Ashwagandha Powder

Choosing the traditional form is a perfectly good reason to buy a herb, though it does change what you can know about your dose. These are the questions our naturopaths ask in store, and they apply to every form of ashwagandha.

A good fit if

• You're an adult looking for traditional herbal support through a stretch of everyday stress
• You value the traditional Ayurvedic preparation and the ritual of making it, and you're not trying to match a trial dose
• Your health history is straightforward: no liver, thyroid or autoimmune concerns, and no prescription medicines
• You're buying from a supplier who batch-tests for heavy metals and says so on the pack
• You accept that a raw powder can't tell you its withanolide content, and you're comfortable with that

Check with us first if

• You have a thyroid condition or take thyroid hormone such as levothyroxine. Ashwagandha may change thyroid hormone levels, and there are reports of an overactive thyroid settling after people stopped it.
• You take immunosuppressant medicines. This is a known possible interaction, so don't combine them without medical advice.
• You take sedatives, anticonvulsants or anything else that makes you drowsy. Ashwagandha can cause drowsiness too, and the effects may add up.
• You take diabetes or blood pressure medicines. The effects may add up, so monitoring is advised.
• You take any prescription medicine. A quick check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths first is the sensible step.
• You're switching from a standardised extract to powder, or the other way. A spoon of powder and a milligram of extract aren't comparable, and the conversion is where people go wrong.
• You're buying loose powder from an overseas website or market. Those products aren't regulated by the TGA for quality and safety, and testing of Ayurvedic products bought online has repeatedly found toxic metals.
• You have a sensitive stomach. You take a much larger amount of powder than you would capsules, so it's more likely to upset your digestion.

• Whole root powder (churna). Best known for: The traditional Ayurvedic preparation: the whole root, milled, and nothing else. Absorption: Not concentrated. Withanolides are at whatever level the raw root had, and that level isn't measured or declared. Typical use: A quarter-teaspoon to two teaspoons a day, stirred into warm milk, water, a smoothie or food.
• Cut or whole dried root pieces. Best known for: The least processed form sold: root you simmer yourself as a decoction or tea. Absorption: Depends on how long you simmer it and how much you drink, so it's the hardest preparation to keep consistent. Typical use: Simmered in water or milk, often with spices, and measured by the handful rather than by weight.
• Root powder in capsules. Best known for: Churna without the taste: the same unconcentrated root in a dose you can swallow. Absorption: The same as loose powder; capsules just divide it into fixed weights you can count. Typical use: Several capsules a day to reach a spoonful of root, so packs run out quickly.
• Extract powder sold loose (the look-alike). Best known for: Looks just like churna in the jar, but it's a concentrated extract. Absorption: Concentrated, and usually standardised. A withanolide percentage on the pack gives it away. Typical use: Small scoops, not spoons. Dosing it like churna would give you many times the intended amount.
• Leaf-containing or whole-herb powders. Best known for: Plant material that includes the above-ground parts, not just the root. Absorption: Leaf has a different chemical make-up from root, so it isn't a substitute at any weight. Typical use: Uncommon on Australian labels; check that the pack names the root specifically.

Reference values. None. Ashwagandha is a herb, not an essential nutrient, so the NHMRC sets no recommended intake for it. There's no European guidance to fall back on either: Europe's herbal medicines committee reviewed Withania somnifera root but didn't adopt an official monograph, so there's no official European dose.

Typical supplemental range. The Australian powder labels in our range suggest between a quarter of a teaspoon and two teaspoons a day, taken once or twice, and none of them state a withanolide amount. A teaspoon measures volume, not weight, and there's no official conversion from teaspoons to grams for milled root. So if the pack gives a dose in grams, that's the number to go by.

Upper level. There's no NHMRC upper limit. The 12 g dry root equivalent figure in Australia's ingredient rules is part of a labelling exemption, not a safety limit, and as the Australian status section explains, that exemption can't apply to a powder anyway.

Worth knowing. Do the maths before you switch forms. Australian standardised extract products say 600 mg of extract equals about 7.5 g of dry root, so matching that with churna means several teaspoons of powder, not the quarter teaspoon many labels start at. Ashwagandha isn't part of the everyday Australian diet, so there's no dietary intake to compare against, and safety beyond about three months hasn't been established for any form. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• Pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Don't take it; NCCIH advises avoiding ashwagandha. A powder can't meet the item 5218 exemption, which only applies to extracts.
• Breastfeeding. Don't take it; safety hasn't been established (NCCIH).
• Current or past liver problems. Don't take it, as a precaution; rare liver injury has been documented with ashwagandha (NIH LiverTox).
• Jaundice, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, unusual tiredness, tummy pain or loss of appetite. Stop and get medical advice promptly.
• Sudden nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea after only one or two doses. Stop and get advice.
• Thyroid conditions, or thyroid hormone such as levothyroxine. It may change thyroid hormone levels, and there are case reports of an overactive thyroid (thyrotoxicosis).
• Autoimmune conditions. NCCIH advises against use.
• Immunosuppressant medicines. There's a recognised potential interaction.
• Sedatives, anticonvulsants (epilepsy medicines) and other medicines that cause drowsiness. The drowsiness can add up.
• Diabetes and blood pressure medicines. The effects may add up, so monitoring is advised.
• Planned surgery. NCCIH advises against using it beforehand.
• Hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. NCCIH advises avoiding it.
• Children and teenagers. Australian labels often say it's not suitable under 15.
• Unknown strength. Raw root has no declared withanolide content, so you can't check the dose from the pack.
• Heavy metal contamination. 20.7% of 193 Ayurvedic products bought online contained detectable lead, mercury or arsenic, and 75% of those products claimed good manufacturing practice.
• Switching between powder and standardised extract. They aren't equivalent by weight, and it's easy to get the conversion wrong.
• Long-term use. Safety beyond about three months hasn't been established.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or one of our naturopaths before you start.