Can you use Ashwagandha for erections?
You sure can, and we’ve got plenty of scientific evidence to back that statement up.
But before we jump into this material, I want to mention something that didn’t make it into the article below….
Ashwagandha is unique in the fact that it blocks an enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine in the brain.
And since Acetylcholine is a strong driver of sexual arousal in humans, this provides another clue why you can use ashwagandha for erections.
And while acetylcholine isn’t as powerful as its sister neurotransmitter, dopamine, these two agents do work in concert together.
As a matter of fact, optimal levels of acetylcholine are required for optimal receptor binding of dopamine in human tissue.
What this means is, dopamine, the primary driver of erections, needs optimal levels of acetylcholine to do its work properly…
And when these two neurotransmitters are balanced and working in harmony together, you get the arousal, the hard wood and plenty of motivation to put that erection use.
Or put another way…
The starting line for an erection is the frontal cortex of your brain, and Ashwagandha fires up a key neurotransmitter in your cortex that gets the race started.
If you’d like to read about other mens experiences with this herb, you’ll find several reviews from men using the Ashwagandha Tincture I use myself right here.
Now here’s David Jaynes with more….
Ashwagandha for Erections
Ashwagandha is one of those age-old wonder supplements.
It’s been recognized as an immunostimulant, to help prevent disease and to improve overall health.
It’s used by the elderly to fight the effects of aging and it’s used by elite athletes to naturally enhance performance.
And if you look around the internet you’ll find pretty quickly that ashwagandha (sometimes called Indian ginseng, or officially Withania Somnifera) is a common tool for helping with morning wood too.
With that in mind, I had a look at the science to see what I could find out, and here’s what I came across first…
Ashwagandha Stimulates Blood Flow
Ashwagandha improves the cardiovascular system in general, but specifically your body’s ability to get blood to where it needs to go.
A study on elite cyclists in India dosed one group with ashwagandha over 8 weeks and found that they improved across all measures compared to the control group.
The conclusion was that ashwagandha improves endurance athlete’s performance (source).
The core reason for the improvement was an improved VO2 max, which is a good indicator of general heart health.
The better VO2 max, the better your body is at getting blood to where it needs to go. And while getting blood to your penis isn’t the whole story to having a great erection, it certainly helps!
Ashwagandha stimulates nitric oxide (NO) production
As I’m sure you know, nitric oxide is a key ingredient to getting and maintaining your wood.
NO improves blood flow and kicks off the reaction in your body that allows blood to get trapped in your penis.
Ashwagandha has been found to stimulate nitric oxide production. With your body synthesizing more NO, it makes it easier to get hard.
Researchers in Naples found that when they injected ashwagandha into cells, NO production increased which enhanced the cells ability to produce NO synthase (source).
So ashwagandha works in two ways: first, by increasing your levels of NO, and second by making it easier for your body to turn things like arginine into nitric oxide via increased NO synthase.
The result is more NO, so your penis relaxes more, more blood flows in, and you end up with a better, harder erection.
Ashwagandha Boosts Sex Hormones
Hormones are a pretty big part of sex.
In order to get and maintain a healthy erection you need plenty of hormones like testosterone and gonadotropins (like Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone) zipping around your body.
Ashwagandha can help in this department by giving all your sex hormones a bit of a boost.
When scientists looked at this effect in rats, they found that even when hormone production was depressed due to the rats being high on morphine (deliberately), ashwagandha still helped improve hormone levels.
A similar study on humans (without the morphine this time) reached a similar conclusion.
People who were given ashwagandha over an 8 week period increased their testosterone levels compared to the control group (source).
And while improved sex hormone levels won’t cure your ED all on its own, it’s definitely going to help you with your sex drive. Plus, improving these hormone levels (which drop naturally with age) has a range of spin-off benefits, including:
•Improved sperm health
•Better cardiovascular health
•Better and faster muscle growth
Essentially, if you can improve your sex hormone levels, you’ll probably feel better in a lot of ways in addition to improving your sex life.
Ashwagandha Boosts DHEA
There is one simple (but not simple to solve) cause of ED – stress. Stress has been reported again and again as a cause of ED but it’s also something that can be difficult to treat.
After all, if you have a stressful job, it can be hard to think of how to reduce your stress, short of quitting and spending all your time surfing.
Fortunately, ashwagandha might be able to help you out of this jam.
First, ashwagandha helps boost DHEA.
Dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, is the most common steroid hormone in the human body, and has a range of functions, from keeping heart disease at bay to helping with muscle growth and strength.
It generally functions like a weaker version of its stronger cousin, testosterone. But DHEA is still a mighty hormone…
Because of its higher volumes, even though it’s less potent than testosterone it can still have a big impact on your erections and your overall health.
A study of over 120 chronically stressed out people (who would naturally have low DHEA levels) took ashwagandha for two months and reported reduced stress, reduced cortisol levels (more on that in a minute) and better cardiovascular health.
Obviously, none of this is specific to ED – but I’ve found that a big part of getting and keeping healthy erections is achieving balance between the sex hormones and the stress hormones, and ashwagandha can definitely help with that.
Improving cardiovascular strength while reducing stress is a way of being at ‘battle stations’ when it comes to getting it up in the morning.
Ashwagandha Lowers Cortisol (which is good)
Like I mentioned earlier, in addition to promoting DHEA, ashwagandha helps fight ED by lowering your cortisol levels.
The Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine found that when it gave 64 adults ashwagandha over 60 days, they had 28% less cortisol at the end of the trial compared to the placebo group (source).
The same study also found that people who took ashwagandha:
•Were less stressed
•Were less anxious
•Generally felt better (based on a general health questionnaire)
•Were significantly less depressed
All in all, those lucky folks who got to take ashwagandha just generally felt better – calmer, healthier, more relaxed. No wonder it’s good for ED!
Ashwagandha Protects Your Testicles
The last (but certainly not least) benefit of ashwagandha is its ability to improve testicular health.
A study in published in the Natural Medicine Journal gave ashwagandha to men with male factor infertility for 12 weeks.
They found that sperm concentrations rose 167%.
But that’s not all – sperm motility (e.g. how good at swimming the sperm are) improved by 57%. The same study also found what I mentioned earlier – improved testosterone and improved gonadotropin numbers (source).
So it’s clear that ashwagandha is good for erections and for your little swimmers as well.
But ashwagandha also does something else. In addition to making your balls healthier, it can actually scrub them of toxins.
Another study found that when scientists gave arsenic to rats to poison their testicles, ashwagandha was amazing at reversing the effects.
It not only slowed the impact of the arsenic, but actually managed to keep the testicles completely functional after only a short time.
Quote:
Ashwagandha is one of the best antidotes against arsenic-induced reproductive toxicity.
Ashwagandha For Erections Conclusion
All in all, ashwagandha probably deserves its status as a bit of a miracle plant. Unlike many ED cures, it attacks the problems from lots of different angles for an improvement in your erections as well as boosting your overall health.
To summarize…
When you use Ashwagandha for erections, it provides the following benefits:
- Stimulates blood flow
- Stimulates NO production and NO synthase
- Boosts the production of sex hormones
- Boosts the production of DHEA
- Lowers cortisol (and all the benefits that come from being less stressed)
- Protects your testicles, both improving fertility and cleaning them of any toxins they are exposed to.
I don’t like to throw around the term super supplement very often, but ashwagandha sure gets close.
