Ashwagandha vs Beta-Alanine

The points come from one 8-week dose-comparison RCT of an aqueous root and leaf extract at 125, 250 or 500 mg a day against placebo in adults with self-reported high stress (PMID 38732539, 131 enrolled, 98 analysed). All three doses reduced perceived stress and were reported as safe, and the authors describe the effect as dose-dependent. The abstract gives no per-dose effect sizes, so the curve shows only that ordering, not how large each step is. It also does not show whether doses above 500 mg add more. Trials of other extracts (root-only extract at 600 mg a day, PMID 23439798, and a 240 mg extract, PMID 31517876) are not on this axis because milligrams of different extracts are not equivalent.

The two points come from two separate small placebo-controlled trials, and neither compared doses. At 4.8 g a day for 30 days, 8 resistance-trained men completed 22% more squat repetitions than with placebo (PMID 18548362). At 6.4 g a day for 4 weeks, 23 highly-trained judo athletes made more throws in a judo fitness test, with no change with placebo (PMID 27601217). The outcomes differ, so the equal heights mean only that both doses helped, not that 6.4 g adds nothing over 4.8 g. A 7-day trial in 11 World Tour cyclists at 20 g a day (four 5 g servings) improved uphill time-trial power (PMID 39226288), but that short loading protocol is not comparable with weeks of daily dosing and is not plotted. Neither plotted trial reports side effects in its abstract, so no ceiling is given. Reviews put the effective range at 4 to 6.4 g a day (PMID 26175657, PMID 40995761) without comparing doses within a trial.