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Is ashwaganda in kids safe? under 12?

There is no good evidence that ashwagandha is safe for children under 12, because it has only been studied in adults. Health Canada has flagged this same gap and has not approved it for use in foods that children might eat.

Every clinical trial found tested adults (roughly ages 18 to 65); none included children, so safe dosing and long-term effects in kids are unknown.

Strength of evidence

Insufficient

No pediatric trials or guidelines exist. Available evidence is adult randomized controlled trials and regulatory reviews, plus a Health Canada decision noting missing child-safety data; none of this can be extrapolated to children.

What the evidence says

Ashwagandha is an herb used in traditional Indian medicine and sold today as a supplement for stress and sleep. Almost all the research on it, including the placebo-controlled trials, has only been done in adults, often ages 18 to 65. Nobody has properly tested it in children, so we don't actually know a safe dose or what it might do to a growing body.

Health Canada looked at ashwagandha root extract when a company wanted to add it to foods that children could eat. Health Canada said there wasn't enough safety testing to allow this, and specifically asked for more studies on development and reproduction before it could be considered safe for children.

Some newer scientific reviews have also raised concerns about ashwagandha's effects on the liver and thyroid gland, and its interaction with hormones, mostly based on adult case reports and animal studies. These same reviews call for better safety monitoring, which shows even adult safety data has real gaps, let alone for kids.

A general Health Canada resource on natural health products for children reminds parents that natural does not automatically mean safe, and that something fine for an adult may not be fine for a child because children's bodies handle substances differently. Ashwagandha capsules bought in Canada currently list cautions for pregnancy, heart conditions, and thyroid disease, but not specific child dosing.

Because of all this, we can't say ashwagandha is safe for a child under 12. If you're considering it for your child, it's best to talk to your pediatrician or pharmacist first, since there's no research to guide safe use at this age.

Sources

✓Reviewed by CH, MD, FRCPC

Reviewed by a specialist physician certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, who has read this answer against the sources listed above and confirmed it reflects them. That is not medical advice about your child. How we review

Answer checked August 8, 2026

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