Blackmores Institute

The review examined 41 studies across a number of areas – stress and anxiety, sexual function and fertility, athletic performance, pain, fatigue, insomnia, cognitive performance, and found the strongest evidence for the use of ashwagandha was in reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety. “Because of ashwagandha’s far-reaching biological mechanisms of action, there is an increasing number of human trials examining its efficacy for the treatment of a range of physical and mental conditions, and the advancement of overall health and performance. However, the body of available evidence, the dosages and extracts used, the quality of interventional trials, and the treatment durations investigated varies significantly. The aim of this systematic review is to summarise and critically appraise results from human trials on ashwagandha that have been conducted to date,” the authors said. Seven randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with a total of 491 participants using ashwagandha for stress and anxiety were analysed as part of the systematic review. “Overall, the strongest evidence for therapeutic efficacy of ashwagandha is for the alleviation of stress and anxiety symptoms. This is consistent with the conclusion of an earlier systematic review,” the authors reported. “However, most studies have been conducted on non-clinical populations with only two studies undertaken using populations with a diagnosed anxiety disorder. Even though findings from these two studies were generally positive, further research on clinical populations is required. The review suggests that the anxiolytic effects of ashwagandha may be attributed to its influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, gamma-aminobutyric acid, inflammation and intestinal microbiota. “Even though this systematic review is a comprehensive analysis of human studies examining the therapeutic and health-enhancing efficacy of ashwagandha, only English papers were included, and there are likely several non-English publications that have examined the effects of ashwagandha. “Given the overall promising findings identified in this review, further research on the therapeutic and performance-enhancing effects of ashwagandha are required. Areas for future investigations include examining the effects of different extract dosages and treatment durations,” the authors concluded.Source:
 Lopresti A, et.al.: Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) for the treatment and enhancement of mental and physical conditions: A systematic review of human trials. Journal of Herbal Medicine 28 (2021) 100434; <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2021.100434" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2021.100434</a>

Results of a systematic review suggest the wide array of therapeutic applications of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) - its role in alleviating stress and anxiety symptoms has the strongest evidence.

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