Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Woodruff is a low woodland plant from Europe, known in German as Waldmeister. The leaves grow in neat star-shaped whorls. When they wilt and dry, they smell of fresh hay and vanilla.
It is used far more as a flavour than as a medicine. The classic use is May wine, a spring drink made by steeping the herb in white wine. It also flavours syrups, jellies, sweets and some soft drinks.
Folk healers once gave the tea for poor sleep, headache, stomach cramps and heavy, aching legs. There are almost no human trials behind any of that. Long traditional use is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
The smell and taste come from coumarin. Coumarin forms as the plant wilts and dries. Fresh green leaves have very little scent.
Coumarin is not the blood-thinning drug warfarin, despite the similar name. Dicoumarol, which does thin blood, forms only when the plant material goes mouldy. That is one reason spoiled woodruff is unsafe.
In animal studies, high doses of coumarin can harm the liver. Some people are slow metabolisers, meaning their liver clears coumarin slowly. They appear to carry the most risk.
Lab and animal work hints that extracts may ease muscle spasm and calm the nerves. Whether a cup of tea does that in a person is unknown. No solid human trial supports the old sleep or headache claims.
Woodruff reaches most people as a flavour in food and drink. Medicinal forms are far less common.
Usual forms:
- Dried loose herb, for tea or for steeping in wine - May wine (Maibowle), a seasonal German drink - Green woodruff syrup, often made with artificial flavour instead of the plant - Jellies, sweets and soft drinks - Tincture or liquid extract, sold by some herb suppliers - Dried bunches for scenting rooms and linen
Many "woodruff" products today contain no plant at all. The green syrups in particular are usually flavoured and coloured in a factory. Check the label if the real herb matters to you.
Woodruff has been used in Europe since at least the Middle Ages. German records describe Waldmeister steeped in wine to mark the start of May. Monastery gardens grew it for its scent.
Dried bunches were hung in rooms and laid with stored linen. The smell was thought to keep moths and musty odours away.
Folk healers gave the tea for restless sleep, headache and stomach cramps. Old herbals also named it for wounds and for heavy, swollen legs. None of these uses were tested the way medicines are tested today.
Stop using woodruff and see a doctor the same day if you notice:
- Yellow skin or yellow eyes - Dark urine or pale stools - Pain or aching under your right ribs - Nausea or vomiting that will not settle - Unusual tiredness with loss of appetite
Also stop and get advice for severe headache or dizziness. Seek urgent care for bleeding that will not stop, or for bruises appearing with no cause.
In the EU and UK, woodruff is an ordinary food flavouring, and law caps how much coumarin a food or drink may contain. In the United States, the FDA bans coumarin as a food additive and permits woodruff only in alcoholic drinks. It is not approved as a medicine in these places.
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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