Rhodiola Rosea for Fatigue
Rhodiola rosea has only weak and inconsistent evidence for fatigue: a handful of small, mostly industry-linked trials report benefits, but overall study quality is low and disease-relevant fatigue effects remain unproven. It may offer modest help for stress-related fatigue but is not a reliable or first-line remedy.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
This earns a Weak (Tier C) grade because the supporting human evidence is thin and conflicting. Three small double-blind RCTs of the proprietary SHR-5 extract - in stressed adults (PMID 19016404, n=60), night-duty physicians (PMID 11081987, n=56), and exam-period students (PMID 10839209) - reported improvements in fatigue, attention, and well-being. But all were small, relied on a single extract from one manufacturer, and at least one was industry-funded, which limits how far the results generalize.
Crucially, the only systematic review (PMID 22643043, Ishaque 2012) assessed 11 trials and judged the evidence contradictory: just 2 of 6 physical-fatigue and 3 of 5 mental-fatigue trials showed benefit, every study carried a high risk of bias, and outcomes were too heterogeneous to pool in a meta-analysis. Positive signals also cluster on surrogate measures such as attention rather than clinically meaningful fatigue.
Authorities are cautious rather than endorsing. The UK registers rhodiola only as a traditional herbal product based on long-standing use, not proven clinical efficacy, and the US FDA has issued warning letters against disease claims. NIH/NCCIH considers the evidence insufficient to conclude it works for any condition; Cleveland Clinic's general wellness page is more favorable but cites no graded evidence. Documented drug interactions add further reason for restraint.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.537
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高品質 SR/MA 顯示 positive (1 篇 > 0 negative)
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 0 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status