Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. · herb
Evidence tier: limited
A five flavour adaptogen used for liver support, stress resilience, and cognitive endurance.
The lignans, chiefly schisandrin, schisandrin B, schisantherin A and gomisin A, act on liver enzyme systems and on antioxidant defences. The best documented human effect is not a benefit at all, it is enzyme inhibition: these lignans reversibly and irreversibly inhibit CYP3A4 and inhibit P glycoprotein, which is why drug levels rise. The seed's story that schisandrin 'supports Phase I and Phase II detoxification' has it backwards in the direction that matters clinically. Schisandra does not speed clearance of drugs, it SLOWS it. The claimed cortisol modulation and mitochondrial ATP effects are laboratory hypotheses, not demonstrated human mechanisms.
Limited. Memorial Sloan Kettering's About Herbs review is the clearest authority and it is unambiguous: only a small number of studies have been conducted in humans and are too limited to draw any conclusions. What exists is a handful of small single trials with no replication. A randomised double blind placebo controlled trial in 41 menopausal women reported improvement in hot flushes, sweating and palpitations (PMID 27763802). A separate randomised trial gave 1,000 mg of extract daily for 12 weeks to 45 post menopausal women and found quadriceps muscle strength improved by about 8 percent, with no change in muscle mass. A small uncontrolled study in liver transplant patients suggested improved liver function, which is a disease population and a confounded one. That is the whole human file. Everything else in the schisandra literature is cell culture, rat work, or Soviet era reports that were never conducted to modern standards. The 'adaptogen' framing deserves its own caution: it is a marketing category, not a validated clinical effect, and Europe's regulator has published a reflection paper on the adaptogenic concept precisely because the concept has not been accepted as a therapeutic indication. Safety is where schisandra becomes a real operational problem rather than a mild disappointment. Schisandra is a potent inhibitor of CYP3A4, the enzyme that clears roughly half of all prescription drugs. This is not theoretical. In transplant patients, Schisandra sphenanthera raised blood levels of the immunosuppressant tacrolimus, with clinical pharmacokinetic studies reporting increases in peak concentration of 183 and 227 percent, and Schisandra chinensis extract raising tacrolimus exposure several fold in further work. A herb that can multiply the blood level of a narrow therapeutic index drug is a herb that can cause a transplant rejection or a toxicity, and MSK also flags P glycoprotein substrates. Schisandra should never be taken alongside prescription medication without a pharmacist checking the list.
The best evidenced human dose is 1,000 mg daily of Schisandra chinensis extract for 12 weeks, the dose used in the muscle strength trial. Traditional use runs roughly 1 to 3 g of dried berry daily. No regulator has established a standard dose, and the traditional range and the extract range are not equivalent.
1 to 3 g powdered berries daily, or 100 to 500 mg standardised extract. Best taken consistently for 6+ weeks.
Onset: ~84 days
Avoid in peptic ulcer disease, severe hypertension, or with strong CYP3A4 substrate medications.
Pregnancy: avoid
Breastfeeding: avoid
Active compounds: schisandrin, schisandrin B, schisantherin A, gomisin A, deoxyschisandrin
Remedies using Schisandra · Browse by body system · Check it against what you take
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.