Guide
What is ashwagandha? A plain guide
Ashwagandha is the root of a small nightshade-family shrub, sold as either whole root powder or a concentrated extract. Electric Tiger's capsules are organic whole root powder, 650 mg per capsule.
Ashwagandha is the root of Withania somnifera, a small shrub in the nightshade family native to India, the Middle East and parts of Africa. The root is dried and either ground into a powder or processed into a concentrated extract. Electric Tiger's capsules use organic whole root powder — 650 mg per capsule, 1,300 mg a day at label directions — not an extract.
The plant and the root
Withania somnifera belongs to the Solanaceae family, the same botanical family as tomato, potato, eggplant and bell pepper. It's a small evergreen shrub with yellow flowers and orange-red berries; the root is the part most commonly used, though some products use a root-and-leaf blend instead. It has a long history in Ayurvedic tradition, where it's known as one of the "rasayana" herbs — that's history, not a claim about what a capsule does today. What the modern research on ashwagandha does and doesn't show, at various doses and forms, is a separate, longer question answered in full on ashwagandha benefits: what the research does and doesn't show.
Root powder vs. standardized extract — what's actually in a capsule
Not every "ashwagandha" capsule contains the same thing. The two forms on the market are genuinely different products made from the same root:
| Form | What it is | Withanolide content |
|---|---|---|
| Whole root powder (ours) | Dried root, ground to a powder, nothing removed or concentrated | Not standardized or printed on the label |
| Standardized extract (e.g. KSM-66, Sensoril, Shoden) | Root (or root-and-leaf) processed and concentrated to raise the amount of active compounds per milligram | Standardized to a stated withanolide percentage |
Milligram for milligram, an extract and a powder are not equivalent — a capsule of 8:1 extract can carry roughly eight times the concentration of a capsule of powder at the same weight. That distinction matters every time a dose is compared across products, and it's covered in more depth on types of ashwagandha compared.
We don't print a withanolide percentage because we don't have a certificate of analysis stating one for this root powder — and even labels that do print a number aren't necessarily reliable. A 2025 lab analysis tested 24 commercial ashwagandha products (extracts and root powders both) and found the actual measured withanolide content deviated from the label's stated number by a factor of 2 to as much as 35. That's a reason to treat any withanolide percentage, on any brand, as unverified unless there's a certificate of analysis behind it.
What's in an Electric Tiger capsule
| Ingredient | Amount | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Organic Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root | 650 mg/capsule | Whole dried root powder |
| Organic Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) fruit | 5 mg/capsule | Whole fruit powder |
Label directions are one capsule twice a day — 1,300 mg of root powder and 10 mg of black pepper daily. Sixty capsules cover 30 days at that schedule. Other ingredients: pullulan capsules. The black pepper here is whole fruit powder, not a piperine-standardized extract, and no piperine percentage is stated — no study we found tests whether this amount changes ashwagandha's absorption, so we don't make that claim.
Is it an adaptogen? A stimulant? A drug?
"Adaptogen" is a popular marketing and herbalism term with no formal regulatory or medical definition; some people describe ashwagandha this way, but it isn't a claim we make about our capsules. It isn't a stimulant — nothing in the research points to a caffeine-like effect, and if anything some trials report drowsiness as a side effect (see ashwagandha side effects). It's a plant ingredient sold as a dietary supplement, not an FDA-approved drug, and it isn't a mushroom — it's a flowering shrub, and the root is what's used.
Questions people ask
What is ashwagandha for?
Historically, it's one of several herbs used in Ayurvedic tradition. As a modern supplement, what it's taken for and what the evidence actually supports at a given dose are two different questions — see ashwagandha benefits: what the research does and doesn't show for the second one.
How do you take ashwagandha?
Our label directs one capsule twice a day, 20–30 minutes before a meal with an 8 oz glass of water, or as directed by a healthcare professional. See when is the best time to take ashwagandha? for the timing questions people ask most.
What does ashwagandha do for men, or for women?
No sex-specific human trial has tested whole root powder at our 1,300 mg/day dose in general healthy adults. The research that exists, by outcome and population, is laid out on ashwagandha benefits: what the research does and doesn't show.
What does ashwagandha taste like?
Ashwagandha root has a naturally bitter, earthy taste, which is one reason it's more commonly sold in capsules than eaten or mixed into food directly.
Can dogs have ashwagandha?
This page and this brand are about people, not pets. If you're asking for a dog, that's a question for a veterinarian.
Is ashwagandha root the same as "ashwagandha" on a label that doesn't say?
Not necessarily. A label that just says "ashwagandha" without naming a branded extract (KSM-66, Sensoril, Shoden) or stating "root powder" leaves the form ambiguous. Ours says "root" and "powder" isn't hidden — it's whole dried root, plainly. See types of ashwagandha compared for how to read a label that isn't as clear.
Sources
- Determination of Withanolides and Withanosides in Ashwagandha Based Products Using HPLC-Drift-Tube-Ion-Mobility Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Lab testing of 24 commercial ashwagandha products found actual withanolide content off from the label by 2x to 35x.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
