Speeding up the thyroid and the memory

The very first adaptogen I learned about has such amazing benefits that I immediately started taking it for myself – and until recently, I took it every day of every year since. Like all other adaptogens, it has the amazing ability to increase energy levels during the day, reduce tension due to stress, increase endurance, significantly accelerate the recovery process after illness and provide greater mental alertness and deep, restful sleep. I have described in depth about what adaptogens are, and if you have not heard about them before, I encourage you to read my article about them. Better still, go to my search field in the upper right hand corner of this page and enter “adaptogen” (without the quotes) to find a listing of all the articles I have written thus far concerning adaptogens.

Each of these adaptogens share the same adaptogenic qualities. However there are other attributes that specific adaptogens have that other adaptogens do not. This is why you might choose to take more than one adaptogen.

During the time I was leading many workshops and lectures, as well as a time when I had many visitors to my shop who had so many questions about the why and what of herbs for their specific concerns, I discovered to my dismay that I was finding myself at a loss of words! Or I should say a loss of specific words. Words were disappearing from my memory, even though I knew that I once knew the word I was “trying to say”. It was very frustrating. I could describe to the nth degree what the word was about, but the actual word was GONE. The word might come to me in a little while, but sometimes it didn’t. I called it a “Senior Moment”. But it really happened often enough, that realistically they were “Senior MOMENTS”!

Fortunately I continually read books and research papers on health, nutrition, and herbs. And I found the herb, an adaptogen, that sounded like the one I needed.

So are you curious what that first adaptogen is that I started taking every day?

One of the many books I have read that discussed adaptogens in detail is Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by David Winston, RH(AHG). He described the adaptogen Ashwagandha as being very effective for relieving anxiety, fatigue, cloudy thinking, stress-induced insomnia, and neurasthenia (nervous exhaustion). CLOUDY THINKING! Sounds like “Senior Moments”, doesn’t it? And then I discover that according to Donald R. Yance in his book Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism, Ashwagandha is considered a premier herb for all negative conditions associated with aging. This includes its use in the prevention and inhibition of senile dementia and arthritis.

Ashwagandha, the common name for Withania somnifera.

So, of course, I started taking it. Most of the adaptogens are very stimulating and energizing, but Ashwagandha is different in that it is very calming. More of a relaxant, than a stimulant. So this is one adaptogen that can be taken in the evening. But it does not in any way slow you down if you take it in the morning.

And the cloudy thinking cleared. Smile….

Ashwagandha is not only about what it does to the brain. Ashwagandha has a direct effect on the thyroid. It stimulates the thyroid, which increases the metabolism. That’s great if you have hypothyroidism. But if you have hyperthyroidism, you definitely do NOT want to take this herb.

Ashwagandha has so many benefits substantiated by studies. So many studies that I cannot list them all in this article. But let me tell you about some of them.

One study discovered that Ashwagandha and its constituents showed various activities against models of Alzheimer’s disease and spinal cord injury. Ashwagandha extracts also showed ameliorative effects against other neurodegenerative disease models such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease for general debility, consumption, nervous exhaustion, insomnia, and loss of memory.

In a recent study that assessed the efficacy of Withania somnifera preventing skin carcinogenesis, 100% protection against tumor formation was observed.

So you can see why Donald Yance states he uses Ashwagandha in adaptogenic formulas for all his patients witth cancer during and after chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

Another study concluded that Ashwagandha may be effective in enhancing both immediate and general memory in people with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment, a precursor to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease) as well as improving executive function, attention, and information processing speed.

And a study concluded that anti-inflammatory and cartilage protective effects of Withania somnifera support the use of Withania somnifera for the treatment of arthritis.

And a study demonstrated the potential role of the chemically standardized leaf extract of W. somnifera and it’s identified component in activating the immune system for chronic infectious ailments where patients suffer from weakened Th1 immunity.

So now you may be wondering why I said I started taking this herb every day for every year, until recently. Why did I stop?

Sigh… Turns out that the arthritis I managed very successfully with ginger root tea every day for decades and I thought was being helped with Ashwagandha was basically caused by a mutation in my BCHE gene. That mutation is why agent orange, pesticides, some anesthesia, and nightshade plants are harmful to people that have it. When I stopped eating vegetables and taking medicinals that were from nightshade plants, I no longer had arthritis. That meant no Ashwagandha, Goji berries. And no peppers (green, red, cayenne, etc.). No potatoes. They are all in the plant family of Solanaceae. Called the nightshade family or the potato family, Solanaceae has more than 90 genera and nearly 3,000 species distributed throughout the world. Bottomline, they are toxic to some of us.

Fortunately, not all medicinals are from nightshades. (Rhodiola which is another adaptogen is NOT a nightshade plant, for example.) And also fortunately many people are not sensitive to nightshades and therefore can take advantage of the numerous benefits that Withania somnifera offers.