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Rhodiola
A root with no authorised EU health claim and one question that comes before any other: whether you take an antidepressant. We use it in two formulas, both in the morning, because taken late it can cost you sleep. This page gives you what our file says about it, including the places where our own records do not agree yet.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
No authorised claim. Nothing on the register to quote.
Rhodiola has no health claim authorised under Regulation (EU) 432/2012. It is a botanical, and most botanical claims have been on the European Commission's on-hold list since 2010, waiting for EFSA to evaluate them. Our ingredient file records an EU herbal monograph for it, though our formula records say there is no formal one; either way, a herbal monograph is about medicinal use, not a food claim. So there is no wording we can quote for you, and we do not write a sentence that sounds like one.Rhodiola has no health claim authorised under Regulation (EU) 432/2012. A herbal monograph, which our own records disagree on, is about medicinal use, not a food claim, so there is no wording we can quote for you.
We use it in formulas for stress and for cortisol, and neither is an authorised claim for rhodiola. Our ingredient file records an EU herbal monograph covering traditional use for the temporary relief of symptoms of stress, listed in our notes as mood, fatigue and weakness. Our formula records say the opposite: that there is no formal monograph from the EMA's herbal committee (HMPC) for rhodiola, and they point to an ESCOP monograph instead, at 300 to 600 mg a day for 12 weeks. We have not reconciled the two. The evidence in our file includes a systematic review of randomised trials (Hung 2011), a placebo-controlled trial of a standardised extract in stress-related fatigue (Olsson 2009) and a further study by Edwards and colleagues that our file lists among its main trials. That is a reason to include it, not a permission to promise anything. Where one of those formulas carries an authorised claim, it comes from the magnesium next to it, from the B5 in Chronic cortisol, and from the B6 and B12 in Stress & nervous system, not from the rhodiola.
WHY THE STANDARDISED ROOT
The root, standardised to two compounds.
The part used is the root and rhizome, and the compounds our file points to are rosavins and salidroside. So we specify the plant, the part and the standard: a dry extract of Rhodiola rosea root and rhizome, standardised to 3% rosavins and 1% salidroside. Our EU regulatory record names that standard as the required form. Our file also records a mild effect on serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine, which is why the antidepressant question on this page matters.
Rhodiola rosea L., also sold as roseroot, golden root or arctic root. We use the root and rhizome, as a dry extract.
A 3:1 ratio, equivalent to SHR-5, the standardised extract used in the stress-related fatigue trial listed in our sources.
Stable in a liquid, sensitive to light, soluble in water, most comfortable between pH 5 and 7, and bitter. A concentrated form exists, which lets it take up less of the dose.
There is no authorised claim for any rhodiola extract, SHR-5 included, and we are not going to imply one. The standard is there so that what is in your dose matches what was studied: 200 to 680 mg a day of standardised extract in the trials in our ingredient file, typically 200 to 400 mg. Our records do not agree on the low end, though. Our dose record lists 600 mg a day as the minimum effective dose, and the ESCOP monograph named in our formula records gives 300 to 600 mg a day. Our formulas carry 200 and 300 mg, so on the dose record both sit below that minimum, and against the ESCOP range only Chronic cortisol reaches the bottom of it. We have not reconciled these records. The standard is not there to make it sound stronger.There is no authorised claim for any rhodiola extract, SHR-5 included. Our records disagree on the dose: one lists 600 mg a day as the minimum effective dose, above the 200 and 300 mg our formulas carry. We have not reconciled them.
WHERE IT APPEARS
Two of the twenty-nine carry rhodiola.
Both go out in the morning, with food where possible, and both run in the same rounds: eight weeks on, four off, three rounds a year at most. Chronic cortisol carries 300 mg; when your morning cortisol comes back to normal, the next step on file is Stress & nervous system, at 200 mg. Both also carry ashwagandha in the same dose, which our own interaction record says to avoid. That is waiting for a clinical decision.
THE CEILING
No EFSA limit. The cap in our file: 680 mg a day.
EFSA has not set a tolerable upper intake level for rhodiola, and a herbal monograph gives a dose rather than a ceiling, so there is no official limit to draw here. Our ingredient file caps it at 680 mg a day of standardised extract, across everything you take. Our two formulas carry 200 and 300 mg, so even together they come to 500 mg. No limit is not the same as no risk: with rhodiola, the risk is the medication it meets, not the number.EFSA has not set an upper limit for rhodiola. Our file caps it at 680 mg a day across your whole plan; our two formulas together come to 500 mg.
Our file prefers the morning, because taken late it can cause insomnia. Both formulas that carry it go out in the morning. Rhodiola itself can be taken with or without food.
Our file recommends cycling rhodiola: six to eight weeks on, one to two off. Both formulas run in rounds of 56 days with a 28-day pause, three rounds a year at most. Each round ends with a check: Chronic cortisol looks at morning cortisol, perceived stress (the PSS-10 scale), liver enzymes (ALT and AST) and TSH; Stress & nervous system looks at morning cortisol or the PSS-10, and adds TSH and liver enzymes where there is any thyroid risk or liver doubt.
Our file rules it out if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, because there are not enough data, and in children; both formulas exclude anyone under 18. Avoid it if you have bipolar disorder or mania, because of the risk of a relapse. It is not for you if you take psychiatric medication, especially an SSRI, and if you take any antidepressant, whether an SSRI, an SNRI or an MAOI, talk to your healthcare professional first: the effects on serotonin can add up. Ask a doctor first if you have liver disease, a heart condition or an arrhythmia (it has a mild stimulating effect) or high blood pressure. Data in cancer are limited. Our file finds no significant contraindication in kidney disease or with anticoagulants. Reported side effects are insomnia if taken late, agitation, dry mouth, dizziness and irritability; it is generally well tolerated. Both formulas that carry it go further: they exclude liver disease and heart conditions outright, and also autoimmune disease, thyroid dysfunction, hyperandrogenism and anyone on CNS sedatives. Those four come from the ashwagandha next to it, not from the rhodiola. Read their pages before you start.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
Documented pairs, not hunches.
Rhodiola is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. Seven of them are documented so far, out of the 443 pairs on file, and one engine rule counts it with four other ingredients that act on serotonin. No medication pair is entered in our table yet: the medication warnings below come from its ingredient file.
Charcoal binds its plant compounds, so it is never served in the same dose and stays at least 3 hours away. Glucomannan can lower how much of the extract you absorb, so it stays at least 2 hours away.
Our file describes rhodiola as activating, for the morning, and ashwagandha as sedating, for later in the day: in one dose they send opposite signals to the stress axis. The rule on file is to keep them in separate doses, morning and night. Stress & nervous system and Chronic cortisol carry both in the same morning dose today, and that contradiction is waiting for a clinical decision.
Rhodiola is mildly activating, and with caffeine it can add up to insomnia or agitation if you are sensitive. The rule on file is to monitor the pair and cap caffeine at 75 mg when rhodiola is above 200 mg, as it is in Chronic cortisol. Acute energy carries 75 mg of caffeine, Cognitive & focus 100 mg and Pre-workout 150 mg.
Two activating adaptogens together can overstimulate you and cost you sleep at higher doses. Fine at low doses, with an eye on your sleep. Ginseng is in Acute energy, at 200 mg.
Our engine counts rhodiola among five ingredients that act on serotonin. With two or more of them in your plan, it limits them to one or two pathways, and never combines them with a profile flagged for SSRIs, MAOIs or triptans, because of the risk of serotonin syndrome.
Cordyceps is filed as a pairing for physical performance and oxygen use. L-tyrosine supplies the raw material for the catecholamines our file says rhodiola modulates, and is filed as a pairing for focus under stress. Compatible means they can share a dose; it is not a promise about how you will feel.
With antidepressants, whether SSRIs, SNRIs or MAOIs, the effects on serotonin can add up; the evidence is preliminary, mostly case reports, but the risk is serotonin syndrome. Our engine rules exclude rhodiola at high dose if you take an SSRI. Our notes also list a mild added effect with blood pressure medication, a slight further drop in blood sugar with diabetes medication, an added stimulating effect with stimulants such as caffeine or synephrine, and, from laboratory studies, an effect on the liver enzymes CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 that calls for care if you take several medicines. The app asks about medication before any formula carrying it is assigned.
443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked. Our notes also flag L-tryptophan, which adds to the effect on serotonin, other adaptogens such as schisandra, eleuthero and maca, and yerba mate, which adds to the stimulation; none is entered as a pair yet. And our two records disagree on those liver enzymes: the ingredient file says rhodiola induces CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 in the lab, while the pharmacokinetic record says it weakly inhibits CYP3A4 and inhibits P-glycoprotein. We have not reconciled the two, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked, and our own records still disagree on how rhodiola affects the enzymes that clear medicines.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026Read the introduction to Rhodiola Rosea →
140 INGREDIENTS · 64 IN USE TODAY
Every one of them has a page like this.
What it is, what we are allowed to say about it, which formulas carry it, what it reacts with and where each of those statements comes from. No proprietary blends, no hidden amounts.