Comment · Fri, December 30, 2022 · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
KSM-66 and Sensoril Ashwagandha brands are extremely dishonest.
Original post in this thread
hootenanny03 · 200 points
I work at a supplement testing laboratory where my specialty is HPLC. Every single product that has come through the door with Ashwagandha on the label from these 2 brands is insanely low in withanolide content. Orders of magnitude low. I just got Sensorils HPLC method and I'm seeing how they quantify their product and they are lying liars, like how NBC Dateline with Chris Hansen did with that dry labbing lab in 2012. They aren't quantifying anything, literally making up numbers. Yeah that's right, I'm accusing Sensoril of lying about what is in their product and I have proof, not just in their garbage method but in the dozens of clients samples I've tested that contain literal fairy dust amounts of actives. These products contain no plant DNA either so there's no way you can positively identify that Ashwagandha is in a product.
What's more, I know that there is at least one independent laboratory that is advertising their ability to test Ashwagandha and I have proof that they are literally making up numbers, I sent them a sample with a fake spec and they hit the fake spec right on the money. I have been a chemist for 18 years now and I am extremely reserved about accusing other…
What they were answering
Megatron_McLargeHuge · 14 points
Rather than just dropping products that people like, we decided to just sell them without withanolide claims.
The problem with this is when you sell a product, you're implicitly backing it with your reputation, and that extends to the source vendor's claims and the community consensus about the product. As consumers we know you can't say too much on your product page without angering the FDA, so we go offsite to get information about what the product really does. If your contracts don't allow you to put up a disclaimer, in my opinion you should reconsider selling these extracts.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
That's true. However, my issue with the scientific validity of their withanolide claims, and whether or not I think they are good products, are different things. Both KSM-66 and Sensoril have effects that many people like. We did blinded testing at our offices, and it was really evenly split for which ashwagandha people chose as their favorites. I even alternate between KSM-66 and Shoden when I use ashwagandha, so it is not like I think the products are bullshit. They are products that give many people good effects. Am I disappointed that they are not more open about their process and the analytical side of things? Absolutely! I've voiced that to them. However, I can only push that so far for patented products that are licensed to us. One thing is for absolute certain: I would have zero pull with them to be more open and release data if we didn't sell them at all.