Codonopsis Pilosula
(Dang Shen)
Evidence: Low
Possible Benefits: Low
Safety: Reasonable
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is Codonopsis pilosula?
Codonopsis pilosula, also known as Dang Shen, is an adaptogenic herb with a long history of use as a traditional medicine. This herb is often used as a cheap replacement for Panax ginseng but it doesn’t contain ginsenosides or other main bioactive compounds found in ginseng. Dang Shen isn’t nearly as studied as Panax ginseng and doesn’t seem nearly as beneficial. This article is about the main benefits of Codonopsis pilosula, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.
Possible benefits
All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with other adaptogenic herbs, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.
Minor benefits
Possible side effects
The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.
Who should not take Codonopsis?
You should probably avoid taking Codonopsis pilosula if you:
Who will benefit the most?
You should consider taking the supplement if you:
How much Codonopsis pilosula should you take?
Because Codonopsis pilosula is an adaptogenic herb, it acts as a mild hormetic stressor on the body, which allows your body to adapt and become more resilient to certain kinds of stressors in the long term.
A higher dose does not necessarily lead to more pronounced benefits. Instead, there appears to be an inverted U-shaped dose-response pattern. In other words, you want to find a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get the benefits of Codonopsis without putting too much stress on the body or quickly causing the body to develop tolerance to the herb.
The sweet-spot dose typically ranges anywhere between 1-6 grams of dry herb daily. If you buy an x:1 extract, divide the dry herb dosage by x.
The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take this herb for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since you would develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.
While higher doses are generally safe, taking more than the sweet-spot dose daily would be counter-productive as your body would quickly develop tolerance.
Additionally, very high doses can put too much stress on your system and cause health problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.
While this herb could theoretically cause acute toxicity, you would need to take an extremely high dose that is way beyond what is generally found in even the most potent supplements.
Like with most other adaptogens, it is best to cycle Codonopsis pilosula and take about 2 days off weekly to reset your tolerance. This will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.
Keep in mind that the effects of this herb are cumulative. Therefore, you must take it for at least 2-4 weeks to notice most of the benefits. But again, cycling the herb and not taking it at least twice a week is necessary to prevent tolerance in the long term.
Best time to take Codonopsis pilosula
You can take this herb with or without food. Each of these options has its benefits. The main bioactive compounds in the herb should absorb well either way.
If you experience nausea or stomach discomfort when you take this herb, taking it with food should prevent these unpleasant effects or at least make them less intense.
If you take this herb on an empty stomach, the short-term effects will kick in faster and they will be more pronounced but will not last as long.
Whether you take this herb in the morning or the evening typically does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.
Interactions
Where to buy Codonopsis pilosula?
Amazon is the best option for ordering Codonopsis pilosula and other herbs and herbal supplements in most countries. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the internet.
Some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.
FAQ
References
Most of the information in this guide is based on scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything you read in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.
We hope this guide has helped you determine if you should add Codonopsis pilosula to your supplement stack and how to do it right.
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