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What Causes What
MECHANISM+ INCREASES

Ashwagandha → Testosterone

Higher Ashwagandha increases Testosterone.

Smith 2023 found that 200 mg of Witholytin ashwagandha root extract twice a day for twelve weeks raised free testosterone and luteinizing hormone versus placebo in the men of a trial of overweight adults aged 40 to 75 (P=0.048 and 0.002). The primary stress score did not beat placebo.

Randomized trial · Contested

Supported by an experiment or a tightly identified design. Read the caveats.

Mechanism

Authors treat an ashwagandha root extract as a stress herb that might also move sex hormones. They do not isolate one withanolide. Smith, Lopresti and Fairchild assigned overweight or mildly obese men and women aged 40 to 75 to 200 mg of Witholytin twice a day or placebo for twelve weeks. Perceived stress fell on both arms and did not differ (P=0.867). Fatigue and heart-rate variability favored ashwagandha. In the men, free testosterone (P=0.048) and luteinizing hormone (P=0.002) rose versus placebo. The abstract does not publish the nanogram increment or the number of men.

Caveats

Researchers assigned people to a root extract or a control, so this is a trial stamp. Testosterone is a secondary slice in the men. More papers of the same design do not settle the claim. The primary stress contrast missed. The published abstract does not name a sample size. This is not a lifting stack. This is a journal entry, not medical advice and not a reason to take ashwagandha to raise testosterone.

Effect

qualitative. Smith 2023: Witholytin 200 mg BID, 12 wk, overweight men and women 40-75. Free T and LH vs placebo in men P=0.048 and 0.002. Primary PSS vs placebo P=0.867. Archive n null.

Nodes

Lifestyle & environmentAshwagandhaBiology & endocrinologyTestosterone

Named confounders

Cite this page

What Causes What. “Ashwagandha → Testosterone.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-ashwagandha-t (atlas updated 2026-09-02).

https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-ashwagandha-t

Papers