KSM-66 (Ashwagandha)
Ixoreal Biomed, standardized full-spectrum root extract
Evidence grade 3 of 5, Mixed. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.
- FDA
- Dietary ingredient (not FDA-evaluated for efficacy)
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Effects are modest (~10-22%) and concentrated in stressed, sleep-deprived, infertile, or previously untrained men. Rare liver-injury reports exist (often with adulteration/high dose); possible thyroid interaction.
This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about ksm-66 (ashwagandha) in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.
KSM-66 is a branded, full-spectrum ashwagandha root extract from Ixoreal Biomed, standardized to roughly 5% withanolides and produced by a proprietary 'green chemistry' process. It is the most clinically studied ashwagandha extract and the one behind most positive testosterone and cortisol trials. Importantly, many of those trials are funded by or affiliated with the supplier, a conflict to weigh, though the better studies are reasonably designed.
The most-studied ashwagandha extract, and the source of most 'ashwagandha raises T' headlines.
What people take it for
These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.
What people get wrong
Often saidKSM-66 raises testosterone ~50%
ActuallyThe documented increase is roughly 10-22%, mainly in stressed or training men with elevated cortisol, not a 50% jump, and weaker in men with normal cortisol.
Who profits, and who pushes back
Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.
At a glance
- Supplier
- Ixoreal Biomed
- Standardization
- ~5% withanolides, full-spectrum root
- Typical dose
- 300-600 mg/day
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about KSM-66 (Ashwagandha). A short entry is not a safe entry.
- Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
- Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
- Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
- Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
- What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
- How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
- Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
- Where we land. We have not taken a position on this yet.
Sources
The studies below are named and described, but not linked. You cannot open them from here and check our reading against them, which means this page is our summary of the literature rather than a document you can verify. Weigh it accordingly until the links exist.
The studies that matter
Wankhede et al. (KSM-66)2015
600 mg/day, 8 weeks: ~15% testosterone rise in untrained men starting resistance training (Ixoreal-affiliated)
Lopresti et al.2019
Anxiolytic effects with cortisol reduction and a testosterone signal in stressed men