A lot of guys ask me if I could recommend just one supplement for men, what would it be… After doing a ton of research and giving this a lot of thought, I finally have an answer. Ashwagandha.

And not just any ashwagandha, because the differences between various species and extraction procedures are enormous.

Here is by far the best brand of certified organic ashwagandha, which is a full-spectrum extract with 5% withanolide content.

In this post, I’m not going to go into every detail about why this specific ashwagandha is far superior to others, but if you are interested in the details, which are really interesting, read this.

Ok, so why ashwagandha?

Many supplements aimed at men often focus too much on one thing, such as increasing testosterone levels.  While increasing testosterone is admittedly awesome, it’s not the entire picture. The ashwagandha we’re talking about has been studied in several double-blind scientific studies – the results have been published in international reputable journals.  Here is a link to many of the studies.

Ashwagandha has been clinically proven to simultaneously do all of the following:

1) Naturally increase free and total testosterone in men

2) Reduce anxiety

3) Reduce stress levels

4) Increase sexual arousal and sexual performance

5) Increase physical strength, stamina, and muscle size

6) Shorten recovery time after workouts

7) Reduce the stress hormone “cortisol”

8) Improve cognition and memory

9) Improve feelings of happiness

These benefits have all been proven on humans in double-blind controlled studies. Now let’s dive into each proven benefit of this ashwagandha: Again, here is a PDF on the studies for your reference:

Increase Testosterone

Ashwagandha increased testosterone by an average of 17% in a double-blind study published in the Indian Journal of Medicine.

17% is a large increase in a proper peer-reviewed double-blind study.  It also increased semen volume by 53%, sperm concentration by 167%, and other “passive” testosterone increase indicators. Many testosterone boosting supplements cause feelings of edginess, anxiety, and/or increased estrogen – leading to gynecomastia or man boobs – which, let’s be honest, are pretty much the worst things ever.

This ashwagandha is the opposite and it feels amazing while taking it, which is one reason why we like it so much. It’s also essential to increase testosterone in a very natural and healthy way.  Ashwagandha has been used and studied for thousands of years, and now the improved growing and extraction methods have made it a lot safer and more effective than ever before. And you really need to beware of unnatural testosterone boosting herbs, drugs, or methods that sound too good to be true.

The cons of those far outweigh the pros.  The FDA just put out a huge warning to the US drug makers of testosterone boosting drugs. So in conclusion, this ashwagandha is a very safe and effective way to boost testosterone levels naturally.

1: Ashwagandha Reduces Anxiety

One of the more unique and impressive benefits of this ashwagandha lies in its ability to decrease anxiety.  As mentioned above, many testosterone boosters have the side effect of increasing edginess, irritability, and anxiety.   This ashwagandha supplement significantly decreases anxiety.  It’s one of the only supplements which can legally make this health claim.

Undiagnosed anxiety affects millions of men in North America.  And even for guys who don’t have “problems” with anxiety, most men agree they’d prefer lower levels of anxiety. Who wouldn’t benefit from being calmer when meeting women, giving presentations, or just in day-to-day life?

This is a huge advantage.  Feeling nervous, acting nervous, and choking in pressure situations is embarrassing and it blows.  This ashwagandha is a wonderful anti-anxiety herb, and even if you were to use it simply for the reason of reducing your anxiety, you’d probably be very happy.

2: Ashwagandha Reduce Stress

Anxiety and stress often go hand-in-hand, but they are not the same.  In addition to relieving anxiety, ashwagandha can reduce both physical and mental stress. Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone.  We naturally release cortisol when we experience any type of stress.  Some stress and some cortisol are good, but most of us in today’s modern world are releasing WAY too much cortisol.

We release large amounts of cortisol when we are in fight or flight mode when we worry when we’re anxious.  We also release it after a big workout, after drinking coffee, even after not sleeping well enough. A lot of serious bodybuilders and athletes treat cortisol as seriously as they treat testosterone.  That’s because cortisol is highly “catabolic”, the opposite of anabolic.  It breaks down muscle fast – It’s largely why marathon runners are insanely skinny with almost no muscle.

In addition to breaking down muscle, it also tells your body to store belly fat and grow man boobs – brutal. Check out this article on the importance of cortisol on working out. Our ashwagandha lowered cortisol levels by a whopping 27.9% in an impressive double-blind study.

Lower cortisol levels make us feel less stressed and less anxious, not to mention the benefits it has regarding working out, increased muscle mass, and decreased abdominal fat.

3: Ashwagandha Increase sexual arousal and sexual performance

Guys.  Another huge benefit here.  This ashwagandha will increase your libido, stamina, performance, as well as your own satisfaction. (Similar to Tongkat Ali Extract)

Also, it’s great for women to take.  (Don’t worry, it won’t give her extra testosterone and a hairy chest!)  It will help balance and optimize her own hormone levels.  It works incredibly well, but differently on females. It will increase her libido, lubrication, ease of having an orgasm, and orgasm intensity.  Not bad!

So this is a huge double win for both of you to take together.  (Her decreased stress and anxiety levels will also be a welcoming experience for both of you) Enough said.

4: Ashwagandha Helps Increase physical strength, stamina, and muscle size

This is pretty self-explanatory, but there were several double-blind studies done on this ashwagandha for these purposes.
The results could in part be due to the increased testosterone and decreased cortisol (mentioned above), but nevertheless, this ashwagandha has been scientifically shown to do all three – increase 1 rep muscle strength, increase muscle stamina, and increase muscle size.

And it’s worth noting that even though increased muscle size and strength often go hand-in-hand (but not always), it’s often the case that there is an inverse relationship between muscle size and stamina.  Guys with larger and stronger muscles often have worse stamina than smaller, leaner guys.

But this ashwagandha literally helps improve all of your size, strength, and stamina.  And as an added benefit, it drastically shortens recovery time after workouts – so you can train harder, more often, and with less soreness.

Improve cognition, memory, and happiness

Once again, this ashwagandha performed way better than a placebo on these measures. The experimenters used the Wechsler Memory Scale, the WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Oxford Happiness Scale to measure.

In Conclusion

The science is in. This ashwagandha passes all of these tests with flying colors and is one of the most versatile and impressive supplements on the market from a scientific perspective. The only question remaining is how it actually feels and what the experiences are when you take it. Awesome!

I take it myself and so do a lot of guys at the gym.  Everyone is more or less on the same page with experiences.

1) Way stronger in the gym

2) Far less stress and anxiety

3) More confidence around women

4) More motivation at work and in the gym

5) Better concentration and focus

6) Better libido and performance

7) Better sleep

8) Happier

Those are just some of the most common first-hand experiences. If you are curious, try it out.  I’m confident you’ll really love it

Useful Resources:

How to boost your testosterone completely naturally

How to increase your sperm count naturally

Tongkat Ali Extract: Another powerful herb for men