Ashwagandha is not explicitly banned by the NCAA. It does not appear on the 2024-25 NCAA Banned Substances list, and it is also absent from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. However, that does not mean taking an ashwagandha supplement is risk-free for collegiate athletes. The NCAA’s own banned substances document includes a critical warning: “There is no complete list of banned substances. Do not rely on this list to rule out any label ingredient.”
Why It’s Not Explicitly Banned
The NCAA organizes its banned substances into classes like anabolic agents, stimulants, and hormone modulators. Ashwagandha, an herbal extract from the plant Withania somnifera, doesn’t fall neatly into any of these categories. Its primary mechanism involves modulating the body’s stress response by helping keep cortisol within a normal range rather than directly boosting testosterone or mimicking a steroid. WADA, which maintains the most comprehensive prohibited list in sport, has also chosen not to include it.
That said, the NCAA reserves the right to ban “any substance chemically or pharmacologically related” to a banned class, even if it isn’t named on the list. This open-ended language means the NCAA could, in theory, revisit its stance if new evidence linked ashwagandha’s active compounds to performance-enhancing effects that cross a regulatory threshold. For now, the herb itself is permitted.
The Real Risk: Contaminated Supplements
The bigger concern for NCAA athletes isn’t ashwagandha itself. It’s what else might be in the bottle. The dietary supplement industry in the United States is loosely regulated, and independent analyses have repeatedly found discrepancies between product labels and actual supplement content. Some herbal products have tested positive for contamination with anabolic steroids, heavy metals, and unlisted stimulants. Any of those contaminants could trigger a positive drug test.
This matters because the NCAA enforces a strict liability policy. If a banned substance shows up in your sample, you are responsible, period. It doesn’t matter whether you took it knowingly or whether it slipped into your body through a contaminated supplement you bought in good faith. A positive test carries the same consequences either way, which can include loss of eligibility for an entire season or longer.
How to Reduce Your Risk
If you decide to use ashwagandha, the single most important step is choosing a product certified by a reputable third-party testing program. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) recognizes NSF Certified for Sport as the program best suited to help athletes reduce the risk of testing positive from a contaminated supplement. NSF Certified for Sport products are tested for over 290 banned substances and verified to confirm that what’s on the label matches what’s in the product.
Informed Sport is another widely recognized certification. Both programs require laboratory accreditation and ongoing batch testing, not just a one-time check. Look for the certification mark on the product packaging, and verify it on the certifier’s website before purchasing. A supplement that simply says “tested” or “pure” on its label without a recognized third-party certification offers no meaningful protection.
The NCAA also directs athletes and schools to Drug Free Sport AXIS, a resource specifically designed to help review supplement ingredients. You can contact AXIS at 816-474-7321 or through their website using access codes provided to NCAA institutions. If you’re unsure about any product, this is the NCAA’s own recommended checkpoint.
Why Athletes Use Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha has become popular among athletes primarily for stress management and recovery. A 2025 study in the journal Nutrients found that 600 mg per day of ashwagandha root extract over six weeks helped stabilize cortisol levels in team sport athletes during preseason training. Rather than suppressing the body’s normal stress response, the supplement appeared to prevent cortisol from spiking excessively, which can happen during heavy training loads and contribute to overtraining.
The effects showed up differently by sex. Female athletes in the supplement group saw improvements in muscle soreness, perceived fatigue, and overall recovery scores compared to placebo. Male athletes showed significant gains in countermovement jump performance, a standard measure of explosive lower-body power. In both groups, the placebo athletes experienced rising stress hormone levels over the same training period while the ashwagandha group stayed more stable.
These benefits are modest compared to actual banned performance enhancers, which is part of why ashwagandha hasn’t drawn regulatory action. It functions more like a recovery aid than a direct performance booster, helping the body manage training stress rather than artificially elevating strength or endurance beyond natural capacity.
The Bottom Line for NCAA Athletes
Ashwagandha is not on the NCAA’s banned list and is generally considered permissible for collegiate athletes. The practical risk lies entirely in supplement quality. An uncertified product could contain traces of banned stimulants or anabolic agents that would end your season regardless of your intentions. If you choose to supplement, use only NSF Certified for Sport or Informed Sport products, and verify any ingredient through the NCAA’s Drug Free Sport AXIS service before taking it.