Dear Friends,
Today we’re going to review the latest research findings with a high potency ashwagandha extract called Shoden.
In case you don’t know, ashwagandha is a revered herb in the Ayurvedic system of traditional medicine in India.
Research with ashwagandha has increased dramatically over the last 15 years, with numerous published studies validating the benefits of ashwagandha as a supplement.
Shoden Ashwagandha has been gaining attention recently because of its unique potency, offering an industry leading 35% of withanolide glycosides in the extract.
This is the class of compounds in the roots and leaves most responsible for the health support of ashwagandha.
Why Does This Matter to You?
The benefit of a high potency extract like Shoden is you can get desired benefits in smaller doses or serving sizes.
So you can take fewer (or smaller) capsules, and the smaller dose makes it easier to combine multiple ingredients in a single product.
This is what we did with our TrueZs sleep formula – we were able to combine Shoden, with L-theanine, and saffron into 1 capsule, which our customers find very convenient - and it’s more cost effective too.
Better yet, not only does Shoden contain more of the key ashwagandha compounds, but bioavailability studies also found they remain in the blood longer – for up to 24 hours.
With many other ashwagandha ingredients, these compounds only remain in the blood for several hours, which is why you need to take them multiple times a day.
Shoden only needs to be taken once daily.
Placebo Controlled Studies Are the Ultimate Proof
One thing I have learned in over 20 years in the supplement industry is herbal extracts that concentrate, or isolate, certain key compounds don’t always perform as hoped.
A major reason why is plants contain other nutritional compounds that help the key nutrients work.
When you are concentrating or extracting key compounds, something must be left behind – and it may be something nature put there for a reason.
So the provider of the extract really has to know what they’re doing, and in the case of Shoden, it comes from a company we know well called Arjuna, that is very sophisticated in this area.
Nonetheless, the real test is how the extract performs in human placebo-controlled studies.
The study with Shoden that initially caught our attention was their sleep study – which I think is the best and most comprehensive ashwagandha study for sleep.
In this study, taking 120mg of Shoden daily for 6 weeks, led to significant increases in restorative sleep, which may be the most important type of sleep, as well as helping users fall asleep faster, sleep longer and better, and wake up feeling refreshed.
It’s not something you’ll feel after one night - that’s not how ashwagandha works - but after a few weeks, it can start to make a real difference.
This latest study that we’re going to breakdown now is the 6th with Shoden Ashwagandha.
Stress and Testosterone Support at Even Smaller Dosages
This new study verified previous findings with Shoden for stress and mood support, as well as its ability to help promote better testosterone levels in men.
The study involved 60 adults between the ages of 18 and 60 years old who were feeling the effects of stress in their lives.
The new wrinkle in this study is they evaluated a smaller 60mg dose of Shoden, along with the 120mg used before (and a placebo group to use as a control).
As a response to stress, the adrenal glands in the body produce cortisol – a hormone that’s very helpful to your body when in a normal range but can be very damaging when it’s elevated for prolonged periods of time.
As you can picture, no supplement can reduce or eliminate the things that are causing stress in your life.
It is possible to positively affect how your body deals with and responds to stress, so it doesn’t affect you as negatively.
Ashwagandha can help do this through its adaptogen properties that help bring your body into balance – and keep cortisol in a healthy range.
Similar Stress Support Results at 60mg and 120mg
In this study, the cortisol levels of those taking both the 60mg and 120mg doses of Shoden improved in a remarkably similar way after 28 days.
On average, the cortisol level of the study participants was a little bit elevated at the start, but both groups taking Shoden were well within the healthy range at the end of the study – as the Shoden Ashwagandha helped the body become more balanced.
So in this study at least, the effects of 60mg and 120mg of Shoden on cortisol levels in the blood were about the same, with the placebo group not showing much of a change, as expected.
The researchers also conducted a Perceived Stress Score test, a questionnaire the participants answer to get a sense of how stress was affecting them.
Both groups taking Shoden improved in a meaningful way on this test, with the 120mg group doing a little better on this measure than the 60mg group, but again strong results from both groups – with no improvement in the placebo group.
This trend was similar in other tests for mood and emotional health. Strong improvements were recorded on average in those taking either 60mg or 120mg of Shoden, with no material change in the placebo group.
The results in this study suggest that for stress and cortisol support, 60mg of Shoden may work almost as well as 120mg - with the caveat being this is based on group averages, and results vary by individual.
120mg of Shoden Better for Testosterone Support
The one place where the 120mg serving of Shoden performed better was at improving testosterone levels in men.
One of the consequences of elevated cortisol is it may suppress testosterone levels to a degree.
Indeed, on average, the males in this study were within the normal range for testosterone, but at the lower end of the range.
After 28 days, males taking 60mg of Shoden improved testosterone levels by about 22% on average - a very solid result.
However, the males taking 120mg of Shoden did even better, with a 33% improvement, on average ( the placebo group only changed by 4%).
In case you are curious, the researchers reported that for women, there was no clinically significant increase in testosterone.
If you’re interested in trying it, as I mentioned, Shoden is part of our TrueZs formula.
One of the nice parts of this formulation is the ingredients don’t cause drowsiness. So if you wanted to take it during the day instead of at night – you can do that.
For example, the L-theanine in TrueZs can help your brain relax - this may help you focus better during the day, or help you fall asleep faster at night.
As mentioned, since the key compounds in Shoden can remain in the bloodstream for 24 hours, you can take TrueZs at night and still get other Shoden benefits (cognitive function, mood support, testosterone boost for males).
I think you’ll like how it helps, just as Beth and I do.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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