A Randomized Trial of Ayurvedic Herbal Remedies for Sleep Quality: An App-Based Assessment

Introduction: The quest for treatment of insomnia without side effects has been elusive and thus has led to herbal therapies. Two such supplements are Ayurvedic-based herbs, Ashwagandha and valerian. Even though the antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties of Ashwagandha have been investigated, its sleep enhancing properties have not been studied. It was hypothesized that Ashwagandha would have sleep quality enhancing effects similar to those of valerian and would be more beneficial than the placebo. Further, a smart phone app based sleep assessment technology was utilized to monitor the participants in this study. Methods: Thirty-three participants were given either Ashwagandha, valerian, or placebo for 4 weeks (single blinded and randomized) and their sleep quality was monitored using a smart phone app or with questionnaires. After this study period and a brief washout period, the same procedure was repeated except the participants did not take any supplement, serving as a comparison measurement. Results: Sleep quality improved significantly in participants who took Ashwagandha (P<0.0001) when compared to valerian and placebo. They also appeared to have a higher percentage of deep sleep than the other groups. A much greater sleep quality increase was observed during the study period than during the later * Corresponding Author: Samuel J Asirvatham, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Mayo Clinic College of Medicine 200 First Street SW Rochester, MN 55905, US; Tel: 507-255-2440; E-mail: asirvatham.samuel@mayo.edu comparison period in both of the herbal groups (p=0.02) but not in the placebo group. In addition, the app-based sleep monitoring system appeared feasible in this study. Conclusions: The results suggest that Ashwagandha may be an effective sleep-enhancing supplement. Its exact clinical relevance is not known and further investigation would be required to elucidate these findings.