Sea moss and medications: what to check

We found no published interaction study for sea moss, bladderwrack or burdock root with any medicine, including rivaroxaban and alprazolam, so we cannot say there is or is not one. The documented risks are iodine with thyroid conditions and thyroid-related medicines, and black pepper extract, which can change how some drugs are processed. Ask a pharmacist.

What we looked for and what we found

We searched PubMed for interaction data on Irish moss, bladderwrack and burdock root. For Irish moss we found no human trials of any kind. Absence of a study is not a finding of safety: it means nobody has checked. So every item below is either a case report, a review of mechanisms, or a precaution, and we label which.

What to check before combining sea moss with bladderwrack and burdock with a medicine

If you take	What is documented	What to do
Thyroid medicine, antithyroid treatment, or lithium	Case reports of hyperthyroidism with kelp and bladderwrack products, one in a man taking lithium	Ask your prescriber before use
Other iodine, kelp or a multivitamin with iodine	Iodine adds up; upper level 1,100 mcg a day	Add up iodine from every source
Medicines with a narrow dosing window	Piperine, the active in black pepper, inhibits drug-processing enzymes in lab and animal work	Ask a pharmacist
Blood thinners such as rivaroxaban	No study found for these ingredients	Ask before use; do not assume it is safe
Sedatives or anxiety medicine such as alprazolam	No study found for these ingredients	Ask before use
Blood-sugar medicine or diuretics	Burdock is traditionally described as lowering blood sugar and as a diuretic; the evidence is mainly cell and animal work	Ask before use

Thyroid medicine and iodine

The documented interaction category is iodine. A 70-year-old woman with no thyroid history developed transient hyperthyroidism about three months after starting kelp tablets and needed three months of antithyroid medicine (PMID 31517826). A 60-year-old man treated with lithium developed hyperthyroidism on an herbal preparation containing bladderwrack, which remitted when it was stopped; the authors advised that herbal preparations should be considered when treating patients because of possible adverse effects and drug interactions (PMID 22127913). Neither used our product, and kelp is much richer in iodine than Irish moss, but the iodine in bladderwrack varies by lot: one survey found supplement iodine from 5 to 5,600 mcg per daily dose (PMID 33889064). Our panel does not state an iodine amount. If a clinician is managing your thyroid, tell them before adding Electric Tiger Sea Moss with Bladderwrack + Burdock (product page).

Black pepper extract

Each serving holds 5 mg of black pepper extract. A 2025 review describes piperine, the pungent compound in black pepper, as inhibiting the enzyme CYP3A4 and the transporter P-glycoprotein, which can increase the absorption of some drugs, and flags the potential for significant drug interactions (PMID 41053306). Our panel does not state a piperine percentage, and we found no study at 5 mg, so we cannot say whether this amount matters for any specific medicine. That is a question for a pharmacist.

Burdock

A 2026 narrative review found burdock's blood-sugar effects were demonstrated mainly in cell and animal models, with a gap in randomised trials in people (PMID 41750986). It is not an interaction study. If you take medicine for blood sugar or a diuretic, we raise it as a precaution, not a known interaction.

Questions people ask

Does sea moss interact with Xarelto (rivaroxaban)?

We found no study of it, so we cannot say. Do not rely on its absence from a database; tell the prescriber you are considering a seaweed supplement.

Does sea moss interact with Xanax (alprazolam)?

We found no study of it. Ask your prescriber or pharmacist.

Can I take it with a multivitamin or other supplements?

Check each for iodine and count the total. See how much sea moss to take a day and who should not take sea moss.