Want Safe, Natural Help for Menopause? Introducing Ashwagandha.

Women going through menopause can experience hot flashes, sweating, loss of libido, depression, anxiety, insomnia and more. Real help that is safe to take would be a huge relief. Meet the ancient herb ashwagandha.

The conventional treatment for menopause is hormone replacement therapy and antidepressants. Given the potential side effects of these powerful drugs, that’s a lot to ask for a totally normal change.

Nature offers a number of herbs that provide significant relief without the potential side effects. One of them is the ancient Ayurvedic herb ashwagandha.

This new 56 day, double-blind study compared 300mg of ashwagandha root extract taken twice a day with a placebo in 60 healthy menopausal women.

The primary outcome measured was improvement on the Menopause Rating Scale. And the ashwagandha did not disappoint, significantly outperforming the placebo. While the women on placebo improved only from a score of 30.73 to 30.03, the women on ashwagandha improved remarkably from 31.37 to 18.53. Ashwagandha produced significant improvement on all subscales, including psychological, physical and urogenital.

Estradiol and progesterone went up, while follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone went down in the herb group; luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone went up in the placebo group. While hot flashes did not significantly improve in either group, they improved significantly and consistently more in the ashwagandha group.

The 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) is used to measure quality of life related to health. It improved significantly more in the ashwagandha group. There was also significantly greater improvement on the Perceived Stress Scale.

The ashwagandha was remarkably safe: the only adverse event was one woman reporting cough and cold. None of the adverse events were associated with the treatment.

This study suggests that ashwagandha safely improves multiple symptoms of menopause.

Front Reprod Health. 2026 Jan 5;7:1647721. 

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For much more on preventing and treating menopausal symptoms naturally, see our book The Family Naturopathic Encyclopedia.

For much more on ashwagandha, see our book Healthy Herbs: Your Everyday Guide to Medicinal Herbs and Their Use.

For comprehensive natural help with your health, including reproductive health and menopause make an appointment to see Linda Woolven now. Linda’s clinic is now open for in person and virtual appointments.

The Natural Path is intended for educational purposes only and is in no way intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. For health problems, consult a qualified health practitioner for a comprehensive program.

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