Shatavari

What is Shatavari?

Shatavari is the root of Asparagus racemosus, a climbing, thorny plant of the warm parts of India, a wild relative of the asparagus grown for the table. The part Ayurveda values is hidden below ground: a cluster of pale, tuberous roots, dried and used in the tradition’s preparations. Above ground the plant is fine and feathery, with small white fragrant flowers and red berries when it ripens.

The name carries the herb’s old reputation. Shatavari is read as “she who possesses a hundred”, a poetic nod to the plant’s many roots and to its long association with vitality and the support of life. For centuries it has been one of the most reached-for nourishing roots in the whole materia medica.

What Ayurveda uses it for

Shatavari is, above all, a cooling tonic. The classical texts reach for it where the body is dry, depleted or running hot, the picture the tradition reads as the dryness of Vata and the heat of Pitta together. It is named among the rasayana herbs, the rejuvenating tonics, and among the balya herbs, the strengthening ones.

It is most closely tied to women’s health, and the tradition has long turned to it to support women through the natural passages of life. In this it is often spoken of as the counterpart to Ashwagandha: where the warming Ashwagandha is the classic tonic for the cold and run-down, the cooling Shatavari is the classic tonic for the dry and overheated. The texts also name it as a nourisher of the body’s deeper tissues, applicable in its own way to all.

Its qualities, in plain words

Ayurveda describes every herb by a short list of qualities, and Shatavari’s explain its gentle, building nature.

It is cooling, which is why the tradition uses it where there is heat and dryness rather than cold. It is heavy and oily, so rather than drying the body it moistens and feeds it. It is sweet, with a touch of bitterness, and it finishes sweet after digestion, and a sweet finish, in Ayurvedic thinking, builds tissue rather than wears it down. Put together: a cool, soft, nourishing root that moistens and rebuilds. It is the natural choice where a warming tonic would be too much.

How it is taken

The classic way is the simplest. A small measure of the dried root powder, a churnam, is stirred into a cup of warm milk, often with a little ghee, and taken once or twice a day. The warm sweet milk is not just a way to swallow it; in Ayurvedic thinking it carries the root’s cooling, nourishing action and suits its sweet nature.

Shatavari is also the principal herb in a range of named preparations: the medicated ghee Shatavari Ghritham, the semi-solid tonic Lehyam form, and powders that blend it with supporting herbs, among others. It belongs to the building, slow side of Ayurveda, and is taken as a course over weeks.

Good to know

Shatavari is taken as a course, over time, not as a single dose for a single day. Its cool, heavy, moistening nature suits dry and overheated states; the texts are more sparing with it where digestion is weak or the body already heavy and damp, and in those cases the tradition often pairs it with a warming digestive herb to help it be taken up. The pairing with milk, as with many nourishing roots, is part of the classical method.

This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of the herb. It is not medical advice, and anyone with a health condition, and anyone who is pregnant or nursing, should speak to a qualified practitioner.

Frequently asked

Why is Shatavari taken with milk? Because the tradition sees warm milk as carrying the root’s cooling, nourishing action and suiting its sweet nature. It is the classical pairing for a building tonic.

Is it only for women? It is most closely associated with women’s health, and that is its best-known use, but the classical texts also describe it as a general cooling tonic and a nourisher of the tissues, used for anyone who is dry or overheated.

Which part of the plant is used? The tuberous root. The fine foliage and berries are not part of its classical preparations.