As a continue on of my ashwagandha review on Swisse Ultiboost Stress Relief, here is BIOVEA’s response to my questions regarding Withania Somnifera (ashwagandha).
Firstly, my email to them:
Hi,
I’ve recently been desperate for something to help with stress. I found Swisse Anti-Stress which is Withania Somnifera (ashwagandha) at supposedly 3750mg per tablet. I’m looking to try others particularly because AUD $30+ every 30 days won’t be sustainable for me. But my concern / question is: Is your product, at 570 mg per tablet, essential around 6-7 times less potent than the Swisse equivalent? And if so, why is the recommended dosage still 1-2 tablets per day, the same as Swisse?
I’m sorry for the pain in the butt question, but this is something I would really appreciate some honest facts about. The response I got from Swisse was simply “Yes, our product is many times more potent than other brands” and I can’t help but wonder if this is true, or them trying to keep a customer. Especially since it’s “3750 mg dry root equiv.” – I don’t get it, is it 3750 mg or isn’t it? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Regards, Lee.
And, their response:
Dear Lee,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately we are not familiar with the Swisse Anti-Stress and cannot tell you the difference.
Unfortunately we cannot advise you. We recommend consulting your doctor for advice before taking any supplements if you are presently taking prescription medication or suffering from a medical condition.
Kind regards,
Claudia BIOVEA Customer Support
Frankly, I’m a little disappointed in that response. I can understand that they’re not familiar with the Swisse product I’m comparing to, but the question is about dosages and to me it seems pretty straight forward. My guess, from that response, would be that Swisse were actually telling the truth and their product is really just 10x more superior than their competitors. I had doubted this at first, but this response is leading me to believe so as they avoided answering my question of simple dosage math.
I felt as if this was a brush off though and wanted to try once more to have my questions answered. I’m expecting a politician-style question deterrence but one can only try. So here is my response which I have just sent:
Thanks for the response.
If you’re unable to tell me the reasoning for the huge dosage gap between products could you possibly answer either of the following for me?
1. What is meant in supplement by “equivalent” in dosages. Eg. “500 mg dry root equiv.”. Is this 500 mg of dry root or isn’t it?
2. Regarding ashwagandha, if studies show that effective dosages begin at a minimum of 2000 mg, wouldn’t your product require at least 4 tablets taken daily?
3. If you’re recommending only 2, does this mean they they’re more potent than standard supplements? Ie. If I were to purchase and take 4 daily would this be dangerous?
Kind regards,
Lee.
So I have received a response, and not surprisingly it’s a very scripted response avoiding the question as much as possible.
Dear Lee,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately we cannot tell you more about what studies say how much you should take. There is a possibility there are different kind of Ashwagande products out there.
Our Ashwagande tablets are 760mg per tablet or 2000mg drops.
Take 1 tablet twice daily with meals.
Amount per Serving:
• Calcium (as Di-Calcium Phosphate) 59mg
• Ashwagandha Root 500mg
• Ashwagandha Root Extract (5% withaniaoside) 70mg
Serving Size: 2 mL (approx. 56 drops) Servings Per Container: 30 Amount Per Serving: • Ashwagandha root fluid extract (1:1) 2000mg
Kind regards,
Claudia BIOVEA Customer Support
I guess this is fair enough, but it still doesn’t help to solve the mystery of why the dosage gap is so enormous. It’s not just BIOVEA, but every other supplement company I can find online. Swisse is the only company that I can find with a Withania Somnifera dosage of 3750 mg and a recommended dosage of 2 tablets daily. That’s 7600 mg daily, as opposed to EVERY other company recommending approximately 1000 mg daily and suggesting their product gives the same desired result. It simply doesn’t make sense.
I’ll have to accept that BIOVEA are unable to help for now and move on. But I’m not giving up on getting my answers and will continue exploring other avenues.
Hi Lee, advice I have received from a health food store is that it is apparently better for your system to have small dosages throughout the day, so for example the brand Nature’s Sunshine recommends 3 x355 mg three times a day. At approx $38 for 100 tablets that makes the cost unsustainable, so Swisse is looking even better. I have diabetes and other auto immune disorders and had been taking the Swiss for some time. I didn’t notice the absence of stress so much as it’s presence after stopping the Lithuania and going back to vitamin b.
Hi Joy,
It’s been a while since I wrote that post but I have experimented with other brands and dosages a lot since then.
I have found that the NOW Foods brand at 450mg per tablet work just as well as the Swisse brand did, and they cost $15 (AUD) for 90 capsules from iHerb.
What I’ve still never worked out though, is why other brands, even NOW Foods which recommend 3 caps at 450mg daily (totaling 1350mg daily), are still so much lower than Swisse which are 3750mg twice daily (7500mg daily). Swisse brand works out to be $1 per day, whereas NOW Foods brand works out to be half that at 50c daily when taking the maximum recommendation of 3 daily (it actually says 2 – 3 daily).
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Lee.