Drug & supplement interaction

Safflower + Colesevelam

Colesevelam brand names: WelChol, Lodalis.

No Known Interaction

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026

The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Safflower and Colesevelam 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 Colesevelam states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Safflower and Colesevelam

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 Colesevelam and Safflower 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.

Safflower safety at a glance

Safflower overall Use caution Safflower oil in food is generally well tolerated, but concentrated flower extracts and high-dose supplements have less safety data.

Pregnancy Likely Safe When safflower oil is used orally as part of the diet. Read the full pregnancy detail

Breastfeeding Likely Safe When safflower oil is used orally as part of the diet. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of safflower flower during lactatio... Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Colesevelam and Safflower? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›

How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Colesevelam

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Colesevelam is filed under a single classification — oral drugs. Safflower has documented interactions with 3 drug classes — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate), antidiabetes drugs (moderate) and warfarin (moderate) — and none of Colesevelam’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

Safflower Does Interact With Other Medications

Safflower has 208 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Colesevelam isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 208 No known interaction 2,622 (incl. Colesevelam)

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Safflower

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

What to actually watch for

What Safflower Itself Has Been Linked To

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

Weight loss Additional detail
“Orally, safflower oil has been associated with liver failure. There are at least 7 case reports of acute liver failure requiring liver transplant that are probably associated with over-use of safflower oil, usually for weight loss purposes. However, it is not clear what dose or duration of safflower use led to liver failure in these cases.”

Safflower · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in obesity.
1 source cited

99138. de Ataide EC, Reges Perales S, de Oliveira Peres MA, et al. Acute liver failure induced by Carthamus tinctorius oil: Case reports and literature review. Transplant Proc. 2018;50(2):476-477. PubMed

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

Special populations

Safflower in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Likely Safe

When safflower oil is used orally as part of the diet.

Pregnancy Possibly Safe

When safflower oil is administered intravenously in recommended doses by a healthcare professional.

Pregnancy Likely Unsafe

When safflower flower is used due to its abortifacient, menstrual stimulant, and uterine stimulant effects.

Lactation Likely Safe

When safflower oil is used orally as part of the diet. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of safflower flower during lactation; avoid using.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

How to take them

Some Colesevelam Products Have a Food Rule — Safflower Should Not Break It

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

Colesevelam hydrochloride should be taken as follows ( 2.2 , 2.4 ): Tablets Take 6 tablets once daily or 3 tablets twice daily with a meal and liquid.

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

Overlapping uses

What Colesevelam Is Prescribed For, and What Safflower Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Colesevelam is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Safflower is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Colesevelam is prescribed for: Colesevelam is used alongside diet and exercise to reduce high LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) in adults with primary hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). It is also approved to lower LDL cholesterol in boys and girls aged 10–17 who have heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) — an inherited condition that causes very high cholesterol — when diet and lifestyle changes alone haven't worked. Colesevelam tablets and oral suspension (Welchol and colesevelam hydrochloride products) are also used to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, as an add-on to diet and exercise. Colesevelam is not for type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

Safflower has been studied for:

Familial hypercholesterolemia studied, not established Safflower has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

Safflower for familial hypercholesterolemia

Small clinical studies suggest that substituting safflower oil in place of butter in the diet may modestly reduce cholesterol levels in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Diabetes studied, not established Safflower has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

Safflower for diabetes

Small clinical studies of oral safflower oil for improving glycemic control in patients with diabetes have yielded mixed results.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Colesevelam on your own; if you are taking Safflower for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

From our Q&A

Questions About Safflower or Colesevelam

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

This page covers Safflower only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Colesevelam 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 Colesevelam page

“Colesevelam (WelChol, Lodalis) lowers cholesterol by binding bile acids in your gut, and every one of the 17 supplements on this list can interfere with how oral medicines are absorbed in that same territory. I would treat this list with genuine care, and the place to start is activated charcoal, the only major-rated entry.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Colesevelam interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 276 real supplement products containing Safflower, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Safflower. Even though Safflower itself has no known interaction with Colesevelam, 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 Safflower and Colesevelam 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 Safflower

Top half

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

29 days ago today

Medication Colesevelam

Steady interest

#2,420 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 Safflower reference on this page ↓
Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Safflower and Colesevelam records this page draws on were last updated July 11, 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 Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS.

Supplement

About Safflower

What is Safflower?

Heart and cholesterol support
Skin moisturizing
Menstrual cramps
Mild constipation
Weight management (oil)

Safflower is a thistle-like plant used mainly for its seed oil (a common cooking oil) and its colorful flowers. Safflower oil is a reasonable source of unsaturated fats, but strong proof that supplements treat specific diseases is limited. The flower extracts have much weaker evidence and should be used with caution, especially during pregnancy.

Carthamus tinctorius · Asteraceae · Flowers (petals), seeds, and seed oil · Cooking oil, capsules (oil or CLA), tea, dried flowers, topical oil

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

Safflower: dosing

There is no official standardized dose for safflower as a medicine. Products vary widely, from cooking oil to capsules of oil, CLA, or dried flower extract, and each will have its own label directions.The best advice is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount.

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

Read the full Safflower monograph & all interactions

Medication

About Colesevelam

What Is Colesevelam Used For?

Brand names: WelChol, Lodalis

Colesevelam is used alongside diet and exercise to reduce high LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) in adults with primary hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). It is also approved to lower LDL cholesterol in boys and girls aged 10–17 who have heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) — an inherited condition that causes very high cholesterol — when diet and lifestyle changes alone haven't worked.

Colesevelam tablets and oral suspension (Welchol and colesevelam hydrochloride products) are also used to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, as an add-on to diet and exercise. Colesevelam is not for type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Colesevelam

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (2,014 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Diarrhea 241 reports

Dyspnea 172 reports

Cough 169 reports

Muscle spasms 163 reports

Nasopharyngitis 150 reports

See full Colesevelam drug information

Keep checking

Other Drugs & Safflower

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

0Major

208Moderate

0Minor

2,621No known interaction

208 Moderate 2,621 No interaction

Moderate

208 interactions

Showing 60 of 208 moderate interactions — see all 208 on the Safflower page.

No interaction 2,621 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,621 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Safflower list.

See the full Safflower interactions page

See every supplement checked against Colesevelam, ranked by severity

Evidence & sources

Safflower References

The 14 references that drive our Safflower 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.

The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
Leung AY, Foster S. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics. 2nd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A, eds. American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC 1997.
Borkman M, Chisholm DJ, Furler SM, et al. Effects of fish oil supplementation on glucose and lipid metabolism in NIDDM. Diabetes 1989;38:1314-9.. PubMed
Amato, P. and Quercia, R. A. A historical perspective and review of the safety of lipid emulsion in pregnancy. Nutr Clin Pract. 1991;6(5):189-192. PubMed
Demke, D. M., Peters, G. R., Linet, O. I., Metzler, C. M., and Klott, K. A. Effects of a fish oil concentrate in patients with hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis 1988;70(1-2):73-80. PubMed
Kaji, K., Yoshida, S., Nagata, N., Yamashita, T., Mizukoshi, E., Honda, M., Kojima, Y., and Kaneko, S. An open-label study of administration of EH0202, a health-food additive, to patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Gastroenterol. 2004;39(9):873-878. PubMed
Kwon, J. S., Snook, J. T., Wardlaw, G. M., and Hwang, D. H. Effects of diets high in saturated fatty acids, canola oil, or safflower oil on platelet function, thromboxane B2 formation, and fatty acid composition of platelet phospholipids. Am.J.Clin.Nutr. PubMed
Lloyd-Still, J. D., Simon, S. H., Wessel, H. U., and Gibson, L. E. Negative effects of oral fatty acid supplementation on sweat chloride in cystic fibrosis. Pediatrics 1979;64(1):50-52. DOI
Challen, A. D., Branch, W. J., and Cummings, J. H. The effect of aspirin and linoleic acid on platelet aggregation, platelet fatty acid composition and haemostasis in man. Hum Nutr Clin Nutr 1983;37(3):197-208.
Asp ML, Collene AL, Norris LE, Cole RM, Stout MB, Tang SY, Hsu JC, Belury MA. Time-dependent effects of safflower oil to improve glycemia, inflammation and blood lipids in obese, post-menopausal women with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-masked, cro
Liu Y, Liu S, Shi Y, et al. Effects of safflower injection on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of warfarin in rats. Xenobiotica. 2017 Oct 25:1-6. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
de Ataide EC, Reges Perales S, de Oliveira Peres MA, et al. Acute liver failure induced by Carthamus tinctorius oil: Case reports and literature review. Transplant Proc. 2018;50(2):476-477. PubMed
Ruyvaran M, Zamani A, Mohamadian A, et al. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) oil could improve abdominal obesity, blood pressure, and insulin resistance in patients with metabolic syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. 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 Safflower and Colesevelam Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Safflower with Colesevelam?

We do not list a known interaction between Safflower and Colesevelam. 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 Safflower and Colesevelam at the same time of day?

At least one FDA label for a product containing Colesevelam says to take it with food. If you take Safflower on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Colesevelam with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Colesevelam products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.

Are Safflower and Colesevelam used for the same thing?

They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Safflower in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Colesevelam is being adjusted to a target.

How was the Safflower and Colesevelam combination checked?

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Colesevelam is filed under 1 classification, and Safflower has documented interactions with 3 drug classes — none of Colesevelam'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 Safflower interact with any other medications?

Yes. Safflower has 208 documented drug interactions in our database — Colesevelam 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 Colesevelam interact with any supplements?

Yes. Colesevelam has documented interactions with 17 supplements in our database — Safflower is not one of them. The Colesevelam 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

Safflower monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Colesevelam drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Colesevelam supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Colesevelam, 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 14 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Colesevelam and Safflower?

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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.