Magnolia

• What other names is Magnolia known by?
• What is Magnolia?
• How does Magnolia work?
• Are there safety concerns?
• Are there any interactions with medications?
• Dosing considerations for Magnolia.

What other names is Magnolia known by?

Beaver Tree, Bourgeon Floral de Magnolia, Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis, Flos Magnoliae, Ho-No-Ki, Holly Bay, Hou Po, Indian Bark, Japanese whitebark magnolia, Magnolia Bark, Magnolia biondii, Magnolia denudata, Magnolia emargenata, Magnolia fargesii, Magnolia Flower Bud, Magnolia glauca, Magnolia heptaperta, Magnolia hypoleuca, Magnolia officinalis, Magnolia Rouge, Magnolia salicifolia, Magnolia sargentiana, Magnolia sprengeri, Magnolia wilsonii, Red Bay, Red Magnolia, Swamp Laurel, Swamp Sassafras, Sweet Bay, White Bay, White Laurel, Xin Ye Hua, Xin Yi Hua.

What is Magnolia?

Magnolia is a plant. People use the bark and flower buds to make medicine.

Magnolia is used for weight loss, problems with digestion, constipation, inflammation, anxiety, stress, depression, fever, headache, stroke, and asthma.

Magnolia flower bud is used for stuffy nose, runny nose, common cold, sinus pain, hay fever, headache, and facial dark spots.

Some people apply magnolia flower bud directly to the gums for toothaches.

In rub-on skin care products, magnolia flower bud extract is used as a skin whitener and to minimize or counteract skin irritation caused by the other ingredients.

In traditional Chinese and Japanese (Kampo) medicine, magnolia bark is an ingredient in Hange-koboku-to, which is composed of 5 plant extracts, and in Saiboku-to, which is composed of 10 plant extracts. These extracts are used to decrease anxiety and nervous tension and to improve sleep. Some researchers believe honokiol, a chemical in magnolia bark, is what makes these medicines work.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Weight loss. So far, there isn't much evidence that magnolia causes weight loss. There is some research showing that overweight women who take a specific product containing a combination of extracts of magnolia plus phellodendron (Relora, Next Pharmaceuticals) don't gain as much weight as other women. They seem to eat fewer calories, possibly because the magnolia reduces their stress-related eating. However, there is no reliable evidence that taking this product actually causes weight loss.
  Some other weight loss products include magnolia bark with claims that it reduces cortisol levels. However, there is no evidence that magnolia bark causes weight loss or reduces cortisol levels. In fact, it appears to increase levels of corticosterone, a chemical similar to cortisol.
• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Obesity.
• Digestion problems.
• Inflammation.
• Nasal congestion.
• Runny nose.
• Common cold.
• Headache.
• Facial dark spots.
• Toothaches.
• Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of magnolia for these uses.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).