Drug & supplement interaction

Calumba + nitazoxanide

nitazoxanide brand name: Alinia.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Calumba and nitazoxanide 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 label for nitazoxanide states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Calumba and nitazoxanide

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 nitazoxanide and Calumba 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.

Calumba safety at a glance

Calumba overall Use caution Little modern safety data exists, so use it cautiously and ideally under professional guidance.
Pregnancy Avoid Safety is unknown, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid There is not enough information to consider it safe while breastfeeding.

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

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

Why No Interaction Is Listed for nitazoxanide

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. nitazoxanide is filed under a single classification — oral drugs. Calumba has documented interactions with 3 drug classes — the most serious being antacids (minor), h2-blockers (minor) and proton pump inhibitors (ppis) (minor) — and none of nitazoxanide’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

Calumba Does Interact With Other Medications

Calumba has 36 minor known drug interactions in our database — nitazoxanide isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Minor 36 No known interaction 2,794 (incl. nitazoxanide)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Calumba

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

What to actually watch for

What Calumba Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves nitazoxanide. It is the side-effect record for Calumba on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Calumba, this list is the first place to look.

  • Vomiting Additional detail

    “Orally, large doses of calumba may cause vomiting and epigastric pain (18).”

    Calumba · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in nausea and vomiting.

    1 source cited
    1. 18. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.

Everything above comes from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record for Calumba — expand a row for the licensed statement it rests on. We read the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of nitazoxanide’s FDA label too, and the two lists don’t meaningfully overlap — which is why no nitazoxanide column appears here.

How to take them

Some nitazoxanide Products Have a Food Rule — Calumba Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing nitazoxanide says to take it with food. If you take Calumba on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take nitazoxanide with a meal where the label says to.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two nitazoxanide products can carry different directions, and extended-release forms often differ from immediate-release ones. The label we read is quoted below — check the directions on your own box or bottle, or ask your pharmacist, for how to take the exact product you were given.

parvum (2.1): Age Dosage Duration 12 years and older One nitazoxanide tablet (500 mg nitazoxanide) every 12 hours with food 3 days 2.1 Recommended Dosage and Important Administration Instructions Important Administration Instructions for Pediatric Patients 11 years of Age or Younger: Nitazoxanide tablets should not be administered to pediatric patients 11 years of age or younger because a single t

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for nitazoxanide — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. See the nitazoxanide drug page ›

A food rule is not an interaction — it is about how much of the medicine you absorb. The directions that came with your own product, and your pharmacist, outrank anything on this page.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With nitazoxanide

This page covers Calumba only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the nitazoxanide page lists 17 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Coffee Charcoal (moderate), European Mandrake (moderate), Glucomannan (moderate) and Guar Gum (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 7 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the nitazoxanide page

“Nitazoxanide (Alinia) is an antiparasitic taken as a short course, often just three days, to clear gut infections like giardiasis, so every dose needs to actually reach the bloodstream. That is exactly what the 17 supplements on this page can undermine, and it is why this list deserves real care rather than a shrug.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the nitazoxanide interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Calumba and nitazoxanide 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 Calumba
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication nitazoxanide
Steady interest

#1,744 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 Calumba reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Calumba and nitazoxanide 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 Calumba

What is Calumba?

  • Poor appetite
  • Digestive upset and indigestion
  • Nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • As a bitter tonic

Calumba is the dried root of an African climbing plant that has long been used as a bitter tonic to stimulate appetite and ease digestive complaints. Modern scientific evidence for these uses is very limited, and its safety has not been well studied, so it should be used cautiously and avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Jateorhiza palmata · Menispermaceae · Dried root · Dried root, powder, tincture, liquid extract, capsules

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

Calumba: dosing

There is no well-established standardized dose for Calumba. Traditional sources used the dried root, powder, tinctures, or liquid extracts, but reliable modern dosing guidelines do not exist.If you choose to use a Calumba product, follow the directions on the label and do not exceed them.

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

Read the full Calumba monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Nitazoxanide

What Is Nitazoxanide Used For?

Brand name: Alinia

Nitazoxanide tablets (for patients 12 years and older) treat diarrhea caused by two parasites: Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum. These are intestinal parasites that can cause significant diarrhea and digestive upset.

Important limitation: nitazoxanide tablets and Alinia for oral suspension have not been shown to work for diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium parvum in people who are HIV-positive or have a weakened immune system.

See full Nitazoxanide drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Calumba

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

0Major
0Moderate
36Minor
2,793No known interaction
36 Minor 2,793 No interaction
Minor

36 interactions

No interaction 2,793 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Calumba against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,793 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Calumba list.

See the full Calumba interactions page
See every supplement checked against nitazoxanide, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Calumba References

The 2 references that drive our Calumba 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. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
  2. Brinker F. Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions. 2nd ed. Sandy, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.

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 Calumba and nitazoxanide Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Calumba with nitazoxanide?
We do not list a known interaction between Calumba and nitazoxanide. 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.
Should I take Calumba and nitazoxanide at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing nitazoxanide says to take it with food. If you take Calumba on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take nitazoxanide with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two nitazoxanide products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Calumba and nitazoxanide combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. nitazoxanide is filed under 1 classification, and Calumba has documented interactions with 3 drug classes — none of nitazoxanide'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 Calumba interact with any other medications?
Yes. Calumba has 36 documented drug interactions in our database — nitazoxanide 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 nitazoxanide interact with any supplements?
Yes. nitazoxanide has documented interactions with 17 supplements in our database — Calumba is not one of them. The nitazoxanide interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

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

Where next

Keep Exploring

Calumba monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Nitazoxanide drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication nitazoxanide supplement interactions Every supplement checked against nitazoxanide, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 2 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About nitazoxanide and Calumba?

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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.