From time to time I’ll share results from happiness experiments I run on myself. Here are the recent results from a recent experiment straight from the happiness lab (known as my apartment).
The last two months I supplemented with the active ingredient in a new line of stress relief gummies. I tracked my scores on the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) (citation below) and two physiological indicators of stress (cortisol and free testosterone).
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About two months ago I heard a radio ad for “stress relief gummies”. Here’s the product (link). The speaker explained that for bliss, peace, and a stress free life all you had to do was take their anti-stress gummies. Are you fucking kidding me? And to think I’ve been wasting my time studying relationships, meaning, and mental health.
Anyway, I thought this would make for an interesting self experiment.
So about two months ago I measured myself on the Subjective Happiness Scale. I scored a 6 out of 7. Take that Dalai Lama.
I also wanted to get some baseline physiological indicators. Cortisol is considered to have a positive correlation with stress levels. In men especially, free testosterone is thought to have a weak, inverse correlation with stress (i.e. high stress lowers free test). This post from the American Psychological Assc. mentions that. Further, stress tends to make for worse sleep and less activity – also lowers testosterone.
My baseline cortisol from four months prior was 3.05 ng/mL (normal). My baseline free testosterone from two months prior was 84.2 pg/mL (normal).
I found that the above supplements had the active ingredient Ashwagandha. I decided to order 450mg capsules. I’m not ten years old so I don’t like gummy supplements (sorry not sorry). Quoting the back of the supplement bottle:
“Ashwagandha (withania sonmifera) is an herb that is extensively used in Ayuverda, the traditional herbal system in India. Ashwagandha is used as a general tonic and “adaptogen”, helping the body adapt to temporary normal stress.*
*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.”
That’s a reassuring use of asterisks. After two months of daily use my results are below.
Subjective Happiness Scale: 6 –> 5.5
Cortisol: 3.05 (normal) –> 1.54 ng/mL (normal, low)
Free Testosterone: 84.2 (normal) –> 89.1 pg/mL (normal)
October 15
December 20
Interesting, it looks like over the last two months my reported happiness decreased and my physiological indicators of stress improved pretty significantly.
My take is these supplements are still bullshit. I believe that for a few reasons. My firsthand report is that not much changed over the two months with how I felt day to day. How much I slept, exercised, and stressed over stupid stuff tended to drive any changes in my state of mind. I also think the cortisol change is inaccurate. Because in the two months between my baseline cortisol test and the free testosterone test I tried cold therapy and vitamin supplementation that increased my free testosterone 40% and – I believe – must have greatly reduced my cortisol levels.
Finally, I was a little overworked and stressed over stupid stuff at the beginning of the two months. When I got my tests done last week I had gone into chill mode for the holidays. This seems like a much more likely culprit for any decrease in stress.
That’s my analysis. The numbers are, admittedly, somewhat intriguing. But I don’t think happiness is found in a gummy supplement. Let me know if you’d like to discuss this or have any experiments you’d like me to try out.
- Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137-155. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com.
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