Sixty days of supplementation with Nutriventia’s Prolanza-branded ingredient (also known as Ashwanova in certain markets) was also associated with improvement in psychological well-being, according to findings published in Medicine.
Scientists from Nutriventia, Laila Nutra Private Limited, and In vitro Research Solutions Pvt Ltd reported that benefits were recorded for 150 mg and 300 mg doses of the ingredient, with the higher dose leading to quick and sustained improvements across a range of end points.
“To our knowledge, this was a first-of-its-kind randomized 3-arm, placebo-controlled, multicenter study that compared a low-dose formulation of AshwaSR [sustained release ashwagandha] with a standard-dose AshwaSR capsules (150 vs 300 mg) and demonstrated multiple benefits in terms of improvement in stress, sleep quality, eating behavior, and overall well-being in healthy adult subjects with stress, over a period of 60 days of treatment,” they wrote.
An herb in demand
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) has a history of use in Ayurvedic medicine that dates back as much as 4,000 years to the teaching of renowned scholar Punarvasu Atreya and in subsequent works that make up the Ayurvedic tradition, according to a monograph from the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP). The name of the herb derives from Sanskrit, and means “smells like a horse”, in reference to the strong smell of the root which is said to be redolent of horse sweat or urine.
According to the most recent Herb Market Report from the American Botanical Council (HerbalGram #144), sales of herbal supplements with ashwagandha as the primary functional ingredient were almost $166 million across the mainstream and natural retail channels. Sales of ashwagandha grew 13.8% year-on-year in the mainstream channel, while a 6% increase was recorded in the natural channel.
Study details
Researchers, led by Dr. Shefali Thanawala, assistant vice president, medical sciences and research at Nutriventia, recruited 135 healthy adults aged 20-55 years with moderate stress to participate in their randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-arm clinical trial.
Participants were randomly divided into three equal groups: One group received placebo and the other two groups received the sustained release ashwagandha supplement at a dose of 150 mg or 300 mg per day.
The data from the 126 people who completed the study showed that both ashwagandha doses led to significant reductions in stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Specifically, PSS scores by decreased by 38.6% and 41.6% for the low and high doses, respectively, compared to placebo. Statistically significant reductions in cortisol were only recorded for the high dose group, added the researchers.
Both groups also experienced significant improvements in measures of sleep quality and happiness, while positive changes in eating habits related to stress were also observed.
The study was funded by Nutriventia and Laila Nutra. Commenting on the findings, Dr. Thanawala stated: “Along with revalidating the beneficial effects of Prolanza 300 mg in reducing stress and improving sleep and psychological well-being, this study has additionally demonstrated benefits of Prolanza 300 mg in reducing stress-related eating.
“Importantly, improvements were observed across all these parameters even with the 150 mg of Prolanza. Thus, this study is instrumental in strengthening the scientific evidence for effective use of both doses of Prolanza, while maintaining consumer-friendly convenience and compliance with just one-a-day doses.”
Source: Medicine, 105(11):p e47990, doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000047990. “Efficacy and safety of Ashwagandha root extract sustained-release (AshwaSR) capsules in healthy adult, stressed subjects: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, 3-arm clinical trial”. Authors: S. Thanawala, et al.
