--- title: Natural Depression Supplements' Dangerous Drug Interactions description: St. John's wort can interact dangerously with many common drugs canonical: https://time.com/2945885/natural-supplements-dangerous-interactions/ author: Abby Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-01T19:08:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:55:22.564Z article:section: Health og:title: Natural Depression Supplements' Dangerous Drug Interactions og:description: St. John's wort can interact dangerously with many common drugs og:url: https://time.com/2945885/natural-supplements-dangerous-interactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdffcbb5b2f00709b/69869a193bc9996dc91a45a8/st-johns-wort-alternative-medicine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5600 og:image:height: 3150 og:image:alt: St. John's wort alternative medicine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Natural Depression Supplements' Dangerous Drug Interactions twitter:description: St. John's wort can interact dangerously with many common drugs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdffcbb5b2f00709b/69869a193bc9996dc91a45a8/st-johns-wort-alternative-medicine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Natural Depression Supplements' Dangerous Drug Interactions > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=e059578b-8f9b-40b4-bdf8-d5fc4795d934&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Abby Abrams](https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Jul 1, 2014 7:08 PM UTC  Health foods store owner holding jar of St John's Wort Health foods store owner holding jar of St John's Wort Raphye Alexius—Getty Images/Image Source by [Abby Abrams](https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Jul 1, 2014 7:08 PM UTC Physicians may need to more carefully communicate the risks of natural treatments, a [new study](http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/acm.2013.0216) finds. St. John’s wort—the most frequently used alternative medicine for depression—reacts dangerously with many common medicines, but it turns out many people taking the supplement don’t know that. A study from Wake Forrest Baptist Medical Center looked at data from 17 years of the National Ambulatory Medial Care Survey and found that 28 percent of patients who said they were taking St. John’s wort were also taking drugs that have potentially dangerous interactions with the supplement. Many of those drugs are widely prescribed and taken. The most dangerous interactions come from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI antidepressants) and benzodiazepines. Other drugs that can interact dangerously with St. John’s wort include oral contraceptives, blood thinners, cancer chemotherapy medicines, digoxin, HIV medicines, statins, immunosuppressants, and verapamil. When St. John’s wort is combined with some drugs, they can reduce the concentration of the prescribed drugs in the body, leading to impaired efficacy and treatment failure. Herbal supplements fall under a category called “dietary supplements,” and manufacturers do not need FDA approval before putting them on the market, according to the [Mayo Clinic](http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/herbal-supplements/art-20046714). “The treatments that you can buy over the counter are not regulated as heavily as things you’re prescribed,” says study co-author Scott Davis. “Just because they’re natural doesn’t mean they’re safer.” Davis, a researcher at Wake Forest School of Medicine, says he was surprised by how many people were prescribed dangerous combinations of drugs. But the real number could be even higher. He believes some patients might feel embarrassed to tell their physicians they are taking natural treatments, which could prevent them from learning about potentially dangerous consequences. “There are certainly lots of physicians out there who prescribe alternative medications,” says Davis. “Patients should inform physicians of all supplements, vitamins, minerals—anything they are taking—and make sure to ask before a physician prescribes another drug if there are interactions they should know about.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2945885/natural-supplements-dangerous-interactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2945885/natural-supplements-dangerous-interactions/"},"headline":"Natural Depression Supplements' Dangerous Drug Interactions","datePublished":"2014-07-01T19:08:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:55:22.564Z","description":"St. John's wort can interact dangerously with many common drugs","url":"https://time.com/2945885/natural-supplements-dangerous-interactions/","keywords":["Drugs","medicine","Alternative Medicine","Supplements"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdffcbb5b2f00709b/69869a193bc9996dc91a45a8/st-johns-wort-alternative-medicine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abby Abrams","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdffcbb5b2f00709b/69869a193bc9996dc91a45a8/st-johns-wort-alternative-medicine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"St. John's wort alternative medicine","caption":"St. John's wort alternative medicine","creditText":"Raphye Alexius—Getty Images/Image Source","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2945885/natural-supplements-dangerous-interactions/","name":"Natural Depression Supplements' Dangerous Drug Interactions"}}]}] ```