9 Cardamom Side Effects You Should Know About
9 Cardamom Side Effects You Should Know About
Cardamom is well-tolerated by most people in normal cooking amounts. At higher or concentrated doses, there are a few real things worth knowing.
Getting Oriented
Cardamom is a spice with a long culinary history across India, the Middle East, and Scandinavia, and most people who use it in cooking never run into any issues. The cautions below mostly come into play at higher, more concentrated doses, the kind found in cardamom extracts or supplements rather than what you'd use to flavor a curry or a cup of tea. Worth noting upfront: while cardamom has a long history in traditional medicine, there isn't strong scientific evidence establishing it as an effective treatment for any specific health condition, and nothing in this article should be read as describing one.
9 Side Effects to Know
Consuming a lot of cardamom can cause diarrhea or general digestive discomfort in some people, particularly when taken as a concentrated supplement rather than as a cooking spice. If this happens, cutting back the amount you're using is usually enough to resolve it. This is the most commonly reported issue with cardamom at higher doses, and it tends to be mild and temporary.
Higher amounts of cardamom, particularly in concentrated supplement form, have been reported to cause nausea in some people.
Some reports describe dizziness or headache at higher doses. One thing worth correcting here: cardamom does not contain caffeine, so if you're sensitive to caffeine, that specifically isn't a concern with cardamom, any effects come from the spice itself in larger amounts.
Cardamom can have a mild diuretic effect in larger amounts, meaning it may make you urinate more than usual. If you're consuming a lot of it, make sure you're drinking enough water alongside it.
Cardamom used in normal cooking amounts is generally considered fine during pregnancy, it's a routine ingredient in many traditional diets, including during pregnancy, across the cultures where it's most commonly used. The caution is specifically about concentrated cardamom supplements or extracts, which most sources recommend avoiding during pregnancy unless a doctor says otherwise, simply because there isn't enough research on concentrated doses in pregnant women to say with confidence that they're risk-free.
Cardamom appears to have a mild blood-thinning effect, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's herb database, which means it could increase bleeding risk in people taking anticoagulant medications like warfarin, clopidogrel, or aspirin. If you're on a blood thinner, talk to your doctor before taking cardamom supplements regularly, this is a genuine interaction worth flagging rather than a remote theoretical risk.
Cardamom may affect insulin and blood sugar levels, which could be a concern if you're taking medication that already lowers blood sugar, since the combined effect could push it lower than intended. If you have diabetes and use cardamom supplements regularly, it's worth monitoring your blood sugar and looping in your doctor, the same caution that applies to several other spices in the ginger family.
Because of the potential effects on bleeding and blood sugar described above, most guidance recommends stopping cardamom supplements at least two weeks before a scheduled surgery.
Applied directly to skin, cardamom can cause irritation or redness in some people. There isn't much reliable safety information on using it topically at concentrations beyond what's found in food, so if you're trying it on skin, do a small patch test first.
Shop Organic Cardamom
Non-GMO · Packed Fresh in McKinney, TexasHow Much Is Too Much?
Cardamom shows up in a lot of different forms, whole pods, ground powder, essential oil, and concentrated extract capsules, and the concentration varies enormously between them. A pod or two simmered in a pot of chai is a very different dose than a cardamom extract capsule, even though both are technically "cardamom." Most of the cautions above are really about the latter category, concentrated extracts and supplements, rather than the spice as most people actually encounter it in food.
Everyday Culinary Uses
For the deeper story on cardamom's history, how it traveled the world, and the real difference between black and green cardamom, see our guide to cardamom in the global kitchen and our dedicated black vs green cardamom comparison. For a full recipe, try our cardamom spiced milk tea.
