Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
What is Gambian tea bush?
Gambian tea bush is a shrub whose dried leaves are brewed as a tea. The botanical name is Lippia multiflora. The leaves smell sweet and lemony, a bit like verbena.
It is known as saa-nunum in Twi and efinrin gogoro in Yoruba. In Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia and nearby countries, people drink it much like black tea.
The same leaves are also distilled into an essential oil. That oil is sold as a scent, a rub and an insect repellent.
Here is the honest verdict. Human evidence for any health claim is very thin. Long use in a culture tells you the drink is familiar, not that it works or that it is safe.
Most people meet it as a daily hot drink rather than a medicine. Read the rest of this page before you treat it as treatment for anything.
No one has shown how this plant works in people, because the human studies have not been done.
Most of what is known comes from the laboratory. The leaf oil is rich in fragrant compounds such as linalool. In test tubes, the oil slows the growth of some bacteria and fungi.
In animal studies, leaf extracts have lowered blood pressure and relaxed blood vessels. Some animal work also points to a calming, sleep-friendly effect.
Those findings are the source of the traditional claims. They are not proof. A rat given a strong extract is not a person drinking a cup of tea.
In test tubes the oil also shows antioxidant activity, meaning it mops up reactive molecules. That is a lab measurement only. It does not show any benefit to your heart, brain or skin.
Treat every mechanism above as a hint about what to study next, not as a reason to expect a result.
The most common form is simple: dried leaf, loose or in tea bags.
You may also find: - loose dried leaf sold in West African markets and shops - tea bags labelled bush tea, lippia or Gambian tea bush - essential oil for scent, massage blends and insect repellents - liquid extracts or capsules, which are uncommon and poorly standardised - fresh leaves, used at home where the shrub grows
The tea and the essential oil are not the same thing. The oil is many times stronger than a cup of tea. It is meant for the skin or the air, never for swallowing.
Products rarely state how much of the key compounds they contain. If a label makes a firm health promise, treat that as marketing.
Gambian tea bush has a long and well-recorded place in West African home life.
In Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire and Gambia, the leaves were brewed as an everyday hot drink. Healers also used the tea for fever, colds, coughs and stomach upset.
It was widely described as a drink for high blood pressure and for restless sleep. Crushed leaves were rubbed on the skin or burned to keep mosquitoes away.
In the twentieth century it was promoted in Ghana as a local substitute for imported tea. Research institutes studied it as a cash crop and as a source of essential oil.
This history explains why the plant is trusted at home. It does not show that the tea changes blood pressure, sleep or infection in a measurable way. Those questions still need proper human trials.
Stop drinking it and see a doctor if you feel dizzy, faint or unusually drowsy.
See a doctor promptly if you have: - a fever that lasts more than two days, or any fever after travel to a malaria area - a rash, swelling or itching after using the oil on your skin - stomach pain or vomiting that does not settle - blood pressure readings that are higher or lower than your usual range
Call emergency services if you have trouble breathing, swelling of the lips or throat, or if someone has swallowed the essential oil.
In Ghana, Nigeria and nearby countries it is an ordinary food and household drink. In the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union it is sold as a herbal tea or supplement. No medicines regulator has approved it to treat or prevent any disease.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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