Drug & supplement interaction

Garden Cress + Acarbose

Acarbose brand names: Precose, Prandase, Glucobay.

Moderate Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated September 2026
The bottom line Moderate

Garden Cress has a moderate interaction with Acarbose. Theoretically, taking garden cress with antidiabetes drugs might increase the risk of hypoglycemia.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityModerate
LikelihoodPossible
EvidenceD
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Garden Cress and Acarbose

Here is the interaction we found between these two, with the evidence behind it.

Moderate

ANTIDIABETES DRUGS

Why this applies to Acarbose

Acarbose falls under ANTIDIABETES DRUGS — the group Garden Cress interacts with.

Theoretically, taking garden cress with antidiabetes drugs might increase the risk of hypoglycemia.
Evidence from animal research suggests that an extract of garden cress can reduce blood glucose levels. This has not been shown in humans.
Severity Moderate Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Here's the simple version: garden cress may have a mild blood-sugar-lowering effect of its own. Since acarbose already works to keep your sugar from spiking after meals, stacking the two could, in theory, push your glucose a little lower than expected. With acarbose that might show up as the usual low-sugar signs like shakiness, sweating, or feeling lightheaded.

I want to be honest about the evidence, though. This blood-sugar effect from garden cress has only been seen in animal studies, not in people, so it's mostly theoretical. Cooking amounts of garden cress are very unlikely to matter. If you're using concentrated cress seed supplements, just mention it to your pharmacist or doctor and keep an eye on your home glucose readings before changing anything.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Eddouks, M. and Maghrani, M. Effect of Lepidium sativum L. on renal glucose reabsorption and urinary TGF-beta 1 levels in diabetic rats. Phytother.Res 2008;22(1):1-5.
  2. Chen X, Yuan H, Shi F, Zhu Y. Effect of garden cress in reducing blood glucose, improving blood lipids, and reducing oxidative stress in a mouse model of diabetes induced by a high-fat diet and streptozotocin. J Sci Food Agric 2020;100(5):2074-2081. PubMed
  3. Ramadan S, Hegab AM, Al-Awthan YS, Al-Duais MA, Tayel AA, Al-Saman MA. Comparison of the efficiency of Lepidium sativum, Ficus carica, and Punica granatum methanolic extracts in relieving hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia of streptozotocin-induced diabetic
  4. I Al-Suwaydani A, Alam MA, Raish M, A Bin Jardan Y, Ahad A, I Al-Jenoobi F. Effect of C. cyminum and L. sativum on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antidiabetic drug gliclazide. Curr Drug Metab 2022;23(10):842-849.
  5. Doghmane A, Aouacheri O, Laouaichia R, Saka S. The investigation of the efficacy ratio of cress seeds supplementation to moderate hyperglycemia and hepatotoxicity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. J Diabetes Metab Disord 2021;20(1):447-459. PubMed

What These Ratings Mean

Every interaction above is graded three ways — here’s the key to each label.

Severity how clinically significant the interaction is
Major

Clinically significant. Avoid the combination, or use only under close professional supervision.

Moderate

Usually worth avoiding or managing — may need monitoring, a dose change, or timing apart.

Minor

Generally not serious. Be aware of it and mention it to your pharmacist.

Likelihood how strong the evidence is that the interaction actually happens in people
  • LikelyWell-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction.
  • ProbableInteraction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
  • PossibleInteraction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.
  • UnlikelyInteraction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.
Evidence the quality of the studies behind the rating (graded A–D)
  • AHigh-quality meta-analysis (quantitative systematic review).
  • BCase-control study.
  • CConsensus.
  • DAnecdotal evidence.

These ratings are for information only. Never start, stop, or otherwise change your therapy before speaking with your provider.

Keep it in perspective

Garden Cress Also Interacts With Other Medications

Garden Cress has 397 moderate known drug interactions in our database — the Acarbose one above is one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 397 No known interaction 2,433 (incl. Acarbose)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Garden Cress

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

From our Q&A

Questions About Garden Cress or Acarbose

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

This page covers Garden Cress only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Acarbose page lists 281 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major), Wine (major) and Acai (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 240 moderate · 37 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Acarbose page

“Acarbose (Precose, Glucobay) is taken with meals to blunt the blood sugar rise after eating, and its supplement list calls for genuine care, starting with the four major-rated entries: heavy alcohol and the herb Siberian cocklebur can strain the liver alongside acarbose, while activated charcoal can soak up oral drugs and cut what reac…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Acarbose interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 16 real supplement products containing Garden Cress, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Garden Cress. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Acarbose too, on top of Garden Cress — and those would not show on this page. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Garden Cress and Acarbose 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 Garden Cress
Steady interest

#1,206 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Acarbose
Top half

#1,266 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.

Supplement

About Garden Cress

What is Garden Cress?

Garden Cress
  • Digestive support
  • Bone health
  • Iron and vitamin source
  • Cough and respiratory comfort
  • Boosting breast milk (traditional)
  • Constipation relief

Garden cress is a nutritious leafy herb and seed used widely in cooking and traditional medicine, providing vitamins, minerals, and fiber. While it has a long history of use for digestion, bone health, and lactation, strong human research supporting most medicinal claims is limited. It is generally safe as a food, but concentrated seed supplements should be used cautiously and avoided in pregnancy.

Read the full Garden Cress monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Acarbose

What Is Acarbose Used For?

Brand names: Precose, Prandase, Glucobay

Acarbose tablets are used to help control blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. They are always used together with a proper diet and regular exercise — not as a replacement for them.

Acarbose can be used on its own or combined with other diabetes medicines such as sulfonylureas, insulin, or metformin to get better blood sugar control.

See full Acarbose drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Garden Cress

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

0Major
397Moderate
0Minor
2,432No known interaction
397 Moderate 2,432 No interaction
Moderate

397 interactions

Showing 60 of 397 moderate interactions — see all 397 on the Garden Cress page.

No interaction 2,432 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,432 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Garden Cress list.

See the full Garden Cress interactions page
See every supplement checked against Acarbose, ranked by severity
Sources

Sources & How We Checked

Interaction details are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database. The medication overview comes from MedlinePlus.

Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists. See our data sources and editorial standards for how this information is built and checked.

Parts of this content are provided by the Therapeutic Research Center, LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Currently this does not check for drug-drug interactions. This is not an all-inclusive comprehensive list of potential interactions and is for informational purposes only. Not all interactions are known or well-reported in the scientific literature, and new interactions are continually being reported. Input is needed from a qualified healthcare provider including a pharmacist before starting any therapy. Application of clinical judgment is necessary.

© 2021 Therapeutic Research Center, LLC

Keep exploring
Garden Cress monograph › Uses, safety, and every drug interaction in one place Acarbose supplement interactions › Every supplement checked against Acarbose, ranked by severity Acarbose drug information › The full plain-English guide to this medication Supplement interaction checker › Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z › Every drug we've checked against herbs & supplements Ask a pharmacist › Free, personal answer from our licensed team
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Garden Cress and Acarbose Together: Common Questions

Can you take Garden Cress with Acarbose?
There is a moderate interaction, so it may be acceptable with monitoring or timing changes — but check with your pharmacist first. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
How serious is the Garden Cress and Acarbose interaction?
We rate it Moderate. This combination may require monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one. Consult your pharmacist before using them together.

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

Still Have a Question About Acarbose and Garden Cress?

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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.