SuppleGut Take the quiz

Western herbalism · Traditional Chinese medicine

DandelionTaraxacum officinale (and T. mongolicum in Chinese medicine)

A bitter weed used in Europe for fullness and poor appetite. EMA found no clinical studies; its monograph rests on traditional use (4 to 10 g as an infusion).

Botanical name
Taraxacum officinale (and T. mongolicum in Chinese medicine)
Part used
root and leaf (aerial parts)
Also called
pinyin Pu gong ying (蒲公英); Lion's tooth, Blowball, Löwenzahn (German)
Used in
Western herbalism, Traditional Chinese medicine
Taken for
Appetite, Liver and bile, Indigestion, Bloating
Sold as
tea, capsules, tincture, liquid extract, fresh juice, roasted root

Dandelion, the plant and the part used

Dandelion is a perennial of the daisy family (Asteraceae) found on lawns and roadsides across the temperate world. Herbal products use the leaf, the root, or the root and aerial parts together. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) monograph covers the combination, “dandelion root with herb.”

The plant is bitter, and it is a long-standing food as well as a remedy: leaves go into salads, and the roasted root is brewed as a coffee substitute. Root content varies with the season; EMA’s assessment report cites inulin, a prebiotic fiber, at 2 percent of root weight in spring and up to 40 percent in autumn.

Products include dried leaf or root as tea, capsules of the powder or a dry extract, tinctures and liquid extracts, and expressed juice from the fresh flowering plant. German-style juices are marketed for bile and digestion. A separate Chinese herb, pu gong ying, is the whole plant of Taraxacum mongolicum and related species, used in a different tradition for different purposes.

Traditional uses, in their own terms

Western herbalism

In European herbal practice dandelion is a bitter, and the tradition links bitter herbs with appetite and digestion. EMA’s assessment report documents products on the German market for more than 30 years, described as promoting digestion or supporting bile secretion with complaints of fullness and flatulence, plus diuretic use. On that basis EMA adopted a traditional-use monograph for two indications: relief of mild digestive disorders (feeling of abdominal fullness, flatulence, slow digestion) with temporary loss of appetite, and increasing urine flow as an adjuvant in minor urinary complaints. A review of dandelion in gastrointestinal disease lists folkloric uses for dyspepsia, anorexia, stomach disorders, gastritis and enteritis.

Traditional Chinese medicine (about TCM)

In Chinese medicine the herb is pu gong ying, the whole plant of Taraxacum mongolicum and related species. A practitioner reference classes it as cold, bitter and sweet, entering the liver and stomach channels, and lists its actions as clearing heat, resolving what the texts call fire toxicity, benefiting the liver, and promoting urination. The same reference lists no digestive item among its formal indications, with digestive claims appearing only in modern descriptions of its bitter principle, and advises avoiding it in cold and deficient patterns of the spleen and stomach.

Compounds, and what the laboratory says about them

Dandelion contains sesquiterpene lactones (such as taraxinic acid glucoside, a bitter principle that is also the allergen behind contact reactions), triterpenes including taraxasterol, phenolic acids such as chicoric, chlorogenic and caffeic acid, flavonoids, and inulin in the root. Inulin is a fermentable fiber; in laboratory work it feeds gut bacteria, but we found no human study showing that dandelion root changes the microbiome. A review of dandelion and gut protection attributes the plant’s protective effects to taraxasterol, chicoric acid, polysaccharides and inulin, drawing on cell and animal studies. In rats, a leaf decoction raised bile flow by up to 40 percent, according to a 1959 study cited in EMA’s report.

Trials in people, with the numbers

EMA could find no clinical studies for dandelion root with herb and said so directly in its assessment report: the well-established use route was closed because there were no trials, and the monograph rests on traditional use alone. A 2015 ethnopharmacological review likewise found little interest in further human clinical trials despite wide traditional use.

We could find no randomized trial of dandelion on a gut outcome: not for dyspepsia, bloating, constipation, appetite or bile flow. The one human study located is a small pilot of urinary output, not digestion. In it, 17 volunteers took 8 mL of a fresh-leaf hydroethanolic extract three times in a single day. Urination frequency rose in the 5 hours after the first dose, and the ratio of urine volume to fluid intake rose after the second dose; by the third dose there was no change. The authors called this promising and said more studies were needed.

The remaining evidence is laboratory. A review of dandelion and the gut summarizes cell and animal findings on taraxasterol, chicoric acid, polysaccharides and inulin, and the animal bile-flow work cited by EMA dates to the early twentieth century. Those findings suggest where research might look but do not show that capsules, teas or juices help any digestive symptom in people. Safety data, including a contraindication in bile duct disease, come from the monograph and are covered below.

StudyDoseWhat it found
Pilot study, 17 volunteers (urine output, not a gut outcome) PMID 196787858 mL fresh-leaf extract three times in one dayMore frequent urination after dose 1; higher urine-to-intake ratio after dose 2; no change after dose 3
Review of dandelion and gastrointestinal protection (cell and animal evidence) PMID 35405251Not applicableFolkloric digestive uses listed; GI-protective constituents identified in lab work; no controlled human gut trials summarized
Ethnopharmacological review of Taraxacum PMID 25858507Not applicableWide traditional use; little interest in human clinical trials

The doses on record

The EMA traditional-use monograph lists, for adults and adolescents, comminuted dried root with herb at 3 to 4 g as a decoction or 4 to 10 g as an infusion up to three times daily; a dry extract of 300 mg twice daily or 150 mg one to two tablets three times daily; liquid extracts at 90 or 35 drops three times daily; and 10 mL of expressed juice three times daily. Use in children under 12 is not advised. The monograph tells users to consult a practitioner if symptoms last beyond 2 weeks. For the urinary indication it adds that adequate fluid intake is required. No trial has tested these doses against placebo.

None of this is a dose recommendation. It is what the literature used, set down so a label can be compared with it; a pharmacist or clinician decides what applies to you.

The safety record

EMA lists epigastric pain, hyperacidity and allergic reactions among undesirable effects, frequency unknown. Because dandelion belongs to the Asteraceae family, the monograph contraindicates it in anyone hypersensitive to that family, and the assessment report notes that sesquiterpene lactones such as taraxinic acid glucoside can cause contact dermatitis and, rarely, anaphylaxis.

The monograph also contraindicates it in obstruction of the bile ducts, cholangitis, liver disease, gallstones and active peptic ulcer, and advises avoiding it in kidney failure, diabetes and heart failure because of possible hyperkalemia (a rise in blood potassium). Pregnancy and breastfeeding safety has not been established and use is not advised. No overdose has been reported. Genotoxicity testing has not been done.

Medicines it can interact with

The EMA monograph reports no interactions with medicines. Its assessment report discusses two theoretical concerns: the potassium content of the herb, relevant to people on potassium-sparing diuretics, ACE inhibitors or other medicines that raise potassium, and the diuretic action of the herb, which in principle could add to lithium loss and so change lithium levels. None of these has been demonstrated in a clinical interaction study.

The interaction rules the quiz applies to dandelion

These are the medicines the quiz pairs with a caution or an exclusion for this herb, taken from published interaction references:

Where dandelion turns up in the catalog

Dandelion appears on the labels below, alone or inside a blend; each product page gives the printed amount, the evidence for that product and the review picture.

OLLY Beat The Bloat Capsules 4 out of 5 from 25,935 ratings from Amazon · $0.72 a day Love Wellness Bye Bye Bloat 4.1 out of 5 from 9,956 ratings from Amazon · $0.83 a day Omyo GLP-1 Digestive Support 4.8 out of 5 from 2,814 ratings from omyohealth.com · $2.00 a day JSHealth Vitamins Detox + Debloat Formula 4.3 out of 5 from 2,339 ratings from Amazon · $1.30 a day Urban Moonshine Original Digestive Bitters 4.4 out of 5 from 1,409 ratings from Amazon · $0.68 a day Totaria 5-in-1 Probiotic, Prebiotic and Postbiotic, 60 Billion CFU 4.5 out of 5 from 1,246 ratings from Amazon · $0.19 a day Arrae Bloat Capsules 4.1 out of 5 from 853 ratings from Amazon · $1.50 a day Arrae Bloat Gummies 4.2 out of 5 from 104 ratings from Amazon · $1.33 a day Lunvara Kombucha Gut Restore Softgels 4.8 out of 5 from 95 ratings from mylunvara.com · $1.50 a day Wellah L-Glutamine Powder 4.5 out of 5 from 85 ratings from Amazon · $0.30 a day Sculptique Premium Gut Support Formula 4.8 out of 5 from 41 ratings from trysculptique.com · $1.17 per day at three capsules; the brand site shows $34.97 or $39.95 for a bottle depending on the page Nuora Gut Ritual 2.2 out of 5 from 39 ratings from Amazon · $1.30 a day

From the herb to a product that fits you

The quiz weighs your symptoms and medicines against every product researched here, dandelion products included, and shows its working.

Take the quiz

Read next

Western Artichoke Cynara cardunculus (syn. Cynara scolymus) Western / TCM Burdock Arctium lappa Western Milk thistle Silybum marianum Western Gentian Gentiana lutea Western Chicory root Cichorium intybus

The questions that come up

Has dandelion been tested for digestion in people?

We could find no randomized trial on a digestive outcome. EMA reached the same conclusion and based its monograph on traditional use only. The single human pilot study we found measured urine output.

What does EMA say the traditional use is?

EMA lists relief of mild digestive disorders, such as feeling of abdominal fullness, flatulence and slow digestion, with temporary loss of appetite. It also lists increased urine flow for minor urinary complaints. Both rest on long-standing use, not on trials.

Who is warned off dandelion in the monograph?

The monograph contraindicates it in people with bile duct obstruction, gallstones, liver disease or active peptic ulcer, and in anyone allergic to the daisy family. It advises avoiding it in kidney failure, diabetes and heart failure because of potassium. Pregnancy and breastfeeding safety is not established.

Is the Chinese herb pu gong ying the same plant?

It is the whole plant of Taraxacum mongolicum and related species, in the same genus as the European dandelion. Chinese medicine uses it for different reasons: clearing heat and fire toxicity and promoting urination, as described in practitioner references. The two traditions do not share a dosing standard.

Does dandelion root count as a prebiotic?

The root contains inulin, a fiber that gut bacteria ferment, and EMA cites levels from 2 percent in spring to 40 percent in autumn. In the laboratory that supports bacterial growth. We found no human trial showing a change in gut bacteria or symptoms from dandelion.

Sources