Galangal

Alpinia galanga · Alpinia officinarum · Greater galangal

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Musculoskeletal pain¹ Knee osteoarthritis pain² Mental alertness^{3, 4} Antidepressant erectile dysfunction⁵ Male infertility^{6, 7}	Pregnancy⁸ Breastfeeding⁸

Galangal is the rhizome of Alpinia galanga and Alpinia officinarum, ginger-family plants used in traditional Chinese medicine to relieve pain and aid digestion. Extracts act on inflammatory signaling, and a separate stimulant-like effect on alertness has been reported. Supplementation is used for musculoskeletal pain, mental alertness, and male infertility. It is also used for erectile dysfunction in men taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

The pain evidence is indirect: a meta-analysis of Zingiberaceae extracts found reduced chronic pain, but the trials described tested turmeric and ginger, not galangal¹. A galangal extract raised alertness versus placebo in habitual caffeine users, and a 12-week trial of that extract reported no cardiovascular safety concern. The SSRI-related erectile dysfunction finding comes from one small trial. In lymphoma cell lines, a 2025 laboratory study found galangal extract and its constituents selectively cytotoxic; no human trial has tested this. Among 61 products listing galangal, most sampled are liquid extracts, with fewer capsules; see Form comparison.

Per Health Canada labels, people taking prescription medications are asked to consult a health care practitioner before use⁸. Zingiberaceae extracts have also been linked to bleeding risk, which no comparator trial has examined¹.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

39 sources, 27 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources