Menopause & Perimenopause: Can KSM-66 Ashwagandha Help?

Read time: 4 minutes

Coming up: fogs, flashes, tasty breakfasts, 2 interesting studies, spooky stats on snoozing, how menopause creates a vicious sleep cycle, some of my favourite underrated sleep tips, and why not all Ashwagandha is the Ashwagandha I like.

Ashwagandha, as you probably already know, is a pretty powerful plant 🌱

There are many types, it’s available in many forms, and it’s featured in lots of supplements.

But… what’s the difference between them? Which one should I take? Are any of them particularly good for battling menopause and perimenopause? And how do I actually know if I’m getting a good version of the stuff?

👋 Hi, I’m Elaine.

I’m an entrepreneur, a mother of two, and the co-founder of Sentro Labs (alongside my husband Rob). I’ve been battling perimenopause for a while—and Ashwagandha is one of my favourite tools in the fight.

Ashwagandha, extracts, and numbers & letters

In traditional Indian medicine, Ashwagandha has been used for 1000s of years.

And these days, it’s extracted, adapted and concentrated in many ways.

✅ Of all those different ways, most people agree KSM-66 Ashwagandha is the best form (and for what it’s worth, I agree with them).

👉 This branded version of Ashwagandha is more powerful—and it serves up the “highest concentration of all major root only extracts available on the market today.”

According to some studies, KSM-66 Ashwagandha has been clinically proven to:

Boost your immune system
Improve memory and cognition
Increase endurance and strength
Improve sexual function in men AND women

And most importantly for you, it might also be able to do 2 more things:

Soothe some menopause symptoms
Improve sleep

Menopause and perimenopause symptoms—can KSM-66 Ashwagandha help?

♀️ Perimenopause symptoms I’ve personally struggled with include:

Fatigue
Brain fog
Mood changes
Sleep disturbances
Trouble managing my weight

I combat the above in many ways—including exercise, diet, and supplementation…

... and one of my favourite dealing-with-menopause supplements (for many reasons!) is KSM-66 Ashwagandha. 🌱

To be clear, research on the relationship between KSM-66 Ashwagandha and menopause & perimenopause is still in its early stages. But according to two recent studies, the use of KSM-66 Ashwagandha was linked to:

“A significant reduction in menopause rating scale”
“A significant reduction in menopausal symptoms”
Positive changes in many relevant hormone levels
“[A significant reduction in] hot flashes”

Anecdotally, some women have reported that KSM-66 Ashwagandha can also help with hot flashes, poor sleep, stress, anxiety, low mood, and brain fog. And it’s definitely helped me in all those ways.

… but the main way KSM-66 Ashwagandha can help with perimenopause is by improving your sleep:

🥱 Menopause can make our sleep worse… AND poor sleep can make menopause symptoms worse. Which creates an inconvenient cycle of worse sleep, worse symptoms, and more feeling tired. 🥱 Here’s more:

Can KSM-66 Ashwagandha improve sleep?

Between 28% and 63% of women in menopause report worse sleep.

… and to make things worse, the general population already sleeps badly enough:

Only 15% of people sleep the recommended amount.
The modern world isn’t built for good sleep: we eat late, we drink too much caffeine, we don’t have fixed sleeping patterns, we’re all very stressed and anxious, and artificial light ruins our rest.
Sleep deprivation is linked to: increased chances of both heart disease and some cancers, reduced mental health, and a decreased quality of life.

👉 So: living in the modern world WITH perimenopause or menopause is a recipe for very low-quality sleep.

To help fix my sleep during perimenopause, I’ve picked up some good habits, including:

Cutting back on alcohol
Getting around 7 hours sleep a night
Getting daylight on my skin as soon as I wake up
Trying to sleep and wake at the same time every day
Drinking less caffeine (and even trying to stop drinking it 8-12 hours before bed)
Eliminating all artificial light from my bedroom (blackout curtains were a game changer)

But KSM-66 Ashwagandha can also help. According to at least 7 recent studies, it can:

Promote real natural rest (unlike typical sleeping pills)
Increase total sleep time, AND reduce wake events
Improve overall sleep quality
Help you fall asleep quicker

Some research also suggests KSM-66 Ashwagandha might reduce stress—which has the ability to even further improve sleep.

☘️ For all these reasons, KSM-66 Ashwagandha is one of the main ingredients in our BALANCE PLUS+ Wellness Pack. This popular combo is made up of two different complexes:

HARMONY: Featuring Vitamin D, Magnesium Bisglycinate, Zinc Bisglycinate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, Selenium, and Lion’s Mane, it’s specifically designed to battle the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. It’s calmed my stress, boosted my mood and energy, helped my weight management, and soothed many more nasty symptoms.
EQUILIBRIUM is designed specifically to reduce stress and improve sleep. Featuring L-Theanine, Lemon Balm, Magnesium Bisglycinate, Chamomile Extract, Hops Extract, L-Ornithine HCL, and KSM-66 Ashwagandha, it’s helped both me and my husband improve our sleep—and made us way more alert and energetic.

⚠️ Warning: most Ashwagandha isn’t KSM-66 Ashwagandha

Not all Ashwagandha is the same Ashwagandha. Much of the stuff you can buy is:

Weak
Cheap
Tainted by chemicals
Made from the wrong part of the plant

… but KSM-66 Ashwagandha is always:

Made only from the root (that's the good part)
Extracted via a chemical-free process
Easy for your body to use and absorb

A note: ALL the Ashwagandha we use at Sentro Labs is KSM-66 Ashwagandha.

Menopause and KSM-66 Ashwagandha: final thoughts

So, that’s everything you need to know about KSM-66 Ashwagandha, and menopause & perimenopause.

In short:

Most Ashwagandha isn’t KSM-66 Ashwagandha
Fixing your sleep can help with menopause and perimenopause symptoms
KSM-66 Ashwagandha might help improve your sleep—therefore helping with menopause and perimenopause

… and our BALANCE PLUS+ Wellness Pack includes KSM-66 Ashwagandha AND 13 other ingredients; helping you battle menopause and perimenopause symptoms in a bunch of ways.

🙏 For more on how I’m personally tackling perimenopause (and delaying the onset of menopause!) head to:

Thanks for reading,

Elaine x

P.S., a quick disclaimer: KSM-66 Ashwagandha is the most clinically-studied form of Ashwagandha worldwide. Taking supplements containing Ashwagandha should not be used as a substitute for a healthy and varied diet and lifestyle.