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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

60-day trial in 50 adults: ashwagandha with piperine improved stress and anxiety scores

Majeed and colleagues · Medicine · 2023

Original title: A standardized Ashwagandha root extract alleviates stress, anxiety, and improves quality of life in healthy adults by modulating stress hormones: Results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

54 people were randomized and 50 finished. Stress (PSS), anxiety (GAD-7) and quality of life scores improved more with ashwagandha than placebo. Morning salivary cortisol fell more. No numbers given in the abstract.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
50 people · healthy adults in India with mild to moderate stress and anxiety
What was tested
500 mg a day of ashwagandha root extract with piperine for 60 days, vs placebo
What it measured
The question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol
Daily amount
500 mg a day
How long
8.6 weeks
Who has a stake
Company stake
Three authors work for Sami-Sabinsa group or Sabinsa Corporation, which sells ashwagandha extract.
Journal
Medicine, 2023
Source
PubMed record 37832082. 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.
  • •Medium size: 50 people.
  • –Short: 8.6 weeks. Longer-term effects are unknown.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol.
  • –Company stake: Three authors work for Sami-Sabinsa group or Sabinsa Corporation, which sells ashwagandha extract.
  • •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: 6 benefit, 2 no difference. This one found benefit. It agrees with 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 differed. The reviewer checked the abstract and kept the first read. 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
Source check by a person
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