Adaptogens for children: when are they safe, and when are they not

The default answer is: it's unknown, as no one has tested this on children. For most substances referred to as adaptogens, there is not a single study involving children, and the monographs from the European Medicines Agency advise against rhodiola and ginseng for those under 18, eleuthero for those under 12, each time with the same justification: lack of sufficient data. The Polish Dietary Supplements Team goes further and explicitly states not to use ashwagandha in children. Below you will find a safety table for each substance, a list of drug interactions that a child may be taking more than the person administering the supplement knows, and situations where the appropriate address is a pediatrician's office, not a store.

KEY INFORMATION
• EMA monographs: rhodiola and ginseng are not recommended for those under 18, eleuthero for those under 12, in both cases due to lack of data.
• For ashwagandha, EMA has not established a monograph at all (EMA/HMPC/681519/2012).
• GIS, resolution no. 7/2020: do not use in children, pregnant women, and during lactation.
• Studies in children exist only for three substances and have between 58 and 180 participants.
• The LiverTox database of American health institutes describes 23 cases of apparent liver damage after ashwagandha, including one that ended in a transplant.
• Chronic fatigue, sleep problems, and concentration issues in a child are symptoms to be diagnosed, not supplemented.

Are adaptogens safe for children?

For most substances, this cannot be determined, as there is no data. The monograph for rhodiola states that use below 18 years has not been established due to lack of appropriate data (EMA/HMPC/24177/2023). An identical statement is found in the ginseng monograph (EMA/HMPC/27744/2023).

Lack of data is not the same as proof of safety and not the same as proof of harm. It means exactly that no one has counted what happens to a child after a month, after six months, and after a year of administration. With a plant that alters hormone concentrations and liver function, this is a real unknown, not a formality.

In one case, an official document says more than the lack of data. Ashwagandha does not have a European monograph because the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products did not find either sufficient specifications for preparations or documented 30 years of medicinal use (EMA/HMPC/681519/2012). In Poland, the Dietary Supplements Team recorded in resolution no. 7/2020 not to use the product in children, pregnant women, and during lactation (GIS).

Which adaptogens have studies in children at all?

Three, and all studies are small. The oldest concerns red ginseng: 70 children aged 6 to 15 with symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity, eight weeks, reduction in symptom severity compared to placebo (Ko et al. 2014).

The other two are from 2026 and concern ashwagandha. In the first, 58 children and adolescents with mild ADHD took either extract or placebo for 56 days; symptom severity decreased more after the extract (Naik et al. 2026). In the second, 85 children aged 6 to 12, of which 73 completed the study, received the extract for eight weeks; information processing speed and sleep quality improved (Saxena et al. 2026). Separately, there is a study on bacopa and gotu kola in 180 healthy boys aged 8 to 10 (Verma et al. 2025).

What does this mean for parents? That the evidence pertains to narrow groups, short periods, and endpoints in the areas of attention and sleep, not safety with longer administration. Two of these studies were published a few months ago, and no one has repeated them yet.

What does the safety table say for individual raw materials?

That for half of the entries in the column with studies on children, the word 'none' appears, while for the others, it concerns a few small trials. The table collects four things at once: whether there is a study involving children, what the official document says about age, what risks are described, and what to watch out for with medications. The word 'none' does not mean safe here, only untested.

Entries about our category adaptogens and descriptions of individual raw materials, for example Rhodiola rosea, concern adults and should be read as such.

Why won't you find dosages for children here?

Because there is no way to obtain them. You cannot calculate a child's dosage from an adult's by dividing it by body weight, even though that calculation seems reasonable. A child absorbs, metabolizes in the liver, and excretes differently, and no one has measured these differences with plant extracts.

In the studies mentioned above, dosages are indeed provided: 1 g of red ginseng twice daily for children aged 6 to 15 years, 150 mg of ashwagandha extract twice daily in both studies from 2026. This is a description of the study protocol, not a recommendation, and it should not be applied to your own child. Besides these protocols, there is no value that could be honestly provided.

The limit that exists in Polish food law pertains to adults: resolution no. 7/2020 states a powdered root amount of less than 3 g per day and a content of withanolides not exceeding 10 mg in the recommended daily portion. The same resolution states that it should not be given to children, so this is not a number to be calculated downwards.

What drug interactions should be checked before administration?

Three groups: drugs acting on the central nervous system, anticoagulants, and thyroid medications. Resolution no. 7/2020 lists sedatives, sleeping pills, and antiepileptic drugs alongside ashwagandha. This is not a theoretical list, as these are exactly the medications that some children with neurological and psychiatric diagnoses take.

With ginseng, the best-documented interaction is with warfarin: in a randomized study involving 20 healthy individuals, American ginseng, which is a different species than Korean ginseng, reduced the peak INR value by 0.19 compared to placebo (Yuan et al., Annals of Internal Medicine 2004). Ashwagandha, on the other hand, alters thyroid parameters: in 50 individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism, eight weeks of administration significantly changed TSH and concentrations of T3 and T4 (Sharma et al. 2018).

There is also a problem that has nothing to do with pharmacology. The supplement is often administered to the child by someone other than the person managing their treatment: a grandmother, a caregiver, or a parent living separately. Antiallergic, inhaled, antiepileptic, or psychiatric medications may then be beyond the reach of this knowledge. Before you give anything, list all the preparations taken by the child and show this list to a doctor or pharmacist. We wrote about this in more detail in the post about supplements for children.

When should you take your child to the doctor instead of the store?

Whenever the reason for reaching for an adaptogen is a symptom. Chronic fatigue, trouble falling asleep, waking up at night, decreased concentration, and worsening school performance are signals for diagnostics. Each of these may be caused by anemia, thyroid disease, sleep apnea, uncontrolled allergies, or emotional difficulties.

The reason is simple: a supplement does not exclude anything. If a child sleeps poorly due to apnea, an improvement in mood from herbs will not eliminate the apnea and will delay the diagnosis. The same principle applies to fatigue due to iron deficiency and decreased attention due to an undetected vision or hearing impairment. A symptom that has resolved without identifying the cause will return. With ashwagandha, there is also the risk associated with the product itself: the LiverTox database of the American health institutes describes 23 cases of overt liver damage, usually occurring 2 to 12 weeks after starting administration, including a case that ended in transplantation (LiverTox, NIH).

If after diagnostics there remains a question about supporting immunity or concentration, it makes more sense to start with things that have been tested in children: we write about both in the texts about immune supplements for children and about supporting concentration alongside treatment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a child take ashwagandha?

The Polish Team for Dietary Supplements at the Chief Sanitary Inspector has stated in resolution no. 7/2020: do not use in children, pregnant women, and during lactation. The European Medicines Agency has not established a monograph for this raw material at all, as it found insufficient data on the preparations and the period of traditional use.

From what age can adaptogens be given?

The European Medicines Agency's monographs advise against rhodiola and ginseng below 18 years, and eleuthero below 12 years, each time with the same justification: lack of sufficient data. This is not a safety threshold established by studies, but a boundary below which no one has tested these raw materials.

Will adaptogens help a child with concentration?

There are three small studies in this area: red ginseng in 70 children aged 6 to 15 years, ashwagandha in 58 children with mild ADHD, and ashwagandha in 85 children with attention or memory problems. All lasted about eight weeks, and none addresses the question of long-term safety.

Will adaptogens help a child sleep?

One study from 2026 noted an improvement in sleep quality in children taking ashwagandha for eight weeks, with 85 participants and 73 completing the study. However, sleep problems in children have many causes that require diagnosis, from apnea to iron deficiency, and no supplement diagnoses any of them.

What medications exclude the administration of an adaptogen to a child?

Resolution No. 7/2020 mentions sedatives, sleeping pills, and anticonvulsants alongside ashwagandha. American ginseng weakened the effect of warfarin in 20 healthy individuals. Ashwagandha also alters TSH and concentrations of T3 and T4, which poses a problem in thyroid treatment. Before administering anything, list all of the child's medications and show the list to the doctor.

What to do if the child is constantly tired?

Schedule an appointment with a pediatrician instead of buying a supplement. Chronic fatigue, sleep problems, and concentration issues are symptoms that need to be diagnosed, as there is a list of possible causes ranging from anemia and thyroid diseases to sleep apnea and school difficulties. A supplement does not rule any of them out.

The article is informational and educational in nature and does not replace consultation with a doctor. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medications, or have chronic conditions, consult the use of supplements or herbs with a specialist.

Author: Michał Waluk · Published: 2026-08-24 · Updated: 2026-08-24