Does Bloom Greens & Superfoods Have Any Drug Interactions?

Answer

Thanks for reaching out! Answering whether or not the dietary supplement Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods has clinically significant drug interactions is tough to do definitively. It certainly does contain ingredients that have documented drug interactions (e.g., licorice and ashwagandha), but the amounts of most of these ingredients are relatively low and most of the reported interactions aren't thought to be clinically significant for most individuals.

Additionally, you don't mention what medications you are taking. So, what I'll do is provide a breakdown of the ingredients contained in Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods and discuss some general information regarding drug interactions.

If you have a question about a specific ingredient in the product with one of your medications, I highly recommend using our 'Drug-Herbal Interaction Tool' for detailed information. 

Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods Ingredients

Below is a list of all the ingredients contained in Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods. I'll break them down by section in order to talk about potential drug interactions.

• Fiber Blend (1.606g): Chicory Root Fructo-Oligosaccharides, Organic Flax Seed Powder, Apple Fruit Powder


• Green Superfood Blend (1.367g): Organic Barley Grass Powder, Organic Spirulina Powder, Organic Wheatgrass Powder, Organic Alfalfa Leaf Powder, Organic Chlorella Powder


• Probiotic Blend (648mg): Blue Agave Inulin, Bifidobacteria Bifidum, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Lactobacillus Acidophilus


• Fruit and Vegetable Blend (572mg): Organic Carrot Powder, Beet Root powder, Kale Leaf Powder, Blueberry Powder, Spinach Powder, Broccoli Powder, Ginger Root 5:1 Extract


• Antioxidant Beauty Blend (550mg): Cranberry Fruit Powder, Strawberry Fruit Powder, Raspberry Fruit Powder, Tart Cherry Powder, Elderberry Fruit Extract, Acai Fruit Extract, Goji Berry, Horseradish Tree Leaf, Grape Seed Extract, Matcha Green Tea Leaf


• Digestive Enzyme Blend (150mg): Maltodextrin, Amylase, Amyloglucosidase, Protease, Acid Protease, Lipase, Cellulase


• Adaptogenic Blend (100mg): Licorice Root Extract, Rhodiola Root Powder, American Ginseng Root Extract, Ashwagandha Root Powder, Astragalus Root Powder, Eleuthero Root Powder

The product also contains a flavoring agent, depending on the flavor you get.

Fiber Blend Interactions

The ingredients in the fiber blend appear to be relatively free of potential drug interactions. However, as a general rule of thumb, you should separate fiber from your medications as fiber can delay the absorption of some drugs. 

Now, this fiber blend only contains 1.606 grams in total. To put this in perspective, one dose of Metamucil powder, a psyllium fiber, contains 3.4 grams of powder, of which 2.4 grams is psyllium fiber.

I imagine the labeled amount of 1.606 grams of this blend is not all fiber, as those ingredients listed have other constituents aside from pure fiber, so you are likely getting less than 1.606 grams of actual fiber per serving.

With such a low amount of fiber, it's unlikely that the absorption of your drugs would be affected. Nevertheless, certain drugs that have a narrow therapeutic window (e.g., levothyroxine) could be a concern, but that drug is recommended to be taken on an empty stomach anyway, and that direction should continue to be followed.

Green Superfood Blend

This blend contains a wide variety of 'greens', which are commonly utilized in dietary supplements. Amazing Grass is one supplement that comes to mind here.

Ingredients like spirulina, chlorella, and wheatgrass are often added for their nutritional value as they contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals, such as carotenoids, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium.

Some of these ingredients do have potential drug interactions. For example, chlorella has been reported to cause photosensitivity in some individuals (this is where you are more susceptible to skin reactions from sun exposure). 

if you look up chlorella on our drug-herbal interaction checker, with say, doxycycline, you'll see this interaction documented in detail there. If you are taking a drug that causes photosensitivity, you may want to exercise some caution.

An additional concern here is that many of the greens on the ingredient list contain vitamin K, which can interact with the anticoagulant Coumadin.

Again, the amount of greens contained in this blend is quite low (only 1.367 grams). It's unlikely that there would be any clinically significant drug interactions here, but the ones I mentioned are good to know about.

Probiotic Blend

There is nothing here that I found too concerning. Inulin is a type of soluble fiber, so you would follow the same recommendation I gave in the 'fiber blend' section above, to space out the administration of your meds from this product, just to avoid any potential drug absorption issues.

Fruit and Vegetable Blend

There are many different ingredients in this section that do have documented drug interactions, so I'll list them individually:

• Carrot Powder: Carrot, like chlorella, has been reported to cause photosensitivity, but this seems to be quite a rare occurrence.


• Beet Root: Beets are not known to have drug interactions. It is important to note that high doses of beet are very popular in dietary supplements and is used to increase nitric oxide production, which causes vasodilation. Theoretically, this could drop blood pressure slightly, but the amount of beet that is contained in this supplement likely isn't of concern.


• Kale: Kale contains vitamin K, so this has the same concern as the green blend above regarding Coumadin.


• Blueberry Powder: Studies have shown that blueberry may have an anti-diabetic effect, so, theoretically, could interact with drugs used to treat diabetes that already lower blood sugar levels. Due to the low amount of blueberry in this product, there isn't much concern here, however.


• Spinach Powder: Spinach, like many other greens, contains vitamin K.


• Broccoli Powder: Broccoli has been reported to interfere with some drugs that are metabolized by a certain enzyme (CYP1A2). However, with such low amounts, I wouldn't be concerned about this ingredient. The interaction between broccoli and other drugs has generally been reported to be exceedingly minor as well.


• Ginger Root: Ginger may have an anticoagulant/antiplatelet effect. Additionally, animal studies have reported ginger increasing concentrations of the drug losartan.

Antioxidant Beauty Blend

There isn't much concern with these ingredients at the amount listed on the label for this product.

Ingredients like goji do have some reported interactions, but generally only due to the fact that they may help improve some chronic conditions, like high blood pressure and diabetes (so, in theory, could cause additive effects with some medications you are taking).

I do want to point out a common theme here though, and that is concerning anticoagulants. Studies show grapes could have an anticoagulant/antiplatelet effect.

Digestive Enzyme Blend

Digestive enzymes generally aren't thought to have clinically significant drug interactions.

This is highlighted in several prescription drug enzyme products, such as Creon, in which the FDA-approved prescribing information states there are no known drug interactions with it. There isn't a concern here.

Adaptogenic Blend

This blend contains several herbals that are classified as adaptogens. Adaptogens are thought to work by regulating the body's stress response, helping the body to better handle both physical and emotional stress.

The herbs listed in this blend are very commonly used in dietary supplements.

• Licorice: In terms of natural medicines, licorice is high on the list of ones to be cautious with. Not only have the FDA and the NHS in the UK issued warnings about it, but some studies have also shown it inhibits a metabolizing enzyme (CYP3A4) that is responsible for processing many different drugs. However, at the low amounts of licorice used in this product, there likely isn't too much concern about a potential interaction (but be sure to use our interaction checker with your specific medication, just in case).


• Rhodiola Root: Like licorice, Rhodiola has been reported to inhibit certain metabolizing enzymes, but overall, it doesn't appear to be clinically significant for most individuals. However, interestingly enough, I did find one study that specifically listed losartan as being a drug it interacted with, similar to ginger as I wrote about above.


• Ashwagandha Root: Ashwagandha may increase thyroid levels in some individuals, so should be used cautiously with drugs used for hypothyroidism. However, studies that have shown ashwagandha increasing thyroid levels have used much higher doses. The amount of ashwagandha in this product likely won't have a clinically significant effect in this regard.


• Astragalus Root: Astragalus appears to be relatively free from drug interactions. Some studies suggest it may have an immune-stimulating effect, so could theoretically interact with immunosuppressants, but this likely isn't clinically significant.


• Eleuthero Root: Animal studies show that eleuthero may have an anticoagulant effect, so that is important to consider. Eleuthero may also have an effect on some metabolizing enzymes, but likely not at the dosage contained in this product.

Overall Thoughts

In the sections above, I consistently discussed a few common themes:

• The amount of each listed ingredient in Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods is low.


• Some common interactions did keep coming up, such as interactions with fiber, photosensitizing drugs, and anticoagulants.

Having gone through all the ingredients in detail, my professional opinion is that there are unlikely to be any clinically significant interactions between Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods and most drugs. Not only because most of the ingredients are relatively safe and have a history of safe use, but the amounts of each listed ingredient are quite low.

Nevertheless, as this product has not been specifically studied for drug interactions, we can't say for sure.

To be safe, you may want to take precautions around a few of the common themes I brought up, such as if you are taking anticoagulants or photosensitizing drugs.

Additionally, since this product contains some fiber (which, overall, is less than one serving of Metamucil), it may be prudent to separate the administration of your drugs with it, just to avoid drug absorption issues.

Final Words

I apologize for the lengthy answer, but there was a lot to go over simply based on how many ingredients Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods contains.

I hope you found this information helpful. I'll end with my common refrain that you should make sure your doctor knows about all the medications and supplements you are taking so you can be appropriately monitored.