Medication interaction hub

What Supplements Interact with Orlistat?

Orlistat brand names: Xenical, Alli. Every interaction below applies to the brands too.

18 Interactions 1 Major 8 Moderate 9 Minor
Curated & coded by · Clinical Pharmacist · Updated September 23, 2026

Drug–supplement interaction data sourced from Natural Medicines Pro, the licensed clinical database from TRC Healthcare / Therapeutic Research, with additional analysis by the HelloPharmacist Pharmacist Team. Our sources · Editorial policy

What is this page for?

One answer, for one medication: what supplements and herbal products interact with Orlistat? Every vitamin, herb, and supplement ingredient we’ve checked against it is on this page, ranked by severity, each linking to the full report for that exact pair.

This page covers supplement interactions only — to check Orlistat against your other medications, use the drug–drug interaction checker. Educational information from our licensed clinical databases, not medical advice. Our editorial policy

HelloPharmacist Bottom Line
Our Pharmacist Explains
What is this? The interaction data in the HelloPharmacist supplement database is licensed from Natural Medicines Pro by TRC Healthcare (Therapeutic Research). HelloPharmacist pharmacists often add our own analysis and context on top of that licensed data — such as this Bottom Line summary and the notes on individual interaction pages — and any such commentary is noted as ours.

People who take Orlistat (Xenical, Alli) for weight loss often browse the very supplement aisle where fiber products and fish oil sit, and both show up on this page, so it deserves genuine attention before you mix anything in. Nearly all 18 ingredients on file can change how oral medications absorb from the gut, and the single major-rated entry, activated charcoal, soaks up drugs broadly enough to weaken them. Fish oil is a different problem, since orlistat blocks fat absorption and may keep those fatty acids from being taken up at all.

The eight moderate entries are mostly gums and thick fibers, glucomannan among them, that slow or reduce drug uptake, and the nine minor ones follow the same pattern with weaker evidence. Skip charcoal unless a clinician specifically directs it, and space fiber supplements well apart from your oral doses. The full report below covers each one.

— , Clinical Pharmacist · July 18, 2026

Major 1 Moderate 8 Minor 9 No known interaction 1,434

This box checks one ingredient at a time (like turmeric or magnesium). Taking a supplement product with a whole label of ingredients? Search the product instead — we check every ingredient on it ↓

Top Ingredient Interactions

Orlistat: Top Interactions at a Glance

The most significant Orlistat supplement & herbal interactions, colored by severity. Tap any ingredient to open the full report for that pair.

Showing the 12 highest-ranked of 18 interacting ingredients — plus 1,434 more checked with no known interaction. See the complete ranked list.

Start here

The Major Interactions to Know About

The most clinically significant Orlistat + supplement combinations in our database, best-documented first. Open any card for the full report.

Major Likelihood Probable Activated Charcoal + Orlistati

Activated charcoal reduces systemic exposure to many drugs, including those that undergo enterohepatic recirculation, regardless of the route of administration.

Read the full interaction
The complete list

Every Supplement Checked Against Orlistat

All 1,452 ingredients in our database, ranked by severity — 18 with a Orlistat interaction on file and 1,434 with none found. Filter by severity or search any ingredient; hover the for what each ingredient is.

Looking for an interaction with a specific supplement product? Search products instead ↓

Straight answers

Can You Take It With Orlistat?

One-line answers, one card per combination — scroll through today’s 20 and tap any card for the full report. A different set rotates in daily until every combination has had its turn.

Can you take Tragacanth with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, tragacanth might alter absorption of oral drugs.

Full Tragacanth + Orlistat answer

Can you take Thyroid Extract with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Food and medications can interfere with thyroid hormone absorption.

Full Thyroid Extract + Orlistat answer

Can you take Agar with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Agar forms a thick gel, which may disrupt the absorption of nutrients and medications.

Full Agar + Orlistat answer

Can you take Algin with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Theoretically, algin can alter the absorption of oral drugs.

Full Algin + Orlistat answer

Can you take Black Psyllium with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Theoretically, psyllium might increase, decrease, or have no effect on the absorption of oral drugs.

Full Black Psyllium + Orlistat answer

Can you take Blond Psyllium with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Theoretically, psyllium might increase, decrease, or have no effect on the absorption of oral drugs.

Full Blond Psyllium + Orlistat answer

Can you take Carob with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Theoretically, carob might also impair the absorption of oral drugs.

Full Carob + Orlistat answer

Can you take Karaya Gum with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Co-administration of oral drugs with bulk forming laxatives such as karaya gum may decrease, increase, or have no effect on the absorption o...

Full Karaya Gum + Orlistat answer

Can you take Marshmallow with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Theoretically, mucilage in marshmallow might impair absorption of oral drugs.

Full Marshmallow + Orlistat answer

Can you take Xanthan Gum with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Theoretically, xanthan gum can alter the absorption of oral drugs due to its fiber qualities.

Full Xanthan Gum + Orlistat answer

Can you take Activated Charcoal with Orlistat?

Major Use real caution — this is a major-rated interaction, generally best avoided or used only under close supervision. Activated charcoal reduces systemic exposure to many drugs, including those that undergo enterohepatic recirculation, regardless of the rout...

Full Activated Charcoal + Orlistat answer

Can you take Coffee Charcoal with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Coffee charcoal can reduce the absorption of orally administered drugs and should be separated from oral drug administration by at least two...

Full Coffee Charcoal + Orlistat answer

Can you take European Mandrake with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, concurrent use might increase absorption of some drugs because of inhibited gastrointestinal (GI) motility caused by European...

Full European Mandrake + Orlistat answer

Can you take Fish Oil with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, taking fish oil with orlistat might decrease the absorption of fish oil fatty acids.

Full Fish Oil + Orlistat answer

Can you take Glucomannan with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, glucomannan may decrease absorption of drugs taken orally.

Full Glucomannan + Orlistat answer

Can you take Guar Gum with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Guar gum might reduce the absorption of some oral drugs, potentially decreasing their effectiveness.

Full Guar Gum + Orlistat answer

Can you take Gum Arabic with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, gum arabic can alter the absorption of oral drugs due to its fiber content.

Full Gum Arabic + Orlistat answer

Can you take Slippery Elm with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, slippery elm may slow the absorption and reduce serum levels of oral drugs.

Full Slippery Elm + Orlistat answer

Can you take Tragacanth with Orlistat?

Moderate Possibly, but carefully — this moderate-rated combination may need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separated timing. Theoretically, tragacanth might alter absorption of oral drugs.

Full Tragacanth + Orlistat answer

Can you take Thyroid Extract with Orlistat?

Minor Usually — this is a minor-rated interaction, generally not clinically significant but worth mentioning to your pharmacist. Food and medications can interfere with thyroid hormone absorption.

Full Thyroid Extract + Orlistat answer
Read the list like a pharmacist

What Severity, Likelihood & Evidence Mean

Severity — How Serious It Can Be

  • Major. Clinically significant; generally best avoided, or used only under direct professional supervision.
  • Moderate. May need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one.
  • Minor. Generally not clinically significant, but still worth noting and mentioning to your pharmacist.
  • No known interaction. Checked against our sources with nothing documented — not the same as proven safety.

Likelihood — How Well It’s Documented

  • Likely. Well-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction
  • Probable. Interaction 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.
  • Possible. 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
  • Unlikely. Interaction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.

Where This Data Comes From

  • Interaction records are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database (TRC Healthcare), the same reference used by pharmacists and hospitals.
  • Each entry links to a full report with the clinical detail, likelihood, evidence level, and citations for that exact combination.
  • Content is reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

How Does Our Interaction Checker Work?

Behind every verdict on this page is a category system. Our source database doesn’t document supplement interactions drug-by-drug — it documents them against groups of medications that behave the same way (for example, “drugs processed by the CYP3A4 liver enzyme” or “blood-thinning medications”).

So the check works in three steps: (1) Orlistat is classified into the pharmacology categories it belongs to, (2) every supplement interaction documented against any of those categories is inherited by Orlistat, and (3) each ingredient keeps its own severity, likelihood, and evidence grades from the underlying record. That’s why one supplement can carry several records for one drug — it may interact through more than one category.

Orlistat sits in 2 interaction categories. Open any one to see what the group means:

Oral Drugs 17 ingredients

A pharmacology grouping from our source database: medications in this group share a property that certain supplements are known to interact with, so an interaction documented for the group applies to every drug in it.

17 of the supplement ingredients on this page reach Orlistat through this category.

Orlistat (Xenical, Alli) 1 ingredient

A pharmacology grouping from our source database: medications in this group share a property that certain supplements are known to interact with, so an interaction documented for the group applies to every drug in it.

1 of the supplement ingredient on this page reaches Orlistat through this category.

About Orlistat

Orlistat is a prescription and over-the-counter weight-loss medicine used alongside a reduced-calorie diet to help with weight loss, weight maintenance, and reducing the risk of weight regain in overweight and obese adults.

Generic name: Orlistat  ·  Brand names: Xenical, Alli.

See the full Orlistat drug information

Related: does Orlistat deplete any nutrients?

Orlistat has 10 reported nutrient associations in the research literature — see the Orlistat nutrient depletion report.

Check a real product

Take a Supplement Product? Check the Whole Bottle Against Orlistat

Most supplements are combination products — and the interaction may come from an ingredient you didn’t buy it for. Search any product below (or scan its label) and we’ll check every ingredient on it against Orlistat.

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Grounded search over our product catalog — every verdict comes from our interaction database, never AI guesswork. How we use AI

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Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Orlistat & Supplements: Common Questions

What supplements interact with Orlistat?
In our interaction database, 18 supplement and herbal ingredients have an interaction with Orlistat on file — 1 rated major, 8 moderate, and 9 minor. That number sounds scarier than it is: severity matters far more than the count, which is why the list on this page is ranked instead of alphabetical. Start at the top. The highest-ranked right now: Activated Charcoal, Coffee Charcoal, European Mandrake.
Which Orlistat supplement interactions are the most serious?
The 1 major-rated combination — led by Activated Charcoal — deserve real caution: these are the ones generally best avoided, or used only with your prescriber watching. If you take any of them today, don't panic and don't stop anything abruptly — call your pharmacist first. Jump to the ranked list.
Can I take vitamins or supplements while on Orlistat?
That depends entirely on which supplement. The honest answer for Orlistat is in the ranked list above — and if what you take is a combination product with a dozen ingredients, don't check them one by one: photograph the label with our scanner and we'll check the whole thing at once. Try the label scanner or the interaction checker.
Do brands like Xenical have the same supplement interactions as Orlistat?
Yes — Xenical, Alli all contain Orlistat, so everything on this page applies to them equally. Interactions belong to the active drug, never to the brand on the box; the same is true of generics.
Where do these interaction ratings come from?
Every rating comes from the Natural Medicines database — the same evidence-graded reference pharmacists and hospitals use — and each interaction carries three separate grades: severity (how bad it can be), likelihood (how well it's documented in studies and case reports), and an evidence level. Our pharmacists review the content; we never let an AI decide an interaction. See how to read the ratings and our editorial policy.
Does Orlistat deplete any vitamins or nutrients?
It might — Orlistat has 10 reported nutrient-depletion associations in the research literature, which is a different question from interactions: instead of a supplement changing the drug, the drug may lower a nutrient over time. See the Orlistat nutrient depletion report for the specifics and what to discuss with your pharmacist.
What about Orlistat and my other medications?
This page covers Orlistat against supplements and herbal ingredients. Checking Orlistat against your other prescription or OTC medications is a different tool — our drug interaction checker covers that side. Head to the drug–drug interaction checker, or read the full Orlistat drug information.

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

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Sourcing

Where This Data Comes From — and Why You Can Trust It

🧪 Licensed clinical database

Every interaction verdict on this page comes from Natural Medicines Pro (TRC Healthcare / Therapeutic Research) — the same evidence-graded reference used by pharmacists and hospitals. We license this data directly; we do not scrape it, and no AI invents an interaction.

🧑‍⚕️ Pharmacist review

This page is curated and coded by , Clinical Pharmacist, with additional analysis by the HelloPharmacist Pharmacist Team. Editorial commentary is ours; the licensed interaction records are shown as sourced.

🔄 Kept current

Our interaction database refreshes on a weekly cycle, and this page re-checks the live database every time it’s rebuilt — what you see reflects the database as of September 23, 2026.

🔍 Full transparency

How every dataset on this site is sourced, licensed, and updated is documented publicly: our data sources · editorial policy · how we use AI.

Educational information, not medical advice. An interaction being on file does not mean it will happen to you — and absence of one is not proof of safety. Never start or stop a medication or supplement without talking to your pharmacist or doctor.