Evidence: High Possible Benefits: High Safety: Reasonable
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is relora?
Relora is a mixture of Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense (also known as amur cork tree), two adaptogenic herbs with a long history of use as traditional medicines. This herbal mixture is often used as a supplement for reducing stress and anxiety but can also have various other beneficial effects. This article is about the main benefits of relora, 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 and herbal blends, 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.
Major benefits
Reduced stress and anxiety – Magnolia interacts with the GABAA receptor in a way that can calm a person down and reduce stress and anxiety. Even very low doses (5-10 mg of total neolignans) can be effective in this regard. Relora was also shown to suppress weight gain caused by stress eating.
Reduced symptoms of depression – Both magnolia and amur cork tree have a promise in reducing symptoms of depression. High doses of magnolia (200+ mg) appear to have anti-depressive effects similar in potency to those of SSRIs. This herb achieves this effect through different mechanisms than SSRIs and appears safer than most anti-depressants. Amur cork tree may increase dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain. Low doses have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression in mice. Interestingly, high doses do not seem to have this effect. When converted into human doses, 1.6 mg/kg may have anti-depressive effects but doses of 8 mg/kg likely don’t. However, human studies are needed to confirm or disprove this benefit.
Minor benefits
Improved dental health – Gums with magnolia bark are effective at reducing acid, plaque, and gum bleeding.
Neuroprotective effects – Magnolia helps preserve cholinergic neurons during aging or toxin exposure.
Improved sleep – The main difference in regard to sleep and sleep quality is that magnolia makes it easier to fall asleep when taken in the evening. Interestingly, this herb doesn’t make people feel sleepy when they don’t want to sleep.
Improved cholesterol levels – While not very potent, berberine from amur cork tree can slightly increase HDL and lower LDL cholesterol levels. Berberine may be synergistic in this regard with statins as it reduces cholesterol levels through PCSK9 inhibition.
Kidney protection – Magnolia can reduce some biomarkers related to kidney damage in mice, which suggests it may be protective in humans as well.
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.
Pregnancy issues – Magnolia in relora might cause the uterus to contract, which can lead to a miscarriage.
Initial adverse reaction – When you start taking relora, things can get worse before they get better. This herbal blend can temporarily worsen some aspects of your health and even make you sick for a few days after you start taking it. That can be unpleasant, but it is usually a sign that the supplement is working and creating a hormetic response that allows the body to adapt and become more resilient in the long term.
Allergic reaction – Some people are allergic to this herbal mixture and may experience an allergic reaction after they start taking it. Unlike the “initial adverse reaction,” allergic reactions typically don’t disappear until one stops taking relora.
Nausea – This side effect is most common when people take the herbal blend on an empty stomach.
Diarrhea – You can usually prevent diarrhea or stomach discomfort by taking relora with a meal.
Toxicity – As an adaptogen, relora acts as a mild stressor on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, stressing the body too much can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this herbal blend could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 900 mg of relora daily is best unless you have a great reason to take more.
Contamination – If growing or storing conditions are not adequately controlled, both magnolia bark and amur cork tree can be contaminated with bacteria, molds, and other potentially harmful microorganisms. Some growers also use pesticides and herbicides that can be unsafe. Another issue is that herbal supplements can get contaminated with other supplements and chemicals during the manufacturing process. Choose the brand you get herbs and herbal supplements from wisely. It is often best to use websites like Amazon, where thousands of users have reviewed and rated the products. You are less likely to buy something of lower quality there.
Who should not take relora?
You should probably avoid taking relora extract if you:
are allergic to either magnolia or amur cork tree
exercise a lot
experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the herbal blend (though a mild adverse reaction is usually a great thing as it is a sign that the supplement is working and causing a hormetic response that allows the body to adapt and become more resilient)
are pregnant (magnolia might cause the uterus to contract, which can lead to a miscarriage)
are breastfeeding (while it can be safe to take this adaptogen during breastfeeding, it acts as a mild stressor and can put some unnecessary risk to the child)
Who will benefit the most?
You should consider taking the supplement if you:
experience lots of stress and anxiety
experience symptoms of depression
have a high budget for supplements and are willing to experiment with a variety of them (assuming you don’t fall into any of the categories that should avoid relora, this herbal blend appears safe and is unlikely to do more harm than good for most people)
How much relora should you take?
Because both magnolia and amur cork tree are adaptogenic herbs, they act as mild hormetic stressors 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 relora without putting too much pressure on the body or quickly causing the body to develop tolerance to the herbs.
If you are taking the supplement to reduce stress and anxiety, the sweet-spot dose of relora typically ranges anywhere between 300-900 mg daily. If you purchase an extract standardized for neolignans (Honokiol + Magnolol), the sweet spot dose of total neolignansis about 5-15 mg.
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.
Additionally, very high doses can put too much pressure 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’d need to take an extremely high dose that would be way beyond what even the most potent supplements contain.
Like most other adaptogens, it is best to cycle relora and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance. That 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 relora
You can take relora with or without food. Each of these options has its benefits. The main bioactive compounds in relora should absorb well either way.
If you experience nausea or stomach discomfort when you take this herbal mixture, taking it with food should prevent these unpleasant effects or at least make them less intense.
If you take this supplement 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 relora in the morning or the evening typically does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.
Interactions
Ginger Ginger can greatly enhance the anti-depressant effects of magnolia, especially when magnolia is taken at low doses. If a person takes higher doses of magnolia, ginger doesn’t increase the effects much if at all.
Where to buy relora?
In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering relora and other herbal supplements. 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
As with most other herbal supplements, it is best to cycle relora and take a break from it for about two days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. That will keep your body sensitive to the herbs in relora and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.
All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes time which can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they are often made of bovine gelatine, which rarely comes from ethical sources.
Yes, you can. This herbal mixture should not impact your sleep in any negative way. Whether you take it in the morning or the evening typically doesn’t make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.
This herbal blend should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date, but it can lose potency over time. Keep this supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place and it should remain just as potent for many months or even years.
As an adaptogen, relora acts as a mild stressor on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, putting too much pressure on the body can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking very high amounts of this supplement could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses so they may be less effective in the long term.
While you could safely take higher doses, there is usually no point in taking more than 900 mg of relora daily. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects. Paradoxically, taking a higher dose would likely lead to fewer benefits as the body would quickly become accustomed to the supplement.
Unfortunately, there is not much information about the half-life of relora in the body. However, most of the effects of this herbal blend are cumulative, so they mostly happen in the long term rather than acutely. Therefore, the half-life of this supplement isn’t very relevant in practice.
The effects of this herbal mixture are cumulative. Therefore, you must take it for at least 2-4 weeks to notice most of the benefits. But again, cycling the supplement and not taking it at least twice a week is necessary to prevent tolerance in the long term.
Yes, relora is vegan-friendly. If you buy this supplement in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.
No, it does not. The supplement does not interfere with fasting in any significant way.
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.
