White Horehound

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

What other names is White Horehound known by?

Bonhomme, Common Horehound, Grand Bonhomme, Herbe aux Crocs, Herbe Vierge, Horehound, Houndsbane, Marrube Blanc, Marrube des Champs, Marrube Commun, Marrube Vulgaire, Marrubii Herba, Marrubio Blanco, Marrubium, Marrubium vulgare, Mastranzo.

What is White Horehound?

White horehound is a plant. The parts that grow above the ground are used to make medicine.

White horehound is used for digestion problems including loss of appetite, indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and liver and gallbladder complaints. It is also used for lung and breathing problems including cough, whooping cough, asthma, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and swollen breathing passages.

Women use white horehound for painful menstrual periods.

People also use it for yellowed skin (jaundice), to kill parasitic worms, to cause sweating, and to increase urine production.

White horehound is sometimes applied to the skin for skin damage, ulcers, and wounds.

In manufacturing, the extracts of white horehound are used as flavoring in foods and beverages, and as expectorants in cough syrups and lozenges. Expectorants are ingredients that make it easier to cough up phlegm.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Diabetes. Early research suggests that drinking tea prepared from white horehound before meals, in addition to taking medication for diabetes, for 3 weeks slightly slower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. However, drinking tea prepared from guarumo for the same duration seems to have a greater blood sugar-lowering effect.
• Liver and gallbladder problems.
• Constipation.
• Fluid retention (edema).
• Loss of appetite.
• Indigestion.
• Bloating.
• Gas (flatulence).
• Coughs and colds.
• Skin damage.
• Ulcers.
• Wounds.
• Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of white horehound 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).