Does Ashwagandha Slash Stress And Clear Acne?

Today, we’re going to discuss a fascinating herbal supplement from India, one traditionally favoured by basketball players, bodybuilders and cheating Olympians rather than dermatologists. We’re going to discuss ashwagandha, a plant whose root has been favoured by Indian Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years.

Also known as Withania Somnifera or winter cherry, ashwagandha is a hardy, woody shrub with small red fruits that stands at 150cm to 200cm tall. It’s an especially hardy and tough plant, thriving in moderate droughts while nearby plants shrivel up and die.

In Ayurvedic medicine, ashwagandha is revered as a “rayasana” or “royal herb” which boosts the immune system and prolongs life. Some teachers believe that ashwagandha mixed with milk is the ultimate tonic for fattening up emaciated children. Some historical texts even mention acne.

Interestingly, ashwagandha is commonly known as Indian ginseng, but has no botanical relation to either the Siberian, American, or Korean (Panax) ginseng species.

Instead, the similarity lies in ashwagandha’s signature medical power: calming stress and controlling anxiety. 

 

Ashwagandha could end the acne from stress

Cortisol is the main stress hormone in the human body. Its dangers for acne include weakened acne nutrient absorption, crumbling collagen proteins and constantly elevated blood sugar. The simplest solution is de-stressing yourself, but there’s also various biological hacks that lower cortisol levels, like vitamin C…

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…and ashwagandha is among the very best. Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb, alongside rhodiola rosea and Korean ginseng. An “adaptogen” is any substance which helps the body to regain hormonal and psychological balance (homeostasis) during times of stress.

Adaptogens lower stress hormones, prevent the damage unleashed by stress hormones, and have a powerful relaxing effect on the mind. The Soviets were obsessed with them, using the rhodiola rosea herb to give their soldiers superhuman strength in Afghanistan, and even cheat in the Olympics, until their empire finally crumbled and the closely guarded secret came to light.

In ashwagandha, it’s a unique group of alkaloids called withanolides which work the relaxation magic. There’s also a more minor group of alkaloids called sitoindosides, along with saponins and assorted minerals.

 

An avalanche of stress-calming evidence

After millennia of mystery, the ancient tales of ashwagandha have finally been confirmed:

ONE: firstly, we have this double-blind placebo study from 2012, testing 64 human beings with a history of chronic stress. Two groups were formed: a placebo group, and a group taking 300mg of the KSM-66 ashwagandha brand daily.

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By day 60, the ashwagandha group enjoyed a significant reduction in all stress scores, as assessed by a questionnaire, compared to the placebo group. Best of all, cortisol itself plummeted by a staggering 27%.

TWO: some scientists were primarily testing male reproductive health, by feeding 60 infertile men 5 grams of ashwagandha root powder each day (study).

This time, the reduction in cortisol was even more colossal – 32% after 3 months. Promisingly for acne, bloodstream antioxidants also rose. The study had a happy ending, with 14% of the infertile men happily impregnating their wives.

THREE: a study lurking in the depths of internet, which again gave highly stressed volunteers the KSM-66 brand, and this time observed a 14% reduction in cortisol.

FOUR: a 2000 study on mice showed great benefits for mental stress and anxiety, even matching the pharmaceutical anti-anxiety drug lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan. Lorazepam is notorious for its side effects such as nightmares, headaches and depression, but ashwagandha was remarkably safe.

FIVE: the most impressive study yet, albeit with a tiny sample size. A single 57 year old woman with an adrenal gland disorder was fed ashwagandha, and after six months of daily use, her bloodstream cortisol levels plummeted by 55%.

The old Ayurvedic mumbo-jumbo is promising as well, as ashwagandha is supposedly a “Medhya Rasayana”, meaning that it rejuvenates all three Ayurvedic aspects of the mind – comprehension, recollection, and memory.

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In fact, ashwagandha is constantly mentioned in Ayurvedic textbooks alongside mental relaxation. This herbal supplement lowers stress levels on two separate fronts, inhibiting mental anxiety itself, and the burst of cortisol that anxiety triggers.

 

Ashwagandha preserves your antioxidants

Ashwagandha also has an extensively documented power to lower lipid peroxides, AKA fat soluble free radicals, the most vicious type for your acne.

Lipid peroxides simultaneously overwhelm your precious vitamin E stores, and help to generate the infamously pore-clogging squalene peroxide on your face. Rampaging lipid peroxides are an acne patient’s nemesis, and here’s the evidence for ashwagandha:

ONE – scientists fed mice ashwagandha, which strongly reduced their lipid peroxide levels, which were previously elevated due to a lack of sleep (study). Glutathione levels also rose nicely. The herb was excellent for the mice’s sleep deprivation as well, another traditional usage in Ayurvedic medicine.

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TWO – this 2013 study, meanwhile, identified the compounds responsible – glycowithanolides, the herb’s main variety of withanolide. It’s been claimed that glycowithanolides are behind the herb’s aphrodisiac, rejuvenating, and life-prolonging qualities.

After injecting six month-old mice with free radicals and feeding them glycowithanolides extracted from ashwagandha, lipid peroxides fell substantially.

THREE – scientists fed some rats glycowithanolides extracted from ashwagandha once daily for 21 days. Not only did their lipid peroxides fall, but the self-manufactured antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismutase shot up (1997 study).

This 2001 study was similarly excellent; rats were forcibly stressed once daily for 21 days, which strongly elevated the lipid peroxides in their bloodstream (an interesting link of stress to acne there). By feeding the rats glycowithanolides beforehand, this increase was prevented, and glutathione levels also rose.

FOUR – this study and this study found that ashwagandha corrected elevated lipid peroxides in animals exposed to short, sharp stress.

FIVE – a 2003 study which gathered several elderly rats with sky high lipid peroxides, and concluded that “Withania Somnifera successfully… inhibited lipid peroxidation in a dose dependent manner“.

We’ve already discussed some amazing adaptogens in our online acne bunker here, namely the three ginsengs and the Russian herb rhodiola rosea. So far though, only ashwagandha can lower lipid peroxides.

 

Unproven, yet promising anti-inflammatory powers

Ashwagandha also has several promising studies for inflammation. Two of its signature withanolides called withaferin A and 3-b-hydroxy-2,3-dihydrowithanolide F have promising anti-inflammatory properties (study), and other withanolides are similar.

In Ayurvedic textbooks, one of ashwagandha’s traditional uses is to crush the roots into a paste which can be rubbed into swollen joints, painful ulcers, or wounds.

Meanwhile, this study found that feeding ashwagandha to arthritis rats lowered their joint inflammation. Could it translate to your inflamed skin? Ashwagandha seems to be at least mildly anti-inflammatory, but these powers lack the avalanche of evidence enjoyed by ginseng. This works out neatly though, because it gives you two crystal clear options.

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If you’re highly stressed and determined to crack down on inflammation, then Korean ginseng wins. If you’re stressed out, but particularly stalked by free radicals, perhaps from air pollution, cigarette smoke, or toxic tap water, then ashwagandha reigns supreme.

 

Warning: ashwagandha may cause oily skin

Despite those excellent powers, ashwagandha has one flaw for acne, although for men it’s a large benefit. 

You see, when roughly translated from Indian Ayurvedic texts, ashwagandha actually means “smell of the horse”. Why? Practitioners believed that ashwagandha was so overwhelmingly anabolic that it would provide the strength and virility of a horse.

That’s almost certainly pure supplement company hype (what athlete wouldn’t want to be as strong as a horse?), but the stone cold fact is this: ashwagandha is a master at increasing testosterone levels:

ONE – this study gave 21 infertile men 675mg/day of the KSM-66 ashwagandha brand, and detected a 17% increase in blood testosterone levels. Explaining the increase, there was a 36% increase in luteinizing hormone (LH), a compound which stimulates testosterone production at the brain level.

TWO – after taking 5 grams of ashwagandha powder for 3 months, 60 infertile human subjects had an average increase in bloodstream testosterone of 40%. The study was conducted on otherwise healthy participants.

THREE – two further experiments on infertile men yielded similar results (study, study). Both studies gave the men 5 grams of ashwagandha root, and noticed substantial increases in testosterone (40% and 16% for the infertile participants, 15% for healthy) after 90 days. Sperm quality also improved significantly.

Generally, increasing testosterone is a great thing, providing increased muscle mass, a deeper voice and a more content mind. For acne, testosterone can undoubtedly heighten oily skin, by stimulating androgen receptors in the skin’s sebaceous glands…

Luckily, many acne strategies we recommend here counteract testosterone’s dangers, like getting more vitamin E. Nevertheless, boosting androgenic hormones is one small risk of this herb to be aware of.

Of course, if you’re an athlete hunting for testosterone-boosting secrets, ashwagandha just keeps getting better.

 

Advice for your acne strategy

Ashwagandha is a potent acne supplement indeed. Lowering stress and lipid peroxides are two strategies that can benefit your acne rapidly, not just over six months.

But how do you make ashwagandha the most effective supplement possible for acne?

Firstly, the Ayurvedic school of medicine has many valuable teachings about various herbs like turmeric, but like any ancient practise, it peddles a lot of rubbish too.

Perhaps Ayurveda’s worst crime is its recommendation of heavy metals for health. Old school Indian doctors believe that mercury, arsenic and aluminium all have healing properties, and intentionally add them to their herbal supplement concoctions. This is completely moronic; mercury is a neurotoxin, arsenic clogs your pores by accelerating keratin production, and aluminum empties your glutathione stores.

Nevertheless, heavy metals remain an issue with ashwagandha. One freshly conducted 2015 study found that 50% of the market samples analysed contained mercury at levels “above the permissible limit“. Unintentional pollution is another factor: “consumption of Ashwagandha obtained from polluted areas may cause accumulated side effect… of the heavy metals“.

Clearly, this is not good for acne. Many “true” companies foolishly add heavy metals to respectfully align themselves with Ayurveda’s original teachings, but they’re just ruining their product.

Your foolproof solution? Always buy a reputable ashwagandha brand. Organic is preferable.

Cycling is also important with ashwagandha, as the body can grow resistant to its stress-busting effects over time. For example, you could run a two week cycle during stressful exam season, or a busy period at the office, and subsequently take a whole month off. You could alternate to a different adaptogenic herb after two weeks, like rhodiola rosea.

 

The best ashwagandha product for acne

Traditionally, old school Indians always favoured an ashwagandha powder, mixed with whole boiled milk and flavoured with raw honey. Tellingly, one of the great cortisol studies used 5 grams of pure ashwagandha powder.

Therefore, if you too would love a flexible ingredient, or are hopelessly addicted to inventing new recipes, this bulk bag of Terrasoul Superfoods Ashwagandha Root (amazon link) is unbeatable. This powder can be spooned into coffee, tea, yoghurt; any acne-friendly food you wish.

Alternatively, if you’d prefer total control over the dosage, then I’d recommend these Organic India Organic Ashwagandha capsules. This ashwagandha is certified organic and sourced from the finest quality shrubs, with chemical additives and stabilisers kept far away.

The final important issue is side effects. Potential side effects with ashwagandha include drowsiness, vomiting and stomach upset. Stop taking ashwagandha immediately if such side effects occur. Of course, I’m not a doctor, and you should always consult with your doctor before taking ashwagandha and adaptogenic herbs, especially if you have a pre-existing medical condition.

 

Conclusion

In the acneverse, there’s endless different supplements with endless promising powers. Gelatin increase glutathione levels, burdock is loaded with prebiotics, and camu camu powder is almost pure vitamin C.

Ashwagandha’s claim to fame is massively reducing stress hormones while simultaneously lowering free radicals. If that’s what your skin needs, according to your careful calculations, then ashwagandha may have potential.

Alternatively, if you’re a strength-obsessed athlete, then the boost in testosterone could be gamechanging. You could even become “strong like a horse”, if the old legends are true.

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Thanks for reading!