Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis, omija in Korea) is a plant whose berries are used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine. As a supplement it has been studied for menopause symptoms and muscle strength in older adults.
Also known as: Schisandra chinensis, omija.
A 12-week trial in older adults used 1 g of extract a day (Cho 2021). A menopause trial used an extract called BMO-30 for 6 weeks (Park 2016). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
What studies show: in a trial of 54 adults over 50 who walked regularly, 12 weeks of schisandra extract increased knee strength more than placebo but did not change muscle mass, and no one had side effects (Cho 2021). In a trial of 36 women with menopause symptoms, a schisandra extract lowered symptom scores more than placebo over 12 weeks, especially hot flushes, sweating and palpitations (Park 2016). Both trials were small.
Drug interaction: a 2021 review lists schisandra among herbs that raised blood levels of tacrolimus, a transplant drug with a narrow safe range, in human and/or animal studies, by blocking CYP3A enzymes and the P-glycoprotein pump. The review says people taking tacrolimus should be told about these herb interactions.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for schisandra that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. Herbal products are mixtures of many plant compounds, so no single figure would describe them.
How Dose Track handles peptides · Reconstitution calculator · Half-life calculator