Stress, Anxiety & Cardiovascular Disease?

In a nasty cycle that’s just not fair, stress and anxiety can lead to cardiovascular disease, while cardiovascular disease exacerbates stress and anxiety.

Ashwagandha is a revered adaptogenic herb that powerfully helps stress and anxiety. So, can it help stress and anxiety in people with cardiovascular disease? This new double-blind study gave either a placebo or 300mg of ashwagandha root extract, standardized for not less than 2.5% withanolides, twice a day for 60 days to 60 men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 who had high blood pressure.

The ashwagandha worked wonders. It was more effective than placebo for both stress and anxiety. On the Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAM-A), anxiety went down by 26.94% on ashwagandha compared to 14.7% on placebo. On the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire, anxiety improved by 50.77% percent compared to 22.96% on placebo.

The results were as encouraging for stress. On the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), stress improved by 30.47% on ashwagandha versus 12.47% on placebo. When it came to markers of stress, cortisol dropped by 28.99% on the herb compared to a drop of 6.6% on the placebo.

And there were more benefits still. Quality of life and overall clinical improvement (GCI-I) were greater in the ashwagandha group. There was also greater improvement in fatigue and daytime alertness.

The ashwagandha extract delivered all of these benefits safely. This study suggests that ashwagandha extract is a safe tool for improving stress and anxiety in people with high blood pressure.
Stress. 2026;29(1).

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