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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 9 trials, 558 patients: lower stress, anxiety and cortisol with ashwagandha

Arumugam and colleagues · Explore (New York, N.Y.) · 2024

Original title: Effects of Ashwagandha (Withania Somnifera) on stress and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

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

Ashwagandha lowered Perceived Stress Scale (MD = -4.72, 95 % CI = [-8.45 to -0.99]), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (MD = -2.19, 95 % CI = [-3.83 to -0.55]) and serum cortisol (MD = -2.58, 95 % CI = [-4.99 to -0.16]). Four trials reported mild to moderate side effects.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
9 studies, 558 people · patients in 9 randomized trials
What was tested
Ashwagandha compared with placebo
What it measured
The question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed.
Journal
Explore (New York, N.Y.), 2024
Source
PubMed record 39348746. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 9 studies with 558 people.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •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

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: stress and anxiety

    9

    7 benefit, 2 no difference

  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
  • Quoted in “What we found”: Nine trials with 558 people, pooled in one review, showed lower stress scale scores with ashwagandha than placebo (average difference -4.72 points) and lower blood cortisol.
  • Part of the finding “Pooled reviews find lower stress and anxiety scores”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Pooled nine trials with 558 people. Average differences from placebo were -4.72 on a stress scale, -2.19 on an anxiety scale and -2.58 for blood cortisol, all favoring ashwagandha. Four trials reported mild to moderate side effects.

Other reviews on this question

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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