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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

12-week trial in adults aged 40 to 75: no clear stress difference from ashwagandha

Smith and colleagues · Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023

Original title: Exploring the efficacy and safety of a novel standardized ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract (Witholytin®) in adults experiencing high stress and fatigue in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

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What the study found

No difference

Stress on the Perceived Stress Scale (main outcome) fell with ashwagandha, but not more than with placebo (p = 0.867). Fatigue score fell more with ashwagandha (p = 0.016).

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
overweight or mildly obese adults aged 40 to 75 with high stress and fatigue
What was tested
200 mg of ashwagandha root extract twice a day for 12 weeks, vs placebo
What it measured
The question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol
Daily amount
400 mg a day
How long
12 weeks
Who has a stake
Company stake
One author runs a research company paid by nutraceutical firms and has taken speaking fees from them.
Journal
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2023
Source
PubMed record 37740662. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • ✓Compared with a placebo, a dummy treatment.
  • •The abstract does not say how many people took part.
  • •Lasted 12 weeks.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol.
  • –Company stake: One author runs a research company paid by nutraceutical firms and has taken speaking fees from them.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: stress and anxiety

    9

    7 benefit, 2 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    6

    3 benefit, 1 mixed, 1 no difference, 1 no direction

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    1

    1 benefit

  4. Population studies

    1

    1 benefit

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does ashwagandha reduce stress and anxiety?”

Possibly, but the evidence is weak.

Confidence: low. Based on 24 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 8 papers on the same step: 7 benefit, 1 no difference. This one found no difference. It differs from most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 24 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
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