Drug & supplement interaction

Garcinia + Colestipol

Colestipol brand name: Colestid.

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 Garcinia and Colestipol 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 Colestipol states a food rule worth keeping to, and 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

Garcinia and Colestipol

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 Colestipol and Garcinia 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.

Garcinia safety at a glance

Garcinia overall Use caution Generally tolerated short-term, but rare reports of liver injury warrant caution.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid use during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety data; avoid use while breastfeeding.

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

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

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Colestipol

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Colestipol is filed under 2 classifications — bile acid sequestrants, oral drugs. Garcinia has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate), antidiabetes drugs (moderate) and hepatotoxic drugs (moderate) — and none of Colestipol’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

Garcinia Does Interact With Other Medications

Garcinia has 704 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Colestipol isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 704 No known interaction 2,126 (incl. Colestipol)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Garcinia

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Garcinia and Colestipol 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.

  • Stomach upset Additional detail

    Garcinia

    “Orally, garcinia and its constituent, hydroxycitric acid (HCA), seem to be generally well tolerated in clinical research.

    Most Common Adverse Effects:

    Orally: Diarrhea, gastrointestinal discomfort, headache, and nausea.

    Serious Adverse Effects (Rare):

    Orally: Garcinia has been linked with cases of hepatotoxicity and liver failure. There have also been rare cases of mania and pancreatitis.”

    Garcinia · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    Colestipol

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

  • Swelling Additional detail

    Garcinia

    “In one case, a 35-year-old female presented with ocular pain in both eyes, decreased vision in the left eye, headache, dizziness, and nausea after taking garcinia extract orally for one week. Ophthalmologic testing was consistent with adverse ocular effects, showing myopic shift with anterior chamber shallowing and swelling of retinal nerve fiber and macula.”

    Garcinia · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    1 source cited
    1. 102546. Cho HK, Han YS, Park JM. Ocular complications of Garcinia cambogia extract diet pills: case report. Eur J Ophthalmol 2019:1120672119872364. PubMed

    Colestipol

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

  • Stomach pain Additional detail

    Garcinia

    “Orally, garcinia and its constituent hydroxycitric acid (HCA) might cause liver toxicity. Several cases of acute liver toxicity have been reported in patients taking garcinia supplements. Reported doses of garcinia extract range from 480-1800 mg daily, providing up to 900 mg HCA daily. However, not all experts agree that HCA plays a causal role in the hepatotoxicity associated with garcinia supplements;”

    Garcinia · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cirrhosis.

    6 sources cited
    1. 93392. Corey R, Werner KT, Singer A, Moss A, Smith M, Noelting J, Rakela J. Acute liver failure associated with Garcinia cambogia use. Ann Hepatol. 2016 Jan-Feb;15(1):123-6. PubMed
    2. 93393. Melendez-Rosado J, Snipelisky D, Matcha G, Stancampiano F. Acute hepatitis induced by pure Garcinia cambogia. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2015 May-Jun;49(5):449-50. PubMed
    3. 93394. García-Cortés M, Robles-Díaz M, Ortega-Alonso A, Medina-Caliz I, Andrade RJ. Hepatotoxicity by Dietary Supplements: A Tabular Listing and Clinical Characteristics. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Apr 9;17(4):537. PubMed
    4. 95573. Lunsford KE, Bodzin AS, Reino DC, Wang HL, Busuttil RW. Dangerous dietary supplements: Garcinia cambogia -associated hepatic failure requiring transplantation. World J Gastroenterol. 2016;22(45):10071-10076.
    5. 102544. Yousaf MN, Chaudhary FS, Hodanazari SM, Sittambalam CD. Hepatotoxicity associated with Garcinia cambogia: a case report. World J Hepatol 2019;11(11):735-42.
    6. 102545. Mas Ordeig A, Bordón García N. Hepatotoxicity caused by Garcinia cambogia. Gastroenterol Hepatol 2020;43(3):134-5. DOI

    Colestipol

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

  • Dizziness Additional detail

    Garcinia

    “Orally, garcinia and its active constituent hydroxycitric acid (HCA) may cause headache and dizziness. A 35-year-old female reported ocular complications, headache, dizziness, and nausea after taking garcinia extract, providing more than 500 mg of HCA, three times daily for one week. The patient's neurologic symptoms resolved one day after discontinuing the garcinia extract.”

    Garcinia · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    2 sources cited
    1. 11977. Soni MG, Burdock GA, Preuss HG, et al. Safety assessment of (-)-hydroxycitric acid and Super CitriMax, a novel calcium/potassium salt. Food Chem Toxicol 2004;42:1513-29. PubMed
    2. 102546. Cho HK, Han YS, Park JM. Ocular complications of Garcinia cambogia extract diet pills: case report. Eur J Ophthalmol 2019:1120672119872364. PubMed

    Colestipol

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

  • Diarrhea Additional detail

    Garcinia

    “Orally, garcinia and its active constituent hydroxycitric acid (HCA) have caused mild and infrequent nausea, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal symptoms.”

    Garcinia · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    5 sources cited
    1. 728. Heymsfield SB, Allison DB, Vasselli JR, et al. Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) as a potential antiobesity agent: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280:1596-600. PubMed
    2. 11977. Soni MG, Burdock GA, Preuss HG, et al. Safety assessment of (-)-hydroxycitric acid and Super CitriMax, a novel calcium/potassium salt. Food Chem Toxicol 2004;42:1513-29. PubMed
    3. 19153. Preuss HG, Bagchi D, Bagchi M, et al. Effects of a natural extract of (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA-SX) and a combination of HCA-SX plus niacin-bound chromium and Gymnema sylvestre extract on weight loss. Diabetes Obes Metab 2004;6:171-180.
    4. 88158. Vasques CA, Schneider R, Klein-Júnior LC, et al. Hypolipemic effect of Garcinia Cambogia in obese women. Phytother Res 2014;28(6):887-91.
    5. 88159. Marquez F, Babio N, Bullo M, Salas-Salvado J. Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of hydroxycitric acid or Garcinia cambogia extracts in humans. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2012;52:585-94.

    Colestipol

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

  • Headache / Nausea Additional detail

    Garcinia

    Recorded for Garcinia in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Stomach upset above.

    Colestipol

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

Reported for Garcinia but not commonly for Colestipol: liver problems, confusion, blurred vision and pancreatitis.

Effects for Colestipol come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Garcinia 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.

How to take them

Some Colestipol Products Have a Food Rule — Garcinia Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Colestipol says to take it on an empty stomach. Most supplements — Garcinia included — are taken with a meal, so the easy mistake is swallowing both together at breakfast. Where that rule applies, keep Colestipol on its own and move Garcinia to a meal later in the day.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Colestipol 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.

Patients should take other drugs at least one hour before or four hours after colestipol hydrochloride tablets to minimize possible interference with their absorption.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Colestipol — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. Read the label on DailyMed ›

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.

From our Q&A

Questions About Garcinia or Colestipol

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Garcinia or Colestipol, 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 Colestipol

This page covers Garcinia only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Colestipol page lists 18 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 · 8 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Colestipol page

“Take colestipol (Colestid), a cholesterol drug that works by trapping bile acids in your gut, and nearly every one of the 18 supplement interactions on file comes down to absorption. Only one rates major, activated charcoal, and it belongs at the top of your reading.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Colestipol interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 1,374 real supplement products containing Garcinia, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Garcinia. Even though Garcinia itself has no known interaction with Colestipol, 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 Garcinia and Colestipol 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 Garcinia
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Colestipol
Top half

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

What is Garcinia?

Garcinia
  • Weight loss
  • Appetite suppression
  • Curbing sugar and carb cravings
  • Supporting metabolism
  • Traditional cooking and souring agent

Garcinia is a tropical fruit whose rind contains hydroxycitric acid (HCA), widely marketed for weight loss and appetite control. The scientific evidence is weak and mixed, with most studies showing only small or no meaningful weight effects, and rare reports of liver problems raise safety concerns. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before trying it, especially if you have liver issues, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding.

Garcinia gummi-gutta · Clusiaceae · Fruit rind (pericarp) · Capsules, tablets, powders, gummies, and liquid extracts (often standardized to a percentage of HCA)

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

Garcinia: dosing

There is no well-established, proven dose for Garcinia. Products vary widely in their strength and in how much HCA they contain, which makes it hard to compare one product to another.If you choose to use it, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Garcinia monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Colestipol

What Is Colestipol Used For?

Brand name: Colestid

Colestipol — available as oral suspension and tablets under brands including Colestid, Flavored Colestid, and Colestipol Hydrochloride — is used as part of a broader treatment plan (including diet) to lower elevated LDL cholesterol in adults with primary hypercholesterolemia (a condition where LDL cholesterol stays high despite dietary changes).

It is not a standalone fix. Diet, weight management, and other lifestyle changes come first, and colestipol is added when those steps alone aren't enough to reach target LDL levels.

See full Colestipol drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Garcinia

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

0Major
704Moderate
0Minor
2,125No known interaction
704 Moderate 2,125 No interaction
Moderate

704 interactions

Showing 60 of 704 moderate interactions — see all 704 on the Garcinia page.

No interaction 2,125 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,125 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Garcinia list.

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

Garcinia References

The 44 references that drive our Garcinia 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. Heymsfield SB, Allison DB, Vasselli JR, et al. Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) as a potential antiobesity agent: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280:1596-600. PubMed
  2. Soni MG, Burdock GA, Preuss HG, et al. Safety assessment of (-)-hydroxycitric acid and Super CitriMax, a novel calcium/potassium salt. Food Chem Toxicol 2004;42:1513-29. PubMed
  3. Stevens T, Qadri A, Zein NN. Two patients with acute liver injury associated with use of the herbal weight-loss supplement hydroxycut. Ann Intern Med 2005;142:477-8. PubMed
  4. Willis SL, Moawad FJ, Hartzell JD, et al. Hypertensive retinopathy associated with use of the ephedra-free weight-loss herbal supplement Hydroxycut. MedGenMed 2006;8:82.
  5. Preuss HG, Bagchi D, Bagchi M, et al. Effects of a natural extract of (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA-SX) and a combination of HCA-SX plus niacin-bound chromium and Gymnema sylvestre extract on weight loss. Diabetes Obes Metab 2004;6:171-180.
  6. Mansi IA, Huang J. Rhabdomyolysis in response to weight-loss herbal medicine. Am J Med Sci 2004;327:356-357. PubMed
  7. Lopez AM, Kornegay J, Hendrickson RG. Serotonin Toxicity Associated with Garcinia cambogia Over-the-counter Supplement. J Med Toxicol. 2014 Apr 4. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
  8. Michno A, Skibowska A, Raszeja-Specht A, Cwikowska J, Szutowicz A. The role of adenosine triphosphate citrate lyase in the metabolism of acetyl coenzyme a and function of blood platelets in diabetes mellitus. Metabolism 2004;53(1):66-72. PubMed
  9. Asghar M, Monjok E, Kouamou G, et al. Super CitriMax (HCA-SX) attenuates increases in oxidative stress, inflammation, insulin resistance, and body weight in developing obese Zucker rats. Mol Cell Biochem 2007;304(1-2):93-99. PubMed
  10. Wielinga PY, Wachters-Hagedoorn RE, Bouter B, et al. Hydroxycitric acid delays intestinal glucose absorption in rats. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2005;288(6):G1144-G1149. PubMed
  11. Leonhardt M, Balkan B, Langhans W. Effect of hydroxycitrate on respiratory quotient, energy expenditure, and glucose tolerance in male rats after a period of restrictive feeding. Nutrition 2004;20(10):911-915. PubMed
  12. Bunchorntavakul, C. and Reddy, K. R. Review article: herbal and dietary supplement hepatotoxicity. Aliment.Pharmacol.Ther 2013;37(1):3-17. PubMed
  13. Vasques CA, Schneider R, Klein-Júnior LC, et al. Hypolipemic effect of Garcinia Cambogia in obese women. Phytother Res 2014;28(6):887-91.
  14. Marquez F, Babio N, Bullo M, Salas-Salvado J. Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of hydroxycitric acid or Garcinia cambogia extracts in humans. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2012;52:585-94.
  15. Allen SF, Godley RW, Evron JM, et al. Acute necrotizing eosinophilic myocarditis in a patient taking Garcinia cambogia extract successfully treated with high-dose corticosteroids. Can J Cardiol 2014;30(12):1732 e13-1732 e15. PubMed

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 Garcinia and Colestipol Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Garcinia with Colestipol?
We do not list a known interaction between Garcinia and Colestipol. 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 Garcinia and Colestipol have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 7 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.
Should I take Garcinia and Colestipol at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Colestipol says to take it on an empty stomach, and supplements are usually taken with a meal — so taking them together at breakfast is the easy mistake. Where that applies, keep Colestipol on its own and move Garcinia to a meal later in the day. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient, so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
How was the Garcinia and Colestipol combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Colestipol is filed under 2 classifications, and Garcinia has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — none of Colestipol'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 Garcinia interact with any other medications?
Yes. Garcinia has 704 documented drug interactions in our database — Colestipol 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 Colestipol interact with any supplements?
Yes. Colestipol has documented interactions with 18 supplements in our database — Garcinia is not one of them. The Colestipol 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

Garcinia monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Colestipol drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Colestipol supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Colestipol, 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 44 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Colestipol and Garcinia?

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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.