Starwest Botanicals Organic Ashwag and ha Root Powder, 1lb

Update May 2018: After using several adaptogens over the last 12 months, I would summarize my experience:Rhodiola is better for stress, energy and working memoryAmerican ginseng is better for stress and energyAshwagandha is great for stress, correcting cortisol patterns and for calm. I find I sleep more restfully if I take some ashwagandha before bed. I am calmer during the day if I continue to take it during the day.Holy basil is great for stress and calm. I used to take it before bed for more restful sleep.They all help control stress eating.Eventually, I settled on ashwagandha and rhodiola as my go to adaptogens.Details follow.I attended a tutorial for MD's taught by Dr. Low Dog. She is an herbalist who went to medical school, became faculty at the Univ. of Arizona's Integrative Medicine Program. Then dissatisfied with herbal safety standards in the US (What! Nothing!), she started and Chaired the government committee that oversees herbal supplement efficacy and safety.I knew from personal experience that Ashwagandha will control cortisol levels reducing stress. But I was also using ginseng, rhodiola, and holy basil and didn't know which one was best. But I knew it was working because I am trying to fix up my memory which is so bad I experience brief periods of amnesia (I have ADHD). It turns out phosphatidylcholine is good for focus and concentration, phosphatidylserine is good for memory and recall. And adaptogens like ashwagandha are good for *working memory* and *processing speed* (yup, your brain's RAM and CPU). Stress will lower both. I had mine tested by one of the top people in the country and it was so bad I managed to shock someone who'd thought he'd seen it all (he is in his 70's). But the adaptogens worked great. Back then I was using a mixture that I put together in a panic1000 mg ashwagandha (from Pure Encapsulations)1000 mg American ginseng1800 mg rhodiolaMy memory was so messed up, I couldn't remember to separate the doses or time it so I just took all three simultaneously . And it worked! The first sign was the improvement in my driving. I went from slow, cautious, road-boulder driver to normal driving. Suddenly, I could merge into formerly, impossibly small gaps in the adjacent lane, match speeds smoothly, and my ability to react appropriately to sudden changes in road conditions went from non-existent to smooth. A friend of mine who usually grabs the wheel when I show up, exclaimed "You drove at ---- mph! You drove like a German. I am proud of you!". German? as in the Autobahn german????It took me weeks to figure out the improved driving was linked to better working memory and processing speed. Once, I figured this, I decided to test. I managed to memorize 16 digits, hold them in memory and add them all up. Just for background, the best I'd ever done even in elementary school was 5 digits.I experimented with adaptogens 3x and even 4x during the day. They all worked, although the rhodiola is so stimulating I couldn't take it past 4PM because it would keep me up to 2 AM and beyond. I noticed they all controlled my stress eating. I best describe this as "itchy teeth". I have no desire to eat a specific food and I'm not hungry but the desire to eat is satisfied by eating something crunchy.When I tried taking the ashwagandha at night, it was the first night of really restful sleep in years. I woke up with that "Aaghh!" feeling that I'd forgotten existed.Then I attended Dr. Low Dog's lecture and found out ashwagandha can fix "upside down" cortisol levels. People with this pattern are true night owls. Sleepy/groggy in the morning because they don't have enough cortisol to wake up and as the day goes by the level rises higher and higher until it reaches a peak at midnight or beyond when they decide to go fix the planet because they got enough energy. You need to take ashwagandha at least 3x per day (I went with 1500 mg of the Bulk Supplements ashwagandha, 3x day). for four weeks to correct this pattern. It took me about 7 weeks to see the pattern correct itself.It there something wrong? Well, the bulksupplements is an extract and it's probably true that they didn't include all the constituents. Dr. Low Dog specifically mentioned using the whole herb, so I decided to switch.It's only been about two weeks since I switched (I kept it at 1500 mg even though the herb is less concentrated), but all the other benefits - improved memory, sleep, eating remain intact. As a matter of fact, the eating is improved to the point where I can skip some of my allowed snacks (that's a first). The slow switch to a daytime cortisol pattern continues.I did add melatonin to the night time routine two weeks ago. 20 years ago I tried it and it was useless. Now with the cortisol pattern reversed to normal, suddenly the melatonin works great! Just don't start with the highest potency. Oh, my!

I do not have a sense yet as to whether the root is actually doing anything for my brain function (30 days) but the science is pretty clear that it will, even if unperceivable in the short term cause of the gradual change. I'm grinding into powder in a coffee mill. It's a long-term remedy for chronic stress/inflammation affecting brain and nervous system and I'm committed to 4 months to evaluate

Ships from China. False claims of domestic product. Dont consume.

I am very satisfied and encapsulated them and it has helped with my blood pressure along with other herbs. Thank you!

This herb is of high quality and is a great price!