Ashwagandha

What Ashwagandha Is

What it is commonly marketed for:

The Australian Regulator’s Position

Two advisories, two years apart.

Point	What Was Reported
First advisory	Issued in 2024, after a safety review
What prompted it	A 2021 report of serious liver injury
Reports at that stage	Seven with enough information to assess
Of those	Four had no other likely contributing ingredient
Hospitalisations then	Four cases
Second advisory	Issued in 2026
Further reports since	Four more possible liver injuries
Total possible cases	Eleven
No other ingredient involved	Six of the eleven
Of those six	Two required hospitalisation
Most serious outcome	One liver transplant
The regulator’s wording	A very rare risk, but a potential one

What the regulator said it would do:

The European Position

Several authorities have acted since 2023.

The Dutch pharmacovigilance picture:

The Case for the Other Side

The warnings are genuinely disputed, and the page says so.

On the pregnancy question specifically:

How to Read Two Opposing Positions

What a Listing Should Carry

Who Should Avoid It

Signs to Stop and Seek Help

Practical Points

An Honest Assessment for the Retailer

What can fairly be said: