The soon-to-be-published three-arm clinical study included women 30 to 59 years old and evaluated key health markers such as cortisol levels, sleep quality, stress, mood and cognitive function, including brain fog. One of the most notable findings was Shoden’s ability to balance cortisol levels rather than simply suppress them.
“One of the things that we wanted to look at was what is actually happening when you take Shodin, how long is it staying in the body and what are the results and what is it actually driving and doing to cortisol?” said Keely Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing, Arjuna Natural.
“The cool thing that we found out is that Shodin doesn’t just calm down cortisol. It actually balances it and this is really important because you don’t want to shut off cortisol altogether. You want it to be balanced and you want it to sustain all throughout your day.”
Pharmacokinetic data also demonstrated that Shoden remained active in the body for up to 24 hours, significantly longer than many other ashwagandha extracts, which tend to taper off within six to seven hours, Johnson said.
This extended activity is attributed to Shoden’s high standardization to 35% withanolide glycosides, which are compounds associated with enhanced bioavailability and absorption. Notably, the study comes at a time when India has moved to restrict the use of ashwagandha leaves in certain applications, reinforcing broader industry conversations around standardization, safety and plant-part specificity.
Beyond stress and sleep, the study also explored cognitive benefits, with promising results in areas like mood, focus and mental clarity. With the publication of the findings approaching, Arjuna plans to expand its research further, particularly in perimenopausal and menopausal populations, to better understand how ashwagandha can support women’s health needs across all life stages.
