That's quite impressive. It's worth noting that benefits accrued throughout the entire study duration. There's likely further benefits over longer durations. I take the benefit to be from antioxidants.

This was achieved by a single size 0 capsule. The benefits would likely be proportionally greater with higher doses. Though, there is probably a cap depending on one's starting antioxidant status. I take it to be antioxidants that are providing the benefit.

I'm considering switching back to amla for this reason. Amla is cheaper due to its potency. While I don't like the taste of amla, it's easily tolerable provided I know why I'm taking it.

This supports that study on vitamin E in diabetics.

Benefits accrued throughout the 8 weeks. I recall reading on Longecity forum that ashwagandha takes a month for benefits to kick in. This study demonstrates that benefits continue to increase over two months. I suspect they continue even further than that.

Interestingly, this is pretty similar to the two placebo controlled studies on antioxidants for sleep. Thus, I wonder of the benefits of ashwaganha extract are largely antioxidant capacity. This would be a bit surprising because the ORAC of dried ashwaganda is just slightly above raw pinto beans. Based on the recommended doses, the extract isn't vastly more potent than the whole root. Though, this comment saying that the Withanolide/Withaferin A (edit: withaferin A is purportedly cytotoxic) reside mostly in the leaves has greatly confused me. Either the extract has more antioxidant activity than I realize (directly or indirectly), or the benefits come primarily from the purported mechanisms of ashwagandha (which include cortisol reduction and GABAergic activity). Edit: the full text mentions a 15 to 1 extract ratio, which is enough to put the antioxidant mechanism back on the table. It's probably a partial explanation, but after seeing the full text I think the benefits are too great to be simply from antioxidants.

I see no mention of the time of day of administration. I'm assuming it was in the morning, which contrasts with the near bedtime dosing in the antioxidant studies. If I later find out that antioxidants in the morning don't help with sleep, then that will suggest ashwagandha works by other mechanisms. However, I expect antioxidants at any time of day help with sleep. Nonetheless, I'm not discounting that ashwagandha may work by other mechanisms.

This is plausibly the reason why antioxidants enhance sleep. Though it is likely that there are other mechanisms as well, such as reduced neuroinflammation. Come to think of it, given that ME/CFS appears to be caused by high sympathetic tone during sleep, antioxidants are the perfect treatment. Antioxidants are proven in placebo-controlled trials to help with sleep in healthy subjects and insomniacs alike. I doubt that antioxidants can cure ME/CFS, but I'm confident they will help.

This is more evidence that cooking is neutral or positive, provided temperatures are not excessive. I doubt this would convince raw foodists, but it may.

That's concerning. Note that the treatment group performed ever so slightly better than placebo. I'm guessing that that is either due to random chance, or a benefit that any anti-inflammatory plant may provide.

I'd be curious to know why nettle. The authors of this paper seem to think it is the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. However, they are merely following up on past research. They mention that nettle has been used worldwide as an alternative medicine. Therefore, the original research may be based on the traditional uses of the plant.

If nettle does in fact work, I see three possibilities. Nettle may have unique benefit that this study wasn't powered enough to find. Nettle may may have benefit that any plant anti-inflammatory plant would have. Finally, they may not have been using nettle properly.

This is not in the least surprising. Dietary antioxidants also protect the skin during sunlight exposure.

Oxidative stress likely also plays a role in diabetic retinopathy. It plays a role in the aging process itself. That said, there is probably a limit to protective powers of antioxidants. Nonetheless, I don't think that that limit has ever been realized in any population. I doubt we've even come close in rats.

I found a study on acai and blood sugar, but they used healthy overweight subjects. The relative reduction in postprandial glucose was substantial. However, since the subjects' baseline fasting glucose was normal, the drop was not significant. We have every reason to think that fasting blood sugar would be reduced in diabetic subjects.

I was unable to find a study on baobab on diabetes or metabolic syndrome. However, given the effectiveness of amla, curcumin, and acai, it is likely effective. There is also some evidence for many other antioxidant sources, which backs up the idea that any source will do.

I've found one study on sumac for type 2 diabetes. There seems to be two separate write-ups on the same data.

Oddly, 3 grams sumac did not perform as well as 3 grams amla. I can think of several possible explanations. The most likely explanation is that they used the whole grain rather than the bran. I assume the grain is what's used traditionally, but I'm having difficulty finding information about this. The bran has over 3 times the ORAC compared to the whole grain. It's likely that the bran is both hard to find and expensive.

Qin, M., Cao, Z., Wen, J., Yu, Q., Liu, C., Wang, F., Yang, F., Li, Y., Fishbein, G., Yan, S., Xu, B., Hou, Y., Ning, Z., Nie, K., Jiang, N., Liu, Z., Wu, J., Yu, Y., Li, H., … Lu, Y. (2020). An Antioxidant Enzyme Therapeutic for COVID-19. BioRxiv, 2020.07.15.205211. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.15.205211

Fonseca, S. C., Rivas, I., Romaguera, D., Quijal-Zamorano, M., Czarlewski, W., Vidal, A., Fonseca, J. A., Ballester, J., Anto, J. M., Basagana, X., Cunha, L. M., & Bousquet, J. (2020). Association between consumption of vegetables and COVID-19 mortality at a country level in Europe. MedRxiv, 2020.07.17.20155846. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.17.20155846

Is there anything it can't do? I have noted, however, that larger doses cause nausea for me. That is, 3 or more grams on an empty stomach. I just vomited after taking 7.5 grams before my meal, but I have not yet established the causal link. It is the largest amount I've ever taken at one time. I suspect that it may have contributed significantly, but that it was also one out of half a dozen factors.

Taking antioxidant supplements to reduce muscles soreness after exercise could have almost no effect, according to a new Cochrane Review