MAGELLAN LONGEVITY
HomeSupplement–drug safety › Supplements and statins

Supplements and statins

9 documented interactions9 supplements

Most statin interactions in this dataset run through one shared route: the CYP3A4 enzyme system that clears simvastatin, atorvastatin and lovastatin. Pravastatin, rosuvastatin and pitavastatin are cleared differently, which is why “which statin” is usually the first question a pharmacist asks.

Below is every interaction Magellan documents for this class — 9 entries across 9 supplements, each with the mechanism as the cited reference states it, how serious that reference treats it, and where to take the question next.

One caveat on how to weigh them. 5 of the 9 entries below are marked class-level caution: the source flags a broad group of drugs that share a metabolic pathway — usually CYP3A4 — rather than reporting a finding about a named medicine. Those are weaker than the entries that name a specific drug, and they are labelled so you can tell the difference rather than being quietly padded in.

Check your own list

Magellan’s Medication Safety Check runs entirely on your device — type the medicines you take and it flags every documented interaction in this dataset. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Open the Medication Safety Check →

Every documented interaction in this class

Moderate Statins (e.g., simvastatin, atorvastatin, lovastatin)

Documented for Berberine

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — may change the medicine's level or its effect; the source does not commit to a single direction.

Berberine and statins share CYP3A4 metabolism; pharmacology research shows berberine can alter statin blood levels and, combined, may increase cardiotoxicity risk via CYP3A4/hERG-channel effects. Evidence is largely mechanistic/preclinical rather than large human trials, so caution and monitoring are advised rather than an absolute contraindication.

Source: The enhancement of cardiotoxicity that results from inhibition of CYP3A4 activity and hERG channel by berberine in combination with statins ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Minor Statins (atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin)

Documented for Vitamin D3

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — the source describes a change in how much of the medicine ends up in the blood.

Vitamin D and these statins compete for the same metabolizing liver enzyme; high intakes of vitamin D, especially from supplements, might reduce the potency of these particular statins.

Source: Vitamin D - Health Professional Fact Sheet ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Moderate Atorvastatin (statin)

Documented for Green tea EGCG extract

Direction of the risk: Opposing — may work against what the medicine was prescribed to do, which is a different (and easily missed) danger from an additive one.

Green tea extract can reduce blood levels of the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin, potentially reducing its effectiveness.

Source: Green Tea: Usefulness and Safety | NCCIH ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Moderate Drugs metabolized by CYP3A4 and other CYP450 enzymes class-level caution

Documented for Resveratrol

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — may change the medicine's level or its effect; the source does not commit to a single direction.

At higher doses resveratrol can systemically inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes, potentially attenuating or altering the activity of drugs that rely on these pathways; a 2020 literature review flags this as a real but understudied interaction risk.

Source: Potential Adverse Effects of Resveratrol: A Literature Review ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Moderate Statins metabolized by CYP3A4 (e.g., rosuvastatin, atorvastatin, simvastatin)

Documented for Pomegranate ellagitannins

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — the source describes a change in how much of the medicine ends up in the blood.

Pomegranate juice/extract may slow how the liver breaks down certain statins, increasing statin levels and side-effect risk.

Source: Pomegranate: Health Benefits, Side Effects, Uses, Dose & Precautions ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Minor CYP3A4-metabolized medications class-level caution

Documented for Grape seed extract

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — may change the medicine's level or its effect; the source does not commit to a single direction.

Grape seed extract inhibits the CYP3A4 enzyme in vitro and may alter blood levels of drugs metabolized through this pathway; clinical relevance has not been determined.

Source: Grape Seed | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Minor Medications metabolized by CYP3A4 class-level caution

Documented for Beetroot and dietary nitrate

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — may change the medicine's level or its effect; the source does not commit to a single direction.

Beet may alter how quickly the liver metabolizes CYP3A4-substrate drugs, potentially changing their effectiveness or side effects.

Source: Beet - Uses, Side Effects, and More ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Minor Drugs metabolized by CYP3A4, CYP2C9, or CYP2D6 class-level caution

Documented for DaVinci Labs Phyto Benefits

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — may change the medicine's level or its effect; the source does not commit to a single direction.

Individual polyphenols in this class of supplement (resveratrol-type and quercetin-type compounds) have documented in-vitro/in-vivo inhibition of these cytochrome P450 enzymes; combining several such polyphenols in one blend raises the theoretical risk of additively altered blood levels for CYP3A4/2C9/2D6-metabolized prescription drugs.

Source: Resveratrol ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Minor Drugs metabolized via cytochrome P450 pathways (antidepressants, antiseizure drugs, blood thinners, statins) class-level caution

Documented for Taurine

Direction of the risk: Drug levels — the source describes a change in how much of the medicine ends up in the blood.

Taurine may interfere with cytochrome P450 enzymes used to metabolize these drug classes at supplemental (not typical energy-drink) doses, though this is a general mechanism-based caution rather than itemized per-drug clinical data.

Source: Taurine Benefits and Side Effects ↗

What to do: Tell your prescriber or pharmacist, and mention which statin you take — some are cleared by the CYP3A4 pathway and some are not. Ask whether your usual lipid or liver testing should be repeated after you start.

Which drugs are in this class

Medicines in this group include: Atorvastatin (Lipitor), Simvastatin (Zocor), Rosuvastatin (Crestor), Lovastatin (Mevacor, Altoprev), Pravastatin (Pravachol), Pitavastatin (Livalo), Fluvastatin (Lescol).

Brand names are listed in brackets after the generic ingredient. If the name on your bottle is not here, the generic name on the label almost always is — and the Medication Safety Check accepts either.

When to seek care urgently

These are the warning signs that go with the medication classes on this page. They are general safety-netting, not a prediction that any supplement will cause them.

If something feels seriously wrong, do not wait for an appointment. Call 911 (US) or your local emergency number.

How to read a severity label

  • Major — the source describes a clinically significant risk — treat this as a combination to clear with a clinician before you start, not after.
  • Moderate — a real, documented interaction that usually calls for monitoring, separating the doses, or a prescriber-led dose change.
  • Minor — documented but usually low-impact, or based on mechanism and animal data rather than human events — still worth naming to your pharmacist.

Severity describes the interaction as the cited reference frames it, not how a specific person will react. A “minor” entry in someone with kidney disease, on five other drugs, can matter more than a “major” one in someone on nothing else.

What this page does not tell you

This is a curated set of interactions with citations — not an exhaustive pharmacology database. An interaction that is absent here has not been ruled out; it may simply not be documented in the references Magellan curates from. Supplements are also not batch-tested for identity or contamination the way prescription drugs are, so what is on the label is a claim rather than a guarantee. And most of these entries come from case reports and mechanistic work rather than randomized trials, which is exactly why the sensible response is a pharmacist review rather than either alarm or dismissal.

Supplements documented in this class

Berberine

5 documented interactions in total.

Vitamin D3

4 documented interactions in total.

Green tea EGCG extract

4 documented interactions in total.

Resveratrol

2 documented interactions in total.

Pomegranate ellagitannins

4 documented interactions in total.

Grape seed extract

2 documented interactions in total.

Beetroot and dietary nitrate

3 documented interactions in total.

DaVinci Labs Phyto Benefits

3 documented interactions in total.

Taurine

1 documented interaction in total · covered on the hub.

Other drug classes

Blood thinners · Blood pressure medications · Diabetes medications · Cancer treatment · Antibiotics · Immunosuppressants · Diuretics · Other drug classes

Back to the full supplement–drug safety hub → · The evidence-graded supplement guide →

Questions people actually ask

Which supplements interact with statins?

Berberine, Vitamin D3, Green tea EGCG extract, Resveratrol, Pomegranate ellagitannins, Grape seed extract, Beetroot and dietary nitrate, DaVinci Labs Phyto Benefits, Taurine — 9 documented entries in total (0 major, 4 moderate, 5 minor). Each entry on this page names the reference it came from.

Which drugs count as statins?

In this dataset the class includes Atorvastatin, Simvastatin, Rosuvastatin, Lovastatin, Pravastatin, Pitavastatin and others. Brand names are mapped to their generic ingredient inside the Medication Safety Check, so typing the name on your bottle works.

Does an interaction mean I have to stop the supplement?

Usually not. Most entries here call for one of three things: separating the doses by a few hours, monitoring a lab value or a home reading for a couple of weeks, or a prescriber-led dose adjustment. The decision belongs to the clinician who manages the prescription — what this page is for is making sure the conversation happens before you start rather than after something goes wrong.

Who compiles this. Magellan Longevity is written and edited by Gabriel Radu, DO — a physiatrist (New York license 275110, NPI 1376861765). Interaction entries are curated from clinical references — the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, NCCIH, MedlinePlus, Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering’s About Herbs among them — and every entry links to the reference it came from so you can check it yourself. Magellan earns affiliate commission on some products; nothing on a safety page is softened, delayed, or omitted because of it. Where a supplement we sell carries a major documented interaction, that is the first thing on the page.
Educational information, not medical advice. Supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Never start, stop, or change a prescription medication because of anything on this page. Run your own list through the Medication Safety Check →