Based on a report published in May 2020 by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the Ministry of AYUSH expressed serious concerns over Denmark’s ban on Ashwagandha, also known as Indian ginseng and winter cherry, which has been used for centuries in Asian cultures and traditional Indian medicine.
According to the DTU report, Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) faces safety concerns, highlighting potential issues such as possible abortifacient effects, stimulation of the thyroid and immune system, effects on sex hormones, and adverse effects on the liver. The same report has also raised concerns in Sweden, Finland, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Turkey and the European Union.
When contacted, Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, said the report needed to be reconsidered. “It lacks a comprehensive assessment of Ashwagandha’s diverse properties with regards to functionality and safety, and since 2020, a large amount of new evidence has been published on the safety and efficacy of Ashwagandha (more than 400 papers and safety documents). The lack of scientific rigour in the report and subsequent bans have been picked up and concerns have been raised in various countries, so it is considered a non-tariff barrier,” Kotecha told The Indian Express.
On Friday (July 5), the Scientific Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine also published a report casting doubt on the credibility of the DTU Food Research Institute report, with experts claiming that the report “contains several technical, scientific and ethical pitfalls.”
Dr Bhushan Patwardhan, National Research Professor of AYUSH and lead author of the report, told The Indian Express: The report has not been peer reviewed and the authors’ qualifications, sources of funding and conflicts of interest have not been disclosed, the authors said.
“The DTU report on Ashwagandha discusses its components, general toxicity, effects on sex hormones, reproduction, metabolism, the immune system and the central nervous system. Unfortunately, the report is an inadequate literature review and references several predatory journal articles. Although the DVFA directive is on Ashwagandha root, it draws conclusions from studies on the whole plant, stems, leaves and fruits/berries that are clearly unrelated to this case,” said Dr Patwardhan. “This is a flawed report because new evidence shows that the DTU’s conclusions are unreasonable,” he added.
“The DTU report completely ignores the ‘benefit’ element, casting serious doubts on its conclusions. Most drugs have some side effects but are used based on a risk-benefit assessment. Banning ashwagandha root on the basis of data on the toxicity of its leaves and fruits is equivalent to banning apples because their seeds contain amygdalin, a precursor to cyanide,” the authors said.
Meanwhile, the ministry has constituted an expert committee headed by Padmabhushan University professor Shiv Kumar Sarin, Dr Rajesh Khadgawat and Dr Bhushan Patwardhan to look into the scientific validity of the report. “The expert committee has updated a detailed safety dossier for Ashwagandha based on credible scientific evidence. The DTU/’s report lacks scientific rigour and contains citations from predatory journals and misquotes from the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia,” Kotecha said.
Kotecha noted that scientists from the University of Mississippi in the US and India have also published rebuttals to DTU’s flawed report. He said studies have also supported ashwagandha’s traditional aphrodisiac properties and shown that it can boost testosterone levels within the normal range. With regards to thyroid health, although sporadic reports have noted thyroid hormone fluctuations, the overall evidence suggests it is safe and may be effective in hypothyroidism. Moreover, no side effects have been observed when taking ashwagandha at various doses over a long period of time.
India tops export list
According to data from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, the world’s largest producer of ashwagandha is India, producing an estimated 4,000 tonnes of the root annually. India holds a dominant position with 42% of the global supply, Kotecha said, citing a study that found India leads ashwagandha exports with 25,608 shipments (92%), followed by the United States with 498 and the EU in third place with 401. The herb has soared from 34th place on the top selling herbs list in 2018 to 7th place in 2021, and sales in 2021 grew an unprecedented 225% to more than $92 million in the United States alone, according to data from the American Botanical Council’s (ABC) annual Herb Market Report.
“The safety of ashwagandha has been well-documented across a range of conditions through preclinical and clinical studies,” Kotecha said, adding that during the COVID-19 pandemic, studies were conducted to see if ashwagandha was effective as a preventative measure for long COVID-19, with promising results. As a result, the Ministry of Ayush, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), investigated the effectiveness of ashwagandha in helping more than 2,000 people experiencing long COVID-19 symptoms recover in the UK.
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: 07 May 2024 23:32 IST
