Ashwagandha: an Herbal Alternative to Melatonin
Ashwagandha is the anxiolytic Adaptogen, all of the Adaptogens make your body better at handling stress but Ashwagandha is probably the best. If you have a problem with stress or anxiety Ashwagandha is for you! I’ve been using this Ashwagandha from Organic India for about 2 months now. This is a review of my subjective experiences with Ashwagandha…
In fact, a lot of people don’t realize that they have a problem with chronic stress and when they do Ashwagandha or anxiolytic Nootropics they finally get to experience a clear mind and it’s empowering for them. A lot of Entrepreneurs like Ashwagandha because Entrepreneurs are naturally a lot of times quite high-strung people, susceptible to workaholism and they tend to just be stressed all the time.
How I Use Ashwagandha
I found that this Ashwagandha was best as an alternative to Melatonin. I’m a person that has sporadic problems sleeping. For the longest time I’ve used Melatonin but the more I learn about Melatonin the more I find it’s problematic.
- It’s has a steep tolerance curve.
- You become dependent upon it to fall asleep if you use it more than like once or twice a week.
- And often if you take a little too much of it you’ll kind of wake up with a Melatonin hangover, feeling groggy and tired in the mornings, as opposed to inspired by an awesome night of sleep.
Socializing
The good thing about Ashwagandha is that it’s an anxiolytic but it’s not much of a downer, at least for me. I would often do some Ashwagandha before going out to socialize and I would just feel more relaxed and sociable but I wouldn’t feel tired.
It’s not going to replace Phenibut as my favorite social lubricant or alternative to alcohol. If I was going to do 30, 60, or 90 days of no booze, I think I’d still choose Phenibut but you’ll have to experiment for yourself.
It doesn’t have any negative interaction with alcohol. Actually, for me, it went good with alcohol because, sometimes you know you’ll go out and have one drink and you’ll start feeling a little more relaxed and sociable BUT you want to be REALLY relaxed and sociable so you have a second or third drink — you overdo it! But if I take just a little Ashwagandha, I’m perfectly happy with one drink.
Post-Workout
It’s really important to get good sleep after a gym session, so I would typically do the Ashwagandha in the evenings after a workout. Also sometimes I find a workout to be stimulating. I’ll have some trouble getting to sleep. I awoke in the mornings after a workout feeling like a champ!
Sex
It seems to have a slight effect on male performance but Horny Goat Weed will remain my go-to herb for sexytime!
I would use Ashwagandha several times a week, I would not use it every single day. I would use it episodically.
Dosage
- Dosing a single 800-milligram capsule didn’t have much of a noticeable effect for me.
- Dosing two capsules (1600 milligrams) would make me just slightly more relaxed and drowsy around bedtime and I’d fall asleep easier!
- Dosing three capsules (2400 milligrams) had an effect similar to having a drink or two or doing some Phenibut. It made me relaxed and social.
I never did more than 2400 milligrams, I handle my stress relatively well so I didn’t need to do more than that. Although, anecdotally some people need to do a lot more. Ashwagandha is a quite benign Nootropic, you can do a lot of it without worrying about side effects.
When it comes to herbs, sourcing really matters, you don’t want to just choose the cheapest stuff available because often there’s a huge qualitative difference. I choose Organic India because I assume it’s organic and it’s was the most credible brand I could find at the pharmacy here in Bulgaria.
Protip: If you have to get your supplements from a pharmacy or vitamin store, select the brand that packages their capsules in a dark glass bottle.
Glass bottles are better than plastic bottles, both for the supplement, for you, and the environment. When you see a supplement in a cheapo white plastic bottle you know that the manufacturer is cutting costs in every possible way to deliver that supplement to you. Dark glass bottles are better because they block any UV light that may chemically degrade the product.
Whenever you see a glass bottle you can be pretty sure that it’s a product that had just a bit more care go into it.
I was overall pretty happy with Organic India, I’d likely purchase it again, but if you can I recommend that you get your Ashwagandha from a COA-verified source like…
