Drug & supplement interaction

Bamboo + Ketoconazole

Ketoconazole brand name: Nizoral.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Bamboo and Ketoconazole in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Bamboo and Ketoconazole

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Ketoconazole and Bamboo in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Bamboo safety at a glance

Bamboo overall Use caution Properly cooked shoots are widely eaten, but supplement safety is not well studied and raw shoots can be toxic.
Pregnancy Avoid There is not enough safety data on bamboo supplements, so avoid concentrated forms during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Use caution Safety of bamboo supplements while breastfeeding is unknown; avoid concentrated extracts unless cleared by your doctor.

Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Ketoconazole and Bamboo? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Ketoconazole

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Ketoconazole is filed under 8 classifications — including antifungals, cytochrome p450 2c19 (cyp2c19) inhibitors, cytochrome p450 2c9 (cyp2c9) inhibitors. Bamboo has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being antithyroid drugs (moderate) — and none of Ketoconazole’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

Bamboo Does Interact With Other Medications

Bamboo has 5 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Ketoconazole isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Bamboo

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Bamboo. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Bamboo and Ketoconazole May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do.

  • Swelling Additional detail

    Bamboo

    “Bamboo shoots are a source of cyanide glycosides. However, the hydrogen cyanide produced by the plant is eliminated during boiling, fermentation, or superheated steam drying of the shoots. During the rescue of a male who jumped into a well which was used for bamboo shoot pickling, cyanide poisoning occurred in 8 individuals.”

    Bamboo · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cardiac arrest.

    2 sources cited
    1. 96875. Satya S, Bal LM, Singhal P, Naik SN. Bamboo shoot processing: food quality and safety aspect (a review). Trends in Food Sci. Technol. 2010;21(4):181-9. DOI
    2. 96874. Sang-A-Gad P, Guharat S, Wananukul W. A mass cyanide poisoning from pickling bamboo shoots. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2011 Nov;49(9):834-9. PubMed

    Ketoconazole

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Ketoconazole. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • A skin rash Additional detail

    Bamboo

    “Topically, bamboo shoots have been reported to cause contact dermatitis in a 44-year-old female.”

    Bamboo · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in dermatitis.

    1 source cited
    1. 33540. Kitajima T. Contact allergy caused by bamboo shoots. Contact Dermatitis 1986;15(2):100-102. PubMed

    Ketoconazole

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Ketoconazole. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Effects for Ketoconazole come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Bamboo come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

From our Q&A

Questions About Bamboo or Ketoconazole

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Bamboo or Ketoconazole, not necessarily both, but if one is close to what you were about to ask it will usually go further than a database entry can:

Not quite your question? Ask our pharmacists directly — it is free, there is no account required, and answers usually come back within 24 hours.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Ketoconazole

This page covers Bamboo only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Ketoconazole page lists 182 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major) and St. John's Wort (major).

By severity: 6 major · 135 moderate · 41 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Ketoconazole page

“Ketoconazole (Nizoral) is already hard on the liver, so treat its 182 interacting supplements with genuine care, starting with the six rated major. Most of the list runs through CYP3A4, the liver enzyme ketoconazole strongly blocks, so it can raise levels of over a hundred herbal ingredients, while grapefruit pushes ketoconazole itself…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Ketoconazole interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Bamboo as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 536 real supplement products containing Bamboo, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Bamboo. Even though Bamboo itself has no known interaction with Ketoconazole, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Bamboo and Ketoconazole Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Bamboo
Top half

#381 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Ketoconazole
Steady interest

#2,372 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Bamboo reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Bamboo and Ketoconazole records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Supplement

About Bamboo

What is Bamboo?

Bamboo
  • Source of silica for hair, skin, and nails
  • Bone and joint support
  • General nutrition (cooked shoots as food)
  • Antioxidant support
  • Traditional digestive remedy

Bamboo is a giant grass whose shoots are eaten as food and whose leaves and silica-rich extracts are sold as supplements, often for hair, skin, nail, and bone support. Solid human evidence for these benefits is limited, and raw shoots must be properly cooked because they contain natural compounds that can release cyanide. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before using bamboo supplements, especially if you have thyroid problems or are pregnant.

Poaceae · Shoots, leaves, and leaf extract (and silica-rich extracts) · Food (cooked shoots), capsules, tea, leaf extract, powder

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Bamboo is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Bamboo record says about it on its own.

Bamboo: dosing

There is no well-established standardized dose for bamboo supplements. Products vary widely in their form (leaf extract, silica extract, powder) and in how much active material they contain.If you choose to use a bamboo supplement, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

From our Bamboo monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Bamboo monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Ketoconazole

What Is Ketoconazole Used For?

Brand name: Nizoral

Ketoconazole 2% shampoo and foam are used to treat tinea versicolor (also called pityriasis versicolor) — a fungal infection caused by Pityrosporum orbiculare (also known as Malassezia furfur), a yeast that naturally lives on the skin.

This infection creates light or dark patches, most often on the trunk, neck, arms, and upper thighs. Even after the fungus is cleared, those skin patches may take months to return to their normal color — that's normal, and depends on your skin type and sun exposure. Tinea versicolor can also come back, since the fungus lives on healthy skin even when there's no active infection.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Ketoconazole

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (0 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Pruritus 984 reports
Fatigue 975 reports
Nausea 873 reports
Rash 858 reports
Diarrhea 814 reports
See full Ketoconazole drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Bamboo

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Bamboo — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
5Moderate
0Minor
2,824No known interaction
Moderate

5 interactions

No interaction 2,824 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Bamboo References

The 4 references that drive our Bamboo monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Chandra AK, Ghosh D, Mukhopadhyay S, et al. Effect of bamboo shoot, Bambusa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd. on thyroid status under conditions of varying iodine intake in rats. Indian J Exp Biol 2004;42(8):781-786.
  2. Kitajima T. Contact allergy caused by bamboo shoots. Contact Dermatitis 1986;15(2):100-102. PubMed
  3. Sang-A-Gad P, Guharat S, Wananukul W. A mass cyanide poisoning from pickling bamboo shoots. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2011 Nov;49(9):834-9. PubMed
  4. Satya S, Bal LM, Singhal P, Naik SN. Bamboo shoot processing: food quality and safety aspect (a review). Trends in Food Sci. Technol. 2010;21(4):181-9. DOI

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Bamboo and Ketoconazole Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Bamboo with Ketoconazole?
We do not list a known interaction between Bamboo and Ketoconazole. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Do Bamboo and Ketoconazole have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 2 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
How was the Bamboo and Ketoconazole combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Ketoconazole is filed under 8 classifications, and Bamboo has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Ketoconazole's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.
Does Bamboo interact with any other medications?
Yes. Bamboo has 5 documented drug interactions in our database — Ketoconazole is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.
Does Ketoconazole interact with any supplements?
Yes. Ketoconazole has documented interactions with 182 supplements in our database — Bamboo is not one of them. The Ketoconazole interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Ketoconazole and Bamboo?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.