HerbTV Features Vaidya Jay

Quick Answer

What is ashwagandha?

Ashwagandha, Withania somnifera, is a root that Ayurveda has used for thousands of years and classes as a rasayana, a tonic herb taken over an extended period. Ayurveda traditionally teaches that it is grounding and strengthening, and its name means the strength of a horse. According to Vaidya Jay, the studies show it gives the body a non-specific resistance to stressors, which is why it is called an adaptogen.

In his words, "When we see the studies that where people have been subjected to extreme stress, and given ashwagandha, it shows a non-specific resistance to stressors."

The Film

The video above is Ashwagandha: India's Versatile Healing Root, a 13-minute film from HerbTV, a program of the American Botanical Council, released September 23, 2026 as part of ABC's Adopt-an-Herb series. It was produced through an educational grant from ABC Sponsor Member Ixoreal Biomed. Vaidya Jay of Athreya is one of five experts in it.

Chapters: 0:17 History & Root Cultivation · 3:44 Ayurveda: Science of Life · 7:08 Health Benefits · 8:37 Adaptogen for Modern Times · 11:58 Partnership for Sustainability

Key Takeaways

• 🌿 Ashwagandha is a root, and the root is the part that is used.
• 🌿 It belongs to the same plant family as eggplant, tomato and bell pepper, and it grows easily.
• 🌿 Sown after the monsoon, it matures in three to seven months and is harvested around the start of winter, when its papery fruit turns bright red.
• 🌿 Most ashwagandha in the world is now cultivated rather than wild harvested, a change of roughly the last dozen years.
• 🌿 Ayurveda classes it as a rasayana and today we call such plants adaptogens.
• 🌿 The name means the strength of a horse.
• 🌿 Ayurveda looks at the whole person: physical, psycho-emotional and spiritual, and its first goal is to promote longevity.

The Speakers

Who is speaking in this film?

Five people. Each is named on screen, and each link below goes to their official home. Timecodes open the film at the moment they speak.

Origins

Where does ashwagandha come from, and how long has it been used?

Ashwagandha is known first through India and Ayurveda, and its use runs across the whole subcontinent and beyond. Vaidya Jay opens the film there:

"When we look at ashwagandha in the local tradition, it's been there for so long in human use in India, or for that matter, Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, to Burma, and to Thailand, you see the name of ashwagandha being mentioned. That's because it's been there for so long in human use."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 0:17 in the film

Dr. Low Dog adds that the plant was never India's alone:

"Well, ashwagandha is predominantly known for its deep history of use in India and in the tradition of Ayurveda. I would also just say that ashwagandha doesn't just grow in India. It was used in the traditional systems of medicine wherever it grew."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 0:45 in the film

Wild or Farmed

Is ashwagandha wild harvested or cultivated?

Both, and the balance has changed within living memory. Vaidya Jay remembers his college years:

"So growing ashwagandha, when I was in college studying Ayurveda, I never saw ashwagandha being cultivated. It was always wild harvested."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 1:05 in the film

Chris Kilham dates the shift and explains why he welcomes it:

"When I was investigating ashwagandha in the early 90s in India, it was still mostly wild harvested. I think it's really been in the past dozen years or so that that cultivation has caught on, and that has been directly related, as is so often the case, to increased demand for the root. The majority of ashwagandha that's used in the world is cultivated, so this is a good thing. It actually increases the economic value to preserve land, to preserve cultural practices of growing, of harvesting, of processing."

Chris Kilham · 1:19 in the film

The Plant

How is ashwagandha grown and harvested?

It is a nightshade, sown after the rains, and its root is dug when the fruit turns red. Roy Upton places it in the family:

"Ashwagandha belongs to Solanaceae family, like our eggplant and tomatoes and bell peppers."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 1:56 in the film

Vaidya Jay walks through the season, from sowing to the sign that the root is ready:

"So it grows pretty easy and it doesn't require a lot of care. Ashwagandha can be sown in, in the post-monsoon season. When the monsoon is almost at the end, the seeds are sown, and it takes about anywhere between three months to seven months to mature, depending on the region. So the harvest time for ashwagandha would be right around the winter season, when it is starting. It needs that rainy season and slow concentration of active principles by cold season to have the best effects. Ashwagandha, when it is about to be harvested, we also examine the fruit, which has an outer, almost like a, a paper cover that is on the top, and inside is the cherry, and it looks bright red in color. And this plant is now completely mature as the, is the fruit is becoming redder and redder, and that's when it is best to be harvested. So to say, the part that is used is the root."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 2:04 in the film

And Chris Kilham on the world that has grown up around it:

"The whole cultural sort of enrobment around this plant is fascinating to me. You have growers, you have people drying, you have processors extracting, you have people making all kinds of medicinal formulas, so there's a, a gigantic scene around this particular marvelous plant."

Chris Kilham · 3:20 in the film

Rasayana

What is a rasayana?

In Ayurveda a rasayana is a class of herbs traditionally taken over time to build and sustain the body. Dr. Low Dog names the class:

"One of my favorite herbs, and people always say, you always say that's a favorite herb. And I'm like, because I love all my children. But I do love ashwagandha as a classification of herbs known as rasayanas."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 3:49 in the film

Chris Kilham gives the scale of the tradition and ashwagandha's rank inside it:

"In Ayurveda, as many as 7,500 different plants and plant parts are used for different purposes. In that scheme, ashwagandha, Withania somnifera, is number one."

Chris Kilham · 4:10 in the film

Prof. Mukherjee describes the place ashwagandha holds:

"And we believe that this rasayana herb, the ashwagandha, holds the most prominent place as adaptogen, antistress agent, by enhancing the body's resilience to stress."

Pulok K. Mukherjee, PhD · 4:24 in the film

The Name

What does the name ashwagandha mean?

The strength of a horse. Chris Kilham on the root, the name and the modern word for plants like it:

"The roots of ashwagandha have been used for thousands of years as an agent that can enhance vitality and resilience. Even the name ashwagandha means the strength of a horse, referring to its grounding and strengthening effects. Today, we call these plants adaptogens. Ashwagandha is part of the 5000 year old system of Ayurveda. Ayurveda means science of life."

Chris Kilham · 4:40 in the film

Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda?

The science of life: a written system of medicine that looks at a person as a whole and brings more than herbs to the table. Roy Upton on its age:

"Ayurvedic medicine is literally the oldest form of medicine on the face of the earth. It was written about in Rig Vedas that go back literally thousands of years."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 5:06 in the film

Chris Kilham on its place in the history of plant medicine, and Dr. Low Dog on the scholarship behind it:

"And while for sure people have been utilizing medicinal plants as far back as human history goes, Ayurveda is the first actual articulated system of plant medicine."

Chris Kilham · 5:18 in the film

"There is so much written history for it. I mean, while the Romans were thinking of Rome, you had scholars and practitioners who were very advanced in using Ayurveda as their healing system."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 5:31 in the film

Roy Upton on the idea at its center, and Vaidya Jay on what that means for the person seeking help:

"The whole concept of Ayurveda is that we are an extension of the natural world. We're an extension of life, we're an extension of the plants, we're an extension of our environment."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 5:49 in the film

"So how Ayurveda looks at somebody seeking out Ayurvedic help is right at the fundamental difference when it comes to modern science, is that we look at a person as a whole."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 5:59 in the film

Roy Upton lists the tools, and Vaidya Jay states the first goal:

"But from a therapeutic perspective, Ayurveda also brings many tools to the table. So they bring meditation, they bring yoga, they bring herbal medicine, they bring a whole system of longevity and purification techniques called Panchakarma."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 6:19 in the film

"In Ayurveda, the first goal of Ayurveda is not to manage a disease, but to promote longevity. It is to look at not only the physical state, but psycho-emotional state of a person and also their spiritual being. So all three are looked upon."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 6:36 in the film

Tradition

What has ashwagandha traditionally been used for?

Ayurveda traditionally teaches that ashwagandha strengthens the body, supports the mind and supports restful sleep and regeneration. Dr. Low Dog describes the classical view:

"The fact that there was such scholarly work around a group of plants that were thought to extend the life. Ashwagandha is one of these plants that was long thought to increase the vitality, the vitality, the essence of the individual who consumed it. That it would strengthen you, strengthen the memory, support intelligence, help with sleep and regeneration. Maybe even extend life, that it was beneficial for longevity."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 6:59 in the film

Prof. Mukherjee on the scientific work now being done in India, and Dr. Low Dog on how modern research relates to the traditional use:

"Ayurvedic medicine, those things what was documented, they have a very strong scientific background, which, when we work in the modern scientific tools, it has been proven by many scientists throughout the world and many laboratories in India. They are also working in this particular context to develop evidences scientifically and chemically."

Pulok K. Mukherjee, PhD · 7:36 in the film

"While traditional use is a very strong form of evidence, modern research, which has been predominantly done on ashwagandha roots, has really supported its historical use as an agent that can help the body adapt to stress, can improve sleep, can help endurance and performance and strength, and even improve cognitive and sexual functions. So this versatile root has definitely a place in modern medicine and modern times."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 8:04 in the film

Modern Times

Why do people call ashwagandha an adaptogen for modern times?

The experts in the film describe ashwagandha as relevant to modern life because adaptogens are traditionally used to support resilience through physical and mental stress. Roy Upton makes the case for tonic herbs today:

"So for me, when I look at modern life and people living today, I think, you know, these kinds of tonification, these plants that tonify or strengthen, that are intended to be taken over an extended period of time, that there's something here we should really look at. Adaptogens as being the primary herbs that we need for modern times, because in modern times we're just flooded with data, we're flooded with chemicals, we're flooded with pollutants. We're flooded with noise. We're flooded, flooded, flooded, and our nervous systems kind of go into overdrive."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 8:40 in the film

Vaidya Jay on why adaptogens have become so well known, and Roy Upton with the picture of a waterfall and a city street:

"So adaptogens are, have become very well and known nowadays for modern lifestyle, because modern lifestyle has a lot more to demand from, in the, in terms of performance and stress management."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 9:13 in the film

"If you sit by a waterfall, right, for 15 minutes, you feel this feeling, right? You just really settle. And when we're in the middle of Manhattan, you feel completely the opposite. Well, we are all living in the middle of Manhattan to greater or lesser degrees."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 9:33 in the film

Dr. Low Dog describes the person she thinks of when she thinks of ashwagandha:

"When I think of ashwagandha, I think of people that are anxious, that are stressed, that have difficulty sleeping, that wake up, you know, exhausted, go to sleep, tired. We call this the wired and tired, the person who, you know, it's like 7 o'clock at night and I can't go to sleep, I'm so tired, I can't go to bed yet, I still got all this work to do. And then they lay down in bed at 9 o'clock and they're just so tired and their eyes open wide and they're like wide awake and they can't fall asleep."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 9:57 in the film

The Studies

What do the studies say about ashwagandha and stress?

The speakers describe a body of human studies on stress and the stress response. Their words are below; Athreya makes no claim beyond them. Roy Upton begins with what exertion does inside the body:

"When we put ourselves through tremendous exertion, we're also generating free radical metabolites, oxygen-free radicals. They're like little sparks that fry our nervous system, might fry our pancreas, might fry our brain. They just take away, they just deteriorate. They're little pieces of inflammation."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 10:27 in the film

Vaidya Jay on the finding he returns to, and Dr. Low Dog on the mechanism the studies point at:

"When we see the studies that where people have been subjected to extreme stress, and given ashwagandha, it shows a non-specific resistance to stressors."

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla, BAMS · 10:49 in the film

"We have a growing number of studies showing that it has a normalizing effect on the stress response of our body, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, that's this HPA axis, that sort of regulates our stress response. And adaptogens help to increase the amount of stress that we can deal with in a healthy way without kicking into a stress response. So it kind of settles, they settle."

Tieraona Low Dog, MD · 11:02 in the film

Roy Upton sums up what people want to know:

"The people who utilize ashwagandha for their health want to know what are the benefits. A rapidly growing body of double-blind, placebo-controlled human studies showing benefits for sleep, for stress, for energy endurance and stamina, for enhanced mental function, including clarity and recall, and also improve sexual function, and on and on and on."

Roy Upton RH, DipAya · 11:30 in the film

The Growers

Where does ashwagandha really come from?

From fields and the people who work them. Chris Kilham closes the film on responsibility to the growers:

"Plants don't come from plastic bottles. They don't come from encapsulation companies. They don't come from tablet machines. They come from places where people usually toil in the soil. So I think that being responsive to the growers, to making sure that they're well paid, to making sure that a company that does well contributes to the community with good works, you know, with schools, medicine, that kind of thing, is not just a good thing. I think these days it's essential. And I think if you're not doing that, then you're not really participating as fully and as wholeheartedly as you could."

Chris Kilham · 12:05 in the film

At a Glance

Ashwagandha at a glance, as the film tells it

Athreya's Ashwagandha

How does Athreya offer ashwagandha?

Three ways, all built on the root the film is about: the powder, the tablets, and the classical lehyam, the Ayurvedic herbal jam. If you are new to the herb, read When NOT to Take Ashwagandha first.

Vaidya Jay's Notes

Frequently asked questions.

Continue Exploring

More on ashwagandha from Athreya.

• → What Is Ashwagandha Lehyam? The Ayurvedic Ashwagandha Jam
• → When NOT to Take Ashwagandha
• → Healing Stress at Its Root
• → Ashwamaca: The Ancient Two-Herb Energy Blend

Sources and References

Where this article comes from.

• Ashwagandha: India's Versatile Healing Root, HerbTV, American Botanical Council, released 2026-09-23. The film every quotation and the transcript on this page come from.
• American Botanical Council, HerbalGram, the nonprofit research and education organization that produces HerbTV and its Adopt-an-Herb series.
• American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, the standards body Roy Upton founded and leads.
• Speaker homes: Vaidya Jayagopal Parla · Tieraona Low Dog, MD · Chris Kilham · Pulok K. Mukherjee, PhD.
• Transcript: transcribed by Athreya from the film, lightly edited for clarity, speaker attributions read from the on-screen name cards.

Athreya, Wellness Through Ayurveda

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Disclaimer

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your physician, qualified healthcare practitioner, or licensed healthcare provider regarding your health, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition, or are taking medications. Individual results may vary. The film and its transcript are the work of the American Botanical Council and its speakers; Athreya presents them for education with attribution.