha. That’s why Ashwagandha has been sometimes called “Indian Ginseng.” The withanolides in Ashwagandha have had what looks like an energizing, invigorating, vitalizing effect on people for centuries.
How are the properties of Withanolides helpful?
The properties scientists have identified in withanolides help us understand why Ashwagandha has been so effective for so long in helping humans maintain health and recover from a variety of chronic conditions.
Withanolides and Inflammation
The Anti-inflammatory property of withanolides is one reason why Ashwagandha has been used to treat and prevent a wide variety of illnesses. Scientists have more recently begun to explore the link between inflammation, sometimes described as systemic inflammation, with what’s beginning to look like nearly every chronic illness or disease or disorder we can develop.
Inflammation is one tool the body uses to deal with wastes or toxins it hasn’t the capacity to handle. Our bodies essentially tuck the offending chemical or matter away and build a hot, swollen wall around it akin to how we build a cholesterol-based plaque around similar matter in our arteries. In both cases, our organs of elimination (liver, kidneys, lungs, and supporting systems) are unable to process the toxin or waste properly and are thus storing the job for later. Inflammation can also occur around injured tissues and in areas where circulation has diminished.
As far as withanolides and Ashwagandha are concerned, inflammation is a place of imbalance that will lead to further system failures. Withanolides encourage the body to regain balance by cooling the inflamed tissues, clearing away the waste or swelling that has occurred around it, and helping the body eliminate it appropriately. That makes Ashwagandha a good partner for clearing and preventing inflammatory-based conditions, like chronic digestive disorders including Crohn’s disease, IBS and IBD, and leaky gut; or inflammatory joint conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
Withanolides and the Immune System
The immunomodulating properties paired with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of withanolides are part of what make Ashwagandha a much relied-upon partner for strengthening the immune system and treating colds, flus, and related conditions. Withanolides in Ashwagandha have helped build and maintain a healthy, well-balanced immune system in human beings for centuries, which is why modern herbalists often classify Ashwagandha as an adaptogen.
Adaptogens in modern herbalism are generally plant-based medicines that help balance our immune systems. They help our bodies recognize what we need, whether that’s an increase in immune system function or a simmering down. That’s the key action behind the term immunomodulating; Withanolides are immunomodulating compounds that bump the plants they reside in into the adaptogen class.
Withanolides are one of the reasons why wise herbalists like KP Khalsa include Ashwagandha in their daily diet before, during, and after the cold and flu season. Ashwagandha helps our bodies adapt to the changing demands of those seasons, which often include both changing conditions in the environment around us and in changing structures and strengths of the viral, bacterial, and fungal germs we’re encountering. In super simplistic terms, the withanolides in Ashwagandha helps our immune systems prepare to encounter both the parent virus and any of its variants more effectively.
Withanolides and Cancer
The Anti-cancer and Cytotoxic properties of Withanloides are part of why Ashwagandha has been linked to cancer prevention and treatment. While research is still needed, we do know that withanolides shows promising results for helping to move the body toward a healthier cellular lifestyle, so to speak. Withanolides cytotoxic properties are centered on helping cells die off and clear away properly, a process known as apoptosis. This is part of why Ashwagandha is classified by modern herbalists as being a cancer preventative tonic.
Studies have shown the Ashwagandha offers benefits beyond cancer prevention for those who are undergoing cancer treatments. Ashwagandha’s energizing and neuroprotective properties alongside the anti-inflammatory prowess those withanolides bring to the table can help patients manage the challenging side-effects of radiation therapies and chemotherapies in modern cancer treatments.
Caution for Cancer Patients and Ashwagandha
Cancer patients would be wise to consult with their attending physicians before adding Ashwagandha or other withanolides-rich plants to their diet during treatment, as preliminary research suggests a possibility of conflicts with some types of cancers and some types of cancer medicines.
Where Can I Get My Hands on some Withanolides?
We’ve talked a lot about Ashwagandha and withanolides because it’s one of the best and easiest sources for this steroidal lactone powerhouse. Ashwagandha roots are loaded with withanolides. You’ll find some withanolides in Ashwagandha berries, too. Ashwagandha isn’t the only plant in the nightshade family that’s got some withanolides, though.
Wolfberry, aka lycii or goji berry, contains a small sum of withanolides that are likely part of why wolfberries are commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to support general health and to build the spleen channel. The withanolides are minor players from a phytochemical perspective.
Physalis family plants also contain some withanolides, most notably those known as Inca Ground Cherries, aka Ground Cherries or Cape Gooseberries. These small, golden miniature tomatillo-like fruits are most often used in cooking rather than herbal medicine. While researchers haven’t studied the medicinal effects of consuming Physalis or ground cherries regularly, the chances are high their withanolides content is similar to that of Ashwagandha berries, thus terrific for daily wellness and prevention but not necessarily strong enough to help correct conditions that have already arisen.
Solanum family plants may also contain some withanolides. This family includes the nightshade food crops native to Central and South America: Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Eggplant. If you’re looking to bulk up on withanolides, you may want to rethink your diet. While the Solanums may contain withanolides, the amount they contain is low enough to make them a good daily tonic but definitely not medicinal in strength.
Other herbs that contain withanolides include Datura and Mandragora or Mandrake root. Both of these herbs have been used in traditional medicines in their native areas, and both are quite dangerous if used improperly. Datura and Mandragora both contain some toxic constituents and can have dangerous effects even at low levels.
All in all, Ashwagandha is the best source for a healthy and safe level of withanolides combined with other healthful constituents and properties.
Cautions for Withanolides and Ashwagandha
Cancer patients, especially those with testosterone-related cancers, would be wise to consult with their physician before taking ashwagandha or withanolides-containing substances. Ashwagandha and withanolides are linked to increased levels of testosterone although no clear studies have linked either with cancer formation. Additionally, Ashwagandha and withanolides may or may not affect the effectivity of some cancer treatments, making it wise for all cancer patients to consult with their treatment team before adding either to their diet.
Patients taking Anticonvulsants, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines would be wise to consult with their pharmacist or physician before adding Ashwagandha or withanolides to their diet. More study is needed, but there is enough evidence to suggest Ashwagandha may have an effect on how these drugs are metabolized. This means patients taking these types of drugs may need closer monitoring for drug levels as well as the increased addictive potential to avoid problems.
If you’re taking prescriptions or pharmaceuticals of any sort, you would be wise to consult with your care provider before adding Ashwagandha to your diet. While there are very few contraindications or known side-effects connected to Ashwagandha or withanolides in general, both have the potential to change how the body handles waste, toxins, and inflammation. This could affect prescription drugs’ or pharmaceutical’s effectiveness.
