Roseroot, also known as Rhodiola rosea, has shown promise in a small study (57 subjects) of depressed individuals.
Effectiveness
They were randomly assigned to take either the herb, the antidepressant sertraline or a placebo pill. After three months, those taking sertraline were slightly more likely than those on Rhodiola to have improvement in their symptoms of depression.
People taking sertraline (Zoloft) were 90 percent more likely to have improved as those on placebo; those taking Rhodiola were 40 percent more likely to have improved than volunteers on placebo. All these groups are so small that this difference is not statistically significant.
Adverse Effects
Twice as many of the people on the medication had side effects, especially nausea and sexual dysfunction. The authors suggest that Rhodiola might be helpful in treating people with depression who don’t do well on standard antidepressants.
