White Willow Bark: Benefits, Side Effects, Best Time to Take It & More

White Willow Bark

(White Willow Bark Extract)

Evidence: Low
Possible Benefits: Reasonable
Safety: Low

What is white willow bark?

White willow bark is a bark from the white willow commonly used as a dietary supplement for its anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing effects. Its main bioactive compound, salicin, is an NSAID similar in its effects to aspirin. This article is about the main benefits of white willow bark, 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 most other supplements, 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 pain – White willow bark can strongly reduce back pain and other types of pain. Higher doses are generally more effective than lower doses, at least in the short term.

Minor benefits

Reduced inflammation – White willow bark appears anti-inflammatory and can improve various markers of inflammation in the body.

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.

Stomach ulcers – The supplement can cause stomach ulcers, abdominal or stomach pain, cramping, or burning.
Bloody or cloudy urine
Chest pain
Difficulty breathing
Allergic reaction – An allergy to this supplement is rare but possible.
Toxicity – While acute toxicity is rare, taking high amounts of this supplement can lead to acute or chronic toxicity and cause health problems. Regularly taking high doses can also cause the body to develop a tolerance to the NSAID. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 240 mg in a day is best unless you have a great reason to take more.
Contamination – Contaminated supplements are uncommon in the USA and other well-regulated countries. However, if you wish to buy products from China, India, or other countries without strict regulations, beware that the supplements may be contaminated. Either way, you need to choose the brand you order from wisely. Always read through some reviews for the specific product before you buy it. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the power to regulate dietary supplements but can only do so after they have been on the market for a while. That’s because supplement companies are not obligated to announce to the FDA when releasing a new product. The FDA has to discover the product and test it for potential impurities, which can take a lot of time. During that time, the supplement can be sold on the market even if it’s impure. Also, supplement companies can change their manufacturers without announcing it to the FDA.

Who should not take white willow bark?

You should probably avoid taking white willow bark if you:

don’t experience much chronic physical pain
are allergic to this supplement
experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the supplement
are pregnant or breastfeeding (while it can be safe to take this supplement during pregnancy or breastfeeding, it can put some unnecessary risk to the child)

Who will benefit the most?

You should consider taking the supplement if you:

experience high levels of chronic pain

How much white willow bark should you take?

The sweet spot dose typically ranges between 60-120 mg daily for most people. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take this supplement for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since it is safer, and you would develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.

The upper safety limit for this supplement is not well-established. To stay on the safe side, don’t take more than the recommended dose unless you have a great reason to do so. Higher amounts may cause problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.

Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle white willow bark and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance. That will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

Best time to take white willow bark

The main bioactive compounds in the white willow bark are fat-soluble, so you should always take it with food or a dietary source of fat to absorb it well.

Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.

Interactions

Melatonin
Melatonin is very protective against stomach ulceration induced by salicin in white willow bark.
Red sage
Aspirin, salicin, and other salicylates can greatly reduce the effects of red sage.
Calcium
Calcium reduces the anti-inflammatory effects of white willow bark.
Niacin
Taking aspirin or white willow bark 20-30 minutes before you take niacin is shown to prevent flushing. However, beware that there is a 40% increase in the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding when aspirin is combined with niacin.
Anticoagulants
Willow bark can reduce blood clotting. Combining it with other anticoagulants might increase the risk of bruising and bleeding.

Where to buy white willow bark?

In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering white willow bark 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

Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle white willow bark 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 supplement 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.

The supplement by itself should not worsen your sleep quality in any way. However, it’s best to take it with food, and you generally don’t want to eat any food right before bed as it could worsen your digestion and sleep quality.

This supplement should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date. However, it can lose potency over time. Keep this supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place so it remains as potent for many months or even years.

While acute toxicity is rare, taking very high amounts of this supplement could lead to various problems over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses.

While you could take higher doses, there is usually no point in taking more than 120 mg daily. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

Not much is known about the half-life of white willow bark. However, most of the effects of this supplement are cumulative, so they mainly happen in the long term rather than acutely. Therefore, the half-life of this supplement isn’t very relevant in practice.

In the long term, you must take the supplement for about 2-4 weeks to begin noticing most of the benefits.

Yes, white willow bark is vegan-friendly. If you buy the 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 should not interfere with fasting in any significant way. However, you still want to take the supplement with food as it will absorb better.

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.

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