Ashwagandha Effects on Cognition and Physical Function Meta-Analysis Results

Twenty studies with 1,249 participants were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The analysis, conducted by XiaoLing Zhu and published on figshare in 2026, found Ashwagandha supplementation significantly improved memory, attention, executive function, testosterone, and muscle strength in adults. It concluded no significant effects were observed on body weight or body fat percentage.

Use Cases

• Evaluating the efficacy of Ashwagandha on memory based on reported standardized mean differences
• Assessing the impact of Ashwagandha on muscle strength in physically active individuals based on subgroup analysis results
• Reviewing the methodological quality and risk of bias of included studies using RoB 2 and GRADE assessments
• Analyzing heterogeneity and sensitivity of outcomes like visuospatial ability and body fat percentage

Strengths

• Analysis includes 20 studies and 1,249 participants, providing a substantial evidence base
• Methodology follows PRISMA guidelines and includes quality assessments with RoB 2, GRADE, and ConPhyMP checklist
• Results report specific standardized mean differences and confidence intervals for multiple cognitive and physical outcomes

Limitations

• The dataset is a 1.6 MB PDF summary document; the underlying raw trial data is not included
• Column-level documentation for any extracted data is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the text
• The temporal coverage of the included studies is not specified beyond the search end date of February 2026

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials sourced from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase.

Time Range

Inception of databases to 1 February 2026

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-11 05:25:40