INGREDIENT SPOTLIGHT 02
Ashwagandha
The grounding root of Ayurveda
An evergreen shrub named for the strength of a horse, used for three thousand years and now one of the most tested botanicals in modern trials. What it is, what is in it, and what the research measured.
INGREDIENT SPOTLIGHT · 3 July 2026 · 4 min read
01 ORIGIN
Named for the strength of a horse.
Ashwagandha grows as a small evergreen shrub across India and the drylands of the Middle East and North Africa. Its Sanskrit name comes from ashwa, meaning horse, and it speaks to the strength, stamina and vigour the root was believed to impart.
Ayurveda has prized it for over 3,000 years as a rasayana, a substance believed to restore and rejuvenate.
02 COMPOSITION
Three things worth knowing.
Withanolides
The active steroidal lactones, concentrated in the root and standardised to guarantee a consistent dose.
An adaptogen
A plant that helps the body regulate its own stress response, rather than forcing it one way.
Root, not leaf
Tradition and the strongest evidence rest on the root, where the actives sit in their best ratio.
03 THE EVIDENCE
Cortisol, measurably lower.
A 2012 trial in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine gave chronically stressed adults a full spectrum root extract for 60 days.
Serum cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, fell by around 28% in the ashwagandha group, far more than placebo.
−28%
drop in serum cortisol
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2012 · 60 days
04 THE EVIDENCE
A rare thing: real human trials.
Most trending herbs rest on animal or lab data alone. Ashwagandha has repeated randomised, placebo controlled trials in people.
In a 2019 study in Medicine, adults took a standardised root extract daily for 60 days. Morning cortisol dropped significantly, and anxiety scores fell alongside it, measured against placebo.
05 QUALITY
Not all ashwagandha is equal.
Genuine & standardised
- Root only extract
- Standardised withanolides
- Independently tested
Generic & cheap
- Leaf or aerial parts
- Unknown potency
- No batch testing
Cheaper products stretch cost with leaf and stem, where the actives sit in the wrong ratio. Root only, standardised extract is not a nicety. It is the whole point.
Ancient roots, everyday energy.
Ashwagandha is one of three ingredients in Vitality Trio, alongside shilajit and black seed. Root extract only, standardised, at a dose worth taking.
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