Inflammation is behind a vast range of chronic conditions, says naturopathic herbalist Christine Herbert. Here are eight of her favorite herbs to help dampen the flames
Chronic inflammation crops up in almost every person most alternative therapists see. It’s thought to be the underlying cause of most chronic conditions today, including allergies, arthritis, autoimmune conditions, cancer, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, neurodegenerative disease and osteoporosis.
As a naturopathic herbalist with over two decades of practice, I’ve found that ignoring the name of a condition or disease and considering the state of inflammation and where it’s manifesting can be a useful way of understanding the problem.
My holistic treatment approach includes looking at the potential root causes of the inflammation (see below) and addressing them with diet, supplements and lifestyle changes. I also recommend a range of herbs to help heal inflammation.
It appears that most, or maybe all, herbs have a positive influence on inflammation in one way or another. But the following are among the top inflammation-mediating herbs.
Herbalists use the term inflammation-mediating rather than anti-inflammatory, as the action of the herbs is not usually directly anti-inflammatory. These herbs are mediating the inflammatory reaction to bring it to resolution rather than trying to stop it.
Inflammation-mediating herbs don’t target a particular enzyme or action but have many different constituents that act on a variety of targets. This results in a gentler, safer action that’s admittedly not as strong as medication but comes with far fewer side effects. It also generally comes with long-term healing rather than the temporary sticking plaster of medications.
Frankincense resin has been used for many generations in warmer climes to treat chronic inflammatory disease and pain. It’s bitter and astringent, and it inhibits COX-2, an enzyme involved in inflammatory reactions.
Studies of boswellic acid, just one component of frankincense, have shown it can modulate many different chronic inflammatory diseases—from cancer and diabetes to asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. There are several boswellic acids, but all can inhibit the pro-inflammatory enzyme 5-lipoxygenase.1
Frankincense is recognized today as antiarthritic, inflammation-mediating, antihyperlipidemic (preventing or countering the buildup of lipids in the blood), antiatherosclerotic (preventing or countering narrowing of the arteries), analgesic and hepatoprotective (protecting the liver).2
In a randomized trial over six months, frankincense was compared with valdecoxib, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in 66 patients with knee arthritis. Valdecoxib provided pain and stiffness relief within one month, but its effects were lost as soon as treatment stopped.
The herb, on the other hand, took longer to work (two months for most people), but its pain-relieving effects lasted for one month after treatment stopped.3
Frankincense also enhances immunity and is useful for treating autoimmune disease. Plus it’s recommended for its meditative effect.4
How to take: The tincture tastes vile, but frankincense can be taken as an aromatic water or as powder in capsules. Avoid during pregnancy.
Yarrow improves blood circulation and therefore has many uses. It acts as a peripheral vasodilator (dilating blood vessels in the outer parts of the body), antispasmodic (reducing smooth muscle spasms) and inflammation mediator.
It’s commonly used for vascular issues such as hypertension (high blood pressure).5 It’s also effective for both stopping excessive bleeding and moving any areas of blood stagnation or pooling. This means it can ease pain and aid healing of bruising or varicosities (enlarged veins) and of painful periods, toothache, sinus congestion and headaches.
Yarrow acts as an inflammation-mediating herb systemically and is often included in herbal formulas to reduce inflammation and improve function in the lungs, liver and digestive system.
How to take: Yarrow can be taken as a tea or tincture and is best made with fresh herb in flower.
Cat’s claw is a South American adaptogen with strong inflammation-mediating action. It’s been shown to modulate cytokines—proteins that help control inflammation in the body— specifically to decrease interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor and increase interleukin-1 (IL-1).6
Any condition with lowered immunity or autoimmunity can benefit from cat’s claw as it’s such a good immune-modulating herb. This might include chronic fatigue, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Allergies also benefit from its use.
How to take: Cat’s claw can be taken as a tea, powder or tincture. Avoid it if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or taking anticoagulant medication. Use with caution alongside hypotensive medication.
Gotu kola is a calming and cooling adaptogenic nervine tonic with strong inflammation-mediating action on the whole system. It can balance the autonomic and central nervous systems7 and is used as a blood tonic and detoxifier for skin disorders, arthritis and autoimmune disease.
A review of clinical studies showed gotu kola has extensive beneficial effects on both neurological and skin diseases. The review found it has inflammation-mediating effects, reduces oxidative stress and improves mitochondrial function , which are all important factors in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. It can also boost levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is reduced in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.8
Gotu kola is useful for anxiety, insomnia, depression and brain fog and for recovering from long-term illness. It’s also useful for wound healing when used topically.
How to take: It’s best used as fresh leaf but can be taken as a tincture or tea. As an adaptogen, it’s a very safe herb with no restrictions.
Goldenseal is a cold, strong bitter with an inflammation-mediating effect on mucous membranes. It’s restorative for all membranes and digestive organs and may be used where there is inflammation, infection or stagnation in the liver, intestines and pancreas.
It’s also excellent for treating infection or inflammation in the eyes or mouth.
Berberine is one of the most bioactive alkaloid constituents in goldenseal, and a review of studies showed numerous therapeutic effects for goldenseal, including as an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic (lipid lowering), hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering), antioxidant, neuroprotective (anti–Alzheimer’s disease), cardioprotective and gastrointestinal protective.9
How to take: Goldenseal should be taken short-term only, up to about four weeks. Avoid if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. It’s generally taken as a tincture or powder, in small doses as part of a formula.
Eyebright is an astringent and inflammation-mediating herb with an affinity for the eyes and upper respiratory tract. It helps to calm and cool irritated mucous membranes, especially when caused by seasonal allergies or infections.
A study has shown that eyebright can reduce UVB-induced photoaging in the eyes by alleviating oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory activity and cell apoptosis (programmed cell death).10
How to take: Eyebright is mostly used as an infusion, especially when applied to eyes.
Schisandra is an adaptogenic, inflammation-mediating, antioxidant herb with anticancer and antidiabetic effects. It has been shown to improve insulin resistance by inhibiting inflammation.
Schisandra can improve cognitive behavioral function11 and protect against neurodegenerative diseases including stroke, dementia and depression.12 It “calms the mind, lifts the spirits and aids memory, concentration and learning ability.”4
It can also inhibit inflammatory bowel disease by regulating the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota13 and is well recognized as an herb that both protects the liver and improves its function.
How to take: Schisandra is best taken as a decoction or tincture. Avoid during pregnancy or acute infection.
Nettle leaf is a fundamental of Western herbal medicine. It has many useful properties and is a nutritionally exceptional food.
Nettle leaf is a trophorestorative (an herb that nourishes, strengthens and restores a body system) for the blood, as it contains minerals including iron and chlorophyll.
Nettle leaf also provides support for complex metabolic disorders as an excellent alterative (herb that can restore proper functioning of the body), hypoglycemic, circulation enhancer and inflammation mediator. It also has an antihistamine effect. It’s helpful for allergies, autoimmune disease, metabolic syndrome and inflammatory skin disease.
One study showed that, alongside fish oils and vitamin E, nettle was able to reduce the need for pain medication substantially in osteoarthritis.14
Nettle stings are very helpful topically for sore or arthritic joints as well as for carpal tunnel syndrome. I have had many people use nettle like this and avoid surgery.
How to take: Nettle leaf makes a good infusion and can be used to make soup or eaten in the same way as spinach. Nettle leaf can also be taken as a powder or tincture.
Inflammation is the combination of redness, heat and swelling that occurs after an injury or irritation of some kind to the body. It’s the protective reaction of the immune system.
It can be annoying and extremely painful, but it’s part of the body’s healing process and must be seen through to resolution. When resolution is reached, the body then produces anti-inflammatory chemicals to stop inflammation.
This should result in a return to good function and health and end the inflammatory process. However, if the cause of acute inflammation is continuous, such as untreated infection, inflammatory food and drink, or continued exposure to allergens or toxins, it becomes a chronic process that continues far longer than it should.
Chronic inflammation causes tissue damage, malfunction and eventually chronic disease. Simply using anti-inflammatory medication to suppress the symptoms will not resolve the problem and will create new issues owing to side effects.
Chronic inflammation can result from many and varied causes, like these:
A poor diet with regular consumption of sugar, refined carbohydrates and trans fatty acids (mostly found in processed food) and low in vegetables, fruit and unprocessed grains, pulses, nuts and seeds.
Metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance and diabetes.
Chronic low-grade infection by parasites, viruses, bacteria or fungi in which either the immune system or medical intervention has failed to eliminate the pathogen completely.
Repeated episodes of acute inflammation due to any cause.
Autoimmune disease (when the immune system constantly tries to attack body tissues) as a result of chronic inflammation. Common examples are multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Irritants in the body that the immune system can’t remove or neutralize. These might be foods to which there is an intolerance, irritant foods, toxic chemicals in the workplace, asbestos in the atmosphere or mold in the home.
A poor lifestyle characterized by problems like a lack of sleep, inactivity, ongoing mental and physical stress, and smoking.
Indications of inflammation in the body depend on the site of inflammation and how dispersed it is. However, I’ve found that heat, dryness, pain and lack of function are often the best signs. Here’s what to look for:
A COX-2 inhibitor is a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that targets cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an enzyme involved in inflammatory reactions.
Many herbs have the ability to inhibit COX-2, without the side effects of the drugs.1 These are some of them:
Some fresh herbs, such as dandelion, gotu kola and hawthorn leaves, can simply be eaten in a salad or added to a green smoothie. But you can also take herbs as a tea or infusion (made by steeping dried herbs in boiling water), decoction (made by simmering the harder plant parts, like seeds and roots), tincture (liquid extract) or powder.
See my previous article more information about these and how to make them at home.
You can also make an herbal balm or ointment for topical use by following these instructions:
Alternatively, mix the essential oils into any cream or ointment.
Dosage is variable for all herbs. Some people do well with drop doses of liquid extracts, and others need teaspoonfuls two to four times a day. Likewise, powdered herbs might work well at one capsule or half a level teaspoonful daily for some, while others may need four times that amount a day.
It’s best to see a qualified herbalist for individual advice, but generally you should start with a low dosage and slowly increase to see what works.
A 50-year-old man came to see me soon after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and reluctantly starting medication. Swollen and painful hands were one of his worst symptoms.
He’d been prescribed prednisolone, a corticosteroid, and methotrexate, an immunosuppressant. These are both very strong medications that suppress the inflammatory process and can have serious side effects.
He knew he needed them in the short term but wanted to find help so he could come off them eventually. He was also taking acetaminophen (paracetamol) for pain.
Leading up to this had been a long period of stress, together with a lack of care for himself and a poor diet. Muscle testing showed dairy intolerance, but as all autoimmune conditions benefit from avoiding gluten, I put him on a dairy- and gluten-free anti-inflammatory diet.
I advised him to take vitamin D3 and a good-quality fish oil supplement. I also recommended taking turmeric regularly, but not every day, in green smoothies and food.
I suggested adding ginger and black pepper to his diet, which, along with turmeric, are excellent inflammation-mediating and digestive herbs. Black pepper improves absorption of curcumin, the active compound in turmeric.
The herbal prescription was:
All these herbs were fine to be used alongside his medication, and he was able to start reducing the dose of both drugs within about three months.
One year later, the patient is still on methotrexate but now takes a much lower dose. He has managed to completely stop prednisolone. He feels much better and is no longer having side effects of the methotrexate now that the dose is lower. He is now looking after himself much better.
He has stayed on the herbs and is likely to need them for a few months after he has stopped medication, but then hopefully he’ll be able to continue healing with diet alone.
A 37-year-old woman came to see me with eczema, for which she had been prescribed a steroid cream. She was also having night sweats but had no signs of early menopause. She had experienced eczema as a child, but it had disappeared until three years previously and was now very hot and itchy, all over her body, and quite severe.
She had a history of cystitis and had experienced it four times in the last year, each time taking antibiotics for five days. Her sleep was poor because of the itching and heat. She also had a history of tonsillitis and ear infections as a child, for which she had taken a lot of antibiotics.
Testing showed she was intolerant to dairy products but also to high-salicylate foods. Alongside a dairy-free, anti-inflammatory, low-salicylate diet that included fermented foods to replace her gut flora, I prescribed several herbs to cool her and treat her skin.
Removing the inflammatory foods was the most important change, but alterative herbs to improve lymph and liver function as well as all elimination systems were also important for healing. When treating skin diseases, it’s vital to improve elimination systems so that the toxins that have caused the skin problems can exit the body.
Her herbal prescription was a tea containing two herbs:
She also had a tincture of four other herbs:
Over the next six weeks, the patient’s sleep and night sweats improved quickly. Her skin took a bit longer but did finally improve. She needed the herbs for only three months in total.
Three years later she had a flare-up after the death of her mother; a repeat of the herbal prescriptions and a reminder of the diet improved things quickly.
Adapted from Inflammation: The Source of Chronic Disease by Christine Herbert (Aeon Books, 2022). For 20 percent off the book, visit aeonbooks.co.uk and enter code IN20 at checkout (valid until April 13, 2025)
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