Licorice nasal rinse beat steroids for hay fever symptoms in trial
Liu J, Pang S, Lu Y, Liu J, Guo X
Medicinal Plants
The licorice root in your herb garden isn't just a soothing tea ingredient; a small clinical trial found it outperformed steroid nasal sprays for relieving stuffy, itchy allergy symptoms.
Researchers reviewed years of studies on Chinese herbal treatments for allergic rhinitis (the medical term for chronic hay fever) and found several plant-based approaches that calm the immune system, patch up the nose's protective barrier, and feed helpful gut bacteria. One standout trial used a licorice root rinse that worked better than a steroid rinse at cutting nasal swelling and improving quality-of-life scores. The catch: most of the underlying biology has only been proven in animals, so bigger human studies are still needed before doctors can fully trust it.
Key Findings
A 60-person RCT found licorice root (Glycyrrhiza) nasal lavage improved SNOT-22 symptom scores from 27.9 to 13.2 and beat corticosteroid rinses at reducing nasal airway resistance (p<0.001).
TCM formulas appear to work by regulating immune transcription factors (NF-κB, GATA3), restoring tight-junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin) in the nasal lining, and boosting gut short-chain fatty acid production.
Most mechanistic evidence still comes from animal models, with the review calling for large-scale, multi-center human trials to confirm efficacy.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A review of traditional Chinese herbal medicine finds it may ease allergy symptoms in hay fever sufferers by calming immune overreaction, repairing the nose's protective lining, and shifting gut bacteria, though most evidence still comes from animal studies rather than large human trials.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Multi-target mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of allergic rhinitis.
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a prevalent chronic inflammatory condition mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE). In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), AR is categorized under the term "bi qiu", with its c...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Ancient Amazonian forests were planted and tended by Indigenous farmers
Forests and fruits we romanticize as wild — including many plants now in our kitchens and gardens — may exist in their current abundance precisely because an...
Liquorice or licorice is the common name of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is extracted.