Is Red Clover Safe with Oral Contraceptives?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Exercise caution when using Red Clover supplements with hormonal contraceptives. Discuss with your prescriber, particularly if using low-dose contraceptive formulations.
Why this interaction occurs
Red Clover phytoestrogens may compete with synthetic estrogens in oral contraceptives at receptor sites or alter the hormonal feedback axis regulated by the contraceptive. This could theoretically disrupt hormone balance and reduce contraceptive reliability, particularly with low-dose pills.
Evidence
Evidence level: limited.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 22,854 reports mentioning Oral Contraceptives. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Oral Contraceptives + supplement combination on this page.
FAERS reports are voluntary and cannot prove that a drug caused an event. Do not use report counts to assess the safety of this specific drug-supplement pair.
Frequently asked questions
Related interactions
All Red Clover interactions → · All Oral Contraceptives interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.