The Effects of Ashwagandha in Endurance Exercise Performance

Healthy Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Effects of Ashwagandha In Endurance Exercise Performance

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Active, not recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03596307
• Other study ID #: AN-07SHO 0518H1-ULE02
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 6, 2018
• Est. completion date: June 2019

Study information

• Verified date: November 2018
• Source: Arjuna Natural Limited
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Ashwagandha (Withania Somnifera) is a widely used herb in Ayurvedic medicine for vitality and rejuvenation. This study investigates the effects of both acute and short-term oral supplementation of Shoden (Ashwagandha extract) intake on performance and rate of perceived exertion in high-intensity aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Description:

Only a few clinical trials have looked at the effects of Ashwagandha in exercise and training. The studies had a dosage of 2 x 300 mg & 2 x 500 mg per day for 8 weeks and found to stimulate effects of strength training on muscle strength and muscle mass (Wankhede et al., 2015) and small increments in time to exhaustion and VO2max (Shenoy et al., 2012). However, the training intervention in both the studies were not adequately controlled and did not make a distinction between the acute and short-term effects of Ashwagandha intake.

Moreover, a lot of herbal supplements are commercially available containing majority of alkaloids and small amount of withaferine. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has categorized anaferine, anahygrine, withanine, sominiferine, somnine, tropine etc as toxic and harmful. Apart from alkaloids, withaferine A has also been categorized as cytotoxic lactones by EFSA. The Ashwagandha extract developed by Arjuna Natural Ltd is free from these alkaloids and is standardized to contain about 35% glycowithanolides.

This study will be a randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled, two treatment, crossover study and will be conducted in 2 phases ( acute & short term) with a total of 5 identical test sessions. Each test session involves a maximal incremental cycling test followed by a 90-sec maximal cycling performance test (day 1), and a 30-min simulated time-triaI on a cycling ergometer (day 2). Day 1 and day 2 are separated by a 24hr rest interval and for each subject it will be consistently scheduled on the same time of the day in order to eliminate a potential impact of diurnal variation in the results.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Enrollment: 12
• Est. completion date: June 2019
• Est. primary completion date: December 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Male
• Age group: 18 Years to 35 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Males between 18 and 35 years old

• Physically fit and involved in physical fitness training, or in individual or team sport activity for 2-4hours per week, or 3-6 hours per week for cycling

• Body mass index between 18 and 25

• Good health status confirmed by a medical screening

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any kind of injury/pathology that is a contra-indication to perform high-intensity exercise.

• Intake of any medication or nutritional supplement that is proven to affect exercise performance

• Intake of analgetics, anti-oxidants, or anti-inflammatory agents from 2 weeks prior to the start of the study

• More than 3 alcoholic beverages per day, including a maximum of one glass of wine per day

• Blood donation within 3 months prior to the start of the study

• Smoking

• Involvement in elite athletic training at a semi-professional or professional level

• Current participation in another research trial

• Any other argument to believe that the subject is unlikely to successfully complete the full study protocol

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy

Intervention

Dietary Supplement:
• Ashwagandha extract
Shoden 180 mg capsule.
• Placebo
Placebo 180 mg (Sucrose) capsule.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Belgium	KU Leuven Athletic Performance Center / Bakala Academy	Leuven	Heverlee

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Arjuna Natural Limited	KU Leuven, ZB Sports Development BVBA

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Belgium, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Performance (mean power output (Watt))	Simulated time trial on cycling ergometer (Avantronic Cyclus2)	30-min simulated time trials
Secondary	Rate of perceived exertion	15-point Borg rating scale of perceived exertion (ranging from 6 to 20, where 6 means "no exertion at all",13-14 means "somewhat hard" and 20 means "maximal exertion".). A number is chosen from the scale by an individual that best describes their level of exertion during physical activity.	At the end of incremental VO2 max test ; halfway (15 min) and at the end (30 min) of the 30 min time trial; on cycling ergometer
Secondary	Capillary Lactate	Blood samples from earlobes (Lactate Pro1, Arkray, Japan)	Incremental VO2 max test - middle and at the end of each incremental step ; 90s VO2 max test - just before the start of the test and 4 min following exhaustion; 30-Min Time Trial - 5-min intervals
Secondary	Oxygen Intake (VO2Max)	Highest oxygen uptake rate measured over a 30-s time-interval at the end of the test.	Measured during Incremental, 90s, and 30 min time trial.