Surviving change with better decision making
 

My brother Rob recently walked 650km from Galway Ireland to Winchester enroute to Spain. He told me that for days he was trying to decide whether or not to continue walking and take the ferry to France or head back home. He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to be. The indecision was taking a toll on him both mentally and emotionally.

As a result of the pandemic, inflation, and changes in the workplace, leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and employees are finding themselves at a point where they never expected to be a couple of years ago. Plans for the future have changed drastically, in some cases. Many people are wondering how they are going to survive. Should they adapt to the current situation or should they change their plans, dreams and goals? As Rob told me, “When you’re heading on a path you haven’t traveled before, it’s important to stop from time to time to figure out where you are and if necessary adjust your course or even your destination”.

 

From the Natural Path Newsletter
by Linda Woolven M.H., R.Ac & Ted Snider
 

The words were hearing most right now are anxiety and sleepless nights. The word you need to hear right now is ashwagandha, a herb that seems to specialize in anxiety, stress and sleepless nights. 

All kinds of research shows that ashwagandha eases anxiety. Need proof? A systematic review of 5 controlled studies found that ashwagandha significantly improves anxiety (J Altern Complement Med 2014;20:901- 908). All kinds of research shows that it eases stress too (Indian J Psychol Med 2012;34:255-62). It also helps if you’re struggling with both (JANA 2008;11:50-56). Ashwagandha can also help with stress eating and weight gain (J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med 2017;22(1):96-106). 

Resting Your Mind: Sleep & Anxiety 
Emerging research is pointing to ashwagandha as the perfect answer for sleepless nights plagued with anxiety. 

A 10 week double-blind study of 58 people struggling with both anxiety and insomnia gave them 300mg of a highly concentrated extract of ashwagandha root twice a day or a placebo. People on ashwagandha fell asleep significantly faster than people on placebo. Taking ashwagandha also helped people to wake up significantly less often during the night: scores improved from 75.63 to 83.48 versus 75.14 to only 79.68 in the placebo group. Quality of sleep also improved significantly more on the herb: an improvement of 3.92 points versus only 1.67 in the placebo group. Overall, sleep scores improved by 69% on ashwagandha versus only 11% on placebo. More people on ashwagandha were alert when they woke up. Scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale improved significantly in the ashwagandha group. The placebo group improved from a score of 23.42 at the beginning of the study to 21.52; the ashwagandha improved from 23.58 to 18.48 (Cureus 2019; 11(9): e5797). 

A newly published study duplicated these impressive insomnia-anxiety results. Ashwagandha produced significantly greater improvement than placebo on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. People fell asleep significantly faster and had significantly better quality of sleep. They had significantly greater total sleep time and woke up significantly less often once they had fallen asleep. Again, they had significantly better mental alertness. And again, those who took ashwagandha to help with insomnia also received help for anxiety with scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale improving significantly (J Ethnopharmacol2021;264,113276). 

Ashwagandha also safely helps the elderly. 39 people between 65 and 80 were given a placebo or 600mg a day of ashwagandha root extract for 12 weeks in a double-blind study. The ashwagandha group had significantly greater improvement in sleep, quality of sleep and mental alertness. There was very significant improvement in quality of life for people who took ashwagandha compared to placebo. On the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire, scores with ashwagandha improved from 140.53 to 161.84. The ashwagandha group had significantly greater improvement on total, physical and psychological domains (Cureus 2020 12(2):e7083). 

Non-restorative sleep is just what it sounds like: even though you seem to be sleeping well, you wake up feeling unrefreshed. In a recent double-blind study, healthy people with high non-restorative sleep measures took a placebo or 120mg of ashwagandha extract for 6 weeks. Sleep quality improved by 72% on ashwagandha but by only a 29% on placebo: a significant benefit. People taking ashwagandha also had significant improvements in sleep efficiency, total sleep time, sleep latency and periods of wakefulness after falling asleep. Ashwagandha led to improved quality of life scores for the physical, psychological and environmental domains (Sleep Medicine 2020;72:28-36).

Long revered as a healing herb, ashwagandha is now emerging as a leading herb for insomnia, including for those anxiety filled sleepless nights.

To Increase Your Sales by Educating Your Customers, Start Giving The Natural Path Newsletter to Your Customers Today! 

The Natural Path is a natural health newsletter specifically designed to help Canadian health food stores increase their sales by educating their customers. The Natural Path contains no advertising and never mentions a brand name.

Contact Ted Snider at tedsnider@bell.net or at 416.782.8211.

For comprehensive natural help with your health, make an appointment to see Linda Woolven now. Linda’s clinic is now open for virtual appointments. Linda is a master herbalist, acupuncturist, and solution-focused counsellor with a practice in Toronto. Linda is also an artist whose paintings hang in galleries and private collections across North America. You can see some of her painting here.

Parliamentary Luncheon to Explore Game Changing Health Research and Health Innovation
 

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