The Daily Foundation
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha
KSM-66
The most clinically studied ashwagandha extract in existence. 24 human trials. Dosed at 300mg. Every serving.
300mg per serving · 50mg per capsule · 6 capsules daily
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More Bioavailable Than Generic Powder
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Withanolides Minimum
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Human Clinical Trials
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Years of Traditional Use
What It Does
Three things. All proven.
Sleep Quality
KSM-66 has been shown to significantly improve sleep onset, sleep quality and morning alertness. It works by modulating cortisol rhythms, not by sedating you.
Strength & Recovery
Clinical trials show KSM-66 improves muscle strength, power output and recovery from exercise. It reduces exercise-induced muscle damage and supports lean mass retention.
Stress & Cortisol
KSM-66 is one of the few supplements with robust clinical evidence for reducing serum cortisol. Lower cortisol means better recovery, better body composition and better cognitive output.
The Science
The root, the research and the reason it is in your capsule.
Ashwagandha is a root that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for over 3,000 years. The botanical name is Withania somnifera. KSM-66 is a proprietary full-spectrum root extract standardised to a minimum of 5% withanolides, meaning every batch delivers a consistent, measurable quantity of the active compounds responsible for its effects.
The active compounds in ashwagandha are called withanolides. These are steroidal lactones that bind to and modulate key biological receptors involved in the stress response, thyroid function, reproductive hormones, inflammation and neurological signalling. This gives ashwagandha its wide but specific range of clinically validated effects.
Ashwagandha is classified as an adaptogen, a compound that helps regulate the body's response to physical and psychological stressors. It does not produce a single pharmacological effect but recalibrates multiple systems simultaneously. That systemic action is what makes it genuinely useful across training, recovery, cognition and hormonal health.
Why modern life makes ashwagandha relevant.
Your body was not designed for chronic psychological stress. It was designed for acute, physical stressors that resolve quickly. Modern life delivers the opposite: persistent low-grade stress with no resolution point. The result is chronically elevated cortisol, which suppresses testosterone, disrupts sleep architecture, impairs immune function and accelerates muscle breakdown.
This matters for anyone who trains seriously. High training volume is itself a stressor. Stack it on top of work, sleep debt and poor recovery and the cortisol load becomes a genuine performance limiter. Ashwagandha directly addresses this. Multiple randomised controlled trials show measurable reductions in serum cortisol in supplemented groups versus placebo, consistently in the 15 to 30% range.
One study found that ashwagandha at 300mg twice daily produced a statistically significant reduction in the Perceived Stress Scale score alongside the cortisol reduction. This is a compound that addresses both the biochemical and subjective experience of stress simultaneously.
What an adaptogen actually is.
The term adaptogen is frequently misused in supplement marketing. A true adaptogen meets three criteria: it is non-toxic at normal doses, it produces a non-specific response that increases resistance to multiple stressors, and it normalises physiological function regardless of the direction of the imbalance.
The original scientific criteria for classifying something as an adaptogen was established in the Soviet research tradition, later refined by Western pharmacologists. Ashwagandha meets all three criteria. It does not simply sedate or stimulate. It recalibrates. In someone with elevated cortisol it reduces it. In someone with depleted testosterone it supports recovery toward normal range. This bidirectional normalisation is what separates true adaptogens from general tonics.
KSM-66 is the only ashwagandha extract with a clinical trial programme extensive enough to definitively meet the adaptogen criteria in a Western scientific context. This is why the formula uses KSM-66 and not a generic extract.
An adaptogen does not push your physiology in one direction. It pulls it toward equilibrium. That distinction matters enormously.
Why KSM-66 and not generic ashwagandha?
Generic ashwagandha powder is cheap, widely available and largely unstudied at the individual product level. It is not standardised. The withanolide content varies batch to batch. You cannot predict what you are getting or what it will do because it has not been tested as a consistent product in controlled trials.
KSM-66 is extracted using a proprietary process that uses only the root, not the leaves. This matters because the root is the part used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine and the part with the most robust safety profile. It is also standardised to a minimum of 5% withanolides, which means every capsule delivers a predictable concentration of active compounds.
The 24 human clinical trials completed on KSM-66 cover stress, anxiety, testosterone, fertility, thyroid function, cardiorespiratory endurance, sleep quality and cognitive function. This is not a generic herb with vague traditional claims. It is a standardised extract with a clinical trial programme comparable to pharmaceutical compounds.
KSM-66 is not the same molecule as generic ashwagandha powder. It is a different product. The trials are not interchangeable.
Sleep quality improved through clinical trials. Not a marketing claim.
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in PLOS ONE tested 300mg of KSM-66 twice daily in adults with non-restorative sleep. The KSM-66 group showed significant improvements in sleep onset latency, total sleep time, sleep efficiency and self-reported sleep quality compared to placebo.
The mechanism is not sedation. Ashwagandha does not increase GABAergic activity in the way that sleep medications do. Instead it modulates the cortisol awakening response and supports the natural circadian decline of cortisol in the evening, which is a prerequisite for high quality sleep architecture.
This means KSM-66 supports sleep without the dependency risk, morning grogginess or cognitive impairment associated with sedative compounds. You wake having slept better, not medicated.
Better sleep is not a side effect of reduced stress. It is a separate, independently documented outcome of KSM-66 supplementation.
Memory and processing speed after eight weeks of supplementation.
A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements found that 300mg of KSM-66 twice daily for eight weeks produced statistically significant improvements in immediate and general memory, executive function, sustained attention and information processing speed in healthy adults.
The cognitive effects of ashwagandha are thought to operate through multiple pathways simultaneously. Cortisol reduction removes a primary brake on hippocampal neurogenesis. Antioxidant activity reduces neuroinflammation. Withanolides have demonstrated neuroprotective properties in preclinical models at concentrations achievable through supplementation.
For anyone managing high cognitive demand alongside training, this is not a trivial benefit. The interaction between physical training, sleep quality and cognitive output is well established. KSM-66 supports all three vectors simultaneously.
Who should take ashwagandha?
01
Anyone under chronic stress. If your cortisol is chronically elevated from work, life or training load, KSM-66 directly addresses the biochemical reality of that state.
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People with poor sleep quality. If your sleep is non-restorative, KSM-66 has direct clinical evidence for improving sleep onset, efficiency and quality without sedation.
03
Athletes in high volume training blocks. Training is a stressor. When training load exceeds recovery capacity, cortisol accumulates and performance declines. KSM-66 supports the recovery side of that equation.
04
Men concerned about testosterone. Multiple trials show KSM-66 supports testosterone levels in healthy men, particularly those under stress where cortisol-driven testosterone suppression is a factor.
05
Anyone managing high cognitive demand. The documented improvements in memory, processing speed and executive function make KSM-66 relevant beyond pure physical performance.
Is ashwagandha safe?
KSM-66 has an extensive safety profile built across 24 human clinical trials at doses ranging from 300mg to 600mg daily. No serious adverse events have been reported in any of these trials. The most commonly reported side effects are mild gastrointestinal discomfort, which occurs infrequently and typically resolves without intervention.
There is a small body of case report literature associating very high-dose ashwagandha supplementation with liver injury. These cases involved doses substantially above those used in clinical trials, involved multiple supplements simultaneously, or used products of uncertain provenance and standardisation. None involved KSM-66 at standard doses in controlled conditions.
KSM-66 is GRAS recognised in the United States and has been evaluated by multiple food safety authorities. At 300mg daily as part of The Daily Foundation it is well within the dose range that has been extensively studied and found safe in healthy adults.
If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking thyroid medication, speak to your doctor before supplementing. For everyone else, the safety record of KSM-66 at this dose is robust.
24 clinical trials. No serious adverse events at standard doses. The form matters. The dose matters. Both are correct here.
At a glance
Form
KSM-66 Root Extract (5% Withanolides)
Dose Per Capsule
50mg
Daily Serving
300mg (6 capsules)
NRV
Not established
Best Taken
With food. Consistent daily timing supports cortisol rhythm.
Works With
All other ingredients in The Daily Foundation
What the Research Shows
Cortisol
KSM-66 produces measurable reductions in serum cortisol.
A 60-day randomised controlled trial published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine found statistically significant cortisol reductions in the KSM-66 group at 300mg twice daily versus placebo. Every primary stress outcome measure improved meaningfully.
Strength
Resistance-trained adults built more muscle in eight weeks.
A 2015 JISSN trial found significantly greater increases in bench press and leg extension strength in the KSM-66 group versus placebo after eight weeks of resistance training. Muscle recovery and exercise-induced damage markers also improved significantly.
Sleep
Sleep quality improves through cortisol reduction rather than sedation.
A 10-week double-blind trial in Cureus found significant improvements in sleep onset latency, total sleep time and morning alertness in the KSM-66 group. The mechanism is HPA axis modulation, not direct sedation. You will not feel drowsy.
Cognition
Memory and processing speed respond to eight weeks of supplementation.
Adults with mild cognitive impairment receiving 300mg of KSM-66 twice daily showed significant improvements in immediate memory, executive function and attention on standardised neuropsychological tests after eight weeks. All outcomes were evaluated by independent assessors.
Extract quality
Generic ashwagandha and KSM-66 share a name. They are not the same ingredient.
A generic extract at 1.5% withanolides delivers around 4.5mg of active withanolide compounds per 300mg dose. KSM-66 at 5% standardisation delivers 15mg from the same nominal dose. That is more than three times the active compound content. The 24 clinical trials behind KSM-66 are attached to this extract specifically, not to ashwagandha as a general category. Using generic ashwagandha and citing KSM-66 research is a misrepresentation. We do not do that.
The adaptogen the research actually studied. This is that extract.
