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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

84-day trial of 125 mg ashwagandha in 90 adults: better stress and anxiety scores

Mahadevan and colleagues · Advances in therapy · 2025

Original title: A New Ashwagandha Formulation (Zenroot™) Alleviates Stress and Anxiety Symptoms While Improving Mood and Sleep Quality: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical 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

Stress (PSS), anxiety (BAI) and sleep scores improved with ashwagandha (p < 0.05) on days 28, 56, and 84; the abstract does not say if versus placebo. Serum cortisol and salivary alpha amylase did not differ between groups.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
90 people · adults with mild to moderate, short-term stress
What was tested
125 mg a day of Zenroot ashwagandha for 84 days, vs placebo
What it measured
The question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol
Daily amount
125 mg a day
How long
12 weeks
Trial registration
CTRI/2024/03/063786
Who has a stake
Company stake
Two authors work for OmniActive Health Technologies, which sells this ashwagandha product.
Journal
Advances in therapy, 2025
Source
PubMed record 40875185. 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: 90 people.
  • •Lasted 12 weeks.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: stress, anxiety and cortisol.
  • –Company stake: Two authors work for OmniActive Health Technologies, which sells this ashwagandha product.
  • •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 reviewer corrected 1 field after reading the abstract. 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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