Rhodiola

Rhodiola: what was it used for?

A root against headache in antiquity, and in the twentieth century a tonic against fatigue. Dioscorides prescribed it bruised with a little oil of roses and laid moist on the forehead and temples for headache. In 1969, the assessment report records, the Ministry of Health of the former USSR recommended the medical use and industrial production of its liquid extract, a herbal tea and a tincture in forty per cent alcohol “(or vodka)” being named as traditional preparations; the extract was given for asthenia and fatigue.

Rhodiola: what does modern science say?

The European Medicines Agency’s herbal committee accepts the root and rhizome as a traditional herbal medicine, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” for the relief of symptoms of stress such as fatigue and exhaustion (monograph of 2024). Its assessment report names phenylethanoids such as salidroside and the cinnamyl glycosides rosin, rosarin, and rosavin among the constituents, with about 0.05 per cent of essential oil in the dried rhizome, and notes that only limited data on quantities are available. A 2026 review of randomised trials of rhodiola and ashwagandha together, five of the twenty-four trials being of rhodiola, reported reduced stress and anxiety, better sleep, and improved cognition among the benefits, while naming heterogeneous methods, short trials, and small samples as limitations.

Rhodiola: what did the older authorities say?

Dioscorides, De materia medica 4.45

His rhodia radix, which the modern translators suggest is Rhodiola rosea, grows in Macedonia; it is like costus but lighter and uneven, and when bruised gives off a scent like that of roses. Bruised with a little rosaceum and applied moist to the forehead and temples, it helps “those aggrieved with headaches.”