What is Dill?

Dill is a soft, feathery kitchen herb from the carrot family. Cooks use the green leaves and the small, flat seeds. Both are also sold as a folk remedy for wind, bloating and an upset stomach.

The plant grows fast in gardens across Europe and western Asia. The leaf tastes mild and grassy. The seed tastes sharper, a little like caraway.

In European folk use, dill was given for colic, gas and hiccups. Old gripe water for babies was often flavoured with dill seed oil. Long use in cooking and in tradition is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.

Here is the honest verdict. Human evidence for dill as a medicine is thin, and what exists is small and mixed. Eaten as food or drunk as a weak seed tea, dill suits most people well.

The risk sits at the strong end: the essential oil and concentrated extracts. Those are not the same thing as a sprig of dill on a salad. Most of the cautions on this page are about those stronger forms.

How does Dill work?

Nobody has shown in people how dill produces the effects tradition claims. What follows comes from lab and animal work.

In test tubes and in animals, dill seed extracts appear to relax the smooth muscle of the gut. That is the usual proposed reason for its use in wind and cramping. Whether the same thing happens after you drink a cup of dill tea is not established.

In animal studies, dill seed extract has lowered blood fats and blood sugar. The doses used were often far higher than a normal food amount. A few small human trials have looked at this, with mixed results.

In laboratory tests, dill oil slows the growth of some bacteria and fungi. This is common for aromatic plant oils. It does not mean dill treats an infection in your body.

Dill also contains plant pigments studied for their effect on inflammation. That work is mostly in cells. No human trial has linked it to a clear benefit.

A plainer idea may matter more. Warm fluid and a strong aroma can settle a full, gassy stomach on their own. Some of dill tea's comfort may come from that, not from the plant's chemistry.

What forms does Dill come in?

Most people meet dill as food. It is sold fresh, dried, or as whole seeds for cooking and pickling.

As a remedy, the seed is the usual part. Seed tea is the traditional form. The seeds are crushed, then steeped in hot water.

Capsules of dried seed powder are also sold. So are liquid extracts, often called tinctures. These are stronger than tea and vary a lot between brands.

Dill seed essential oil is a separate thing again. It is highly concentrated and meant for scent or tiny flavouring amounts. It is not something to swallow by the spoon.

Gripe water for babies once carried dill seed oil. Most brands today use other flavours instead. Read the label if this matters to you.

Dill water, a mild infusion, still appears in some home recipes. There is no agreed strength for it.

Where it comes from:

Dill has a long record in European folk medicine, going back to medieval herbals and earlier.

The name is often traced to an old word meaning to soothe or to lull. Nursing mothers were given dill tea in the belief it eased babies' colic through the milk. Dill seed water was a standard home answer to wind and hiccups.

In Victorian Britain, dill seed oil was a named part of gripe water sold for infants. Dill was also used as a breath freshener and an appetite starter before meals.

It carried a second, non-medical life. Dill was hung in doorways as a charm against bad luck in parts of northern Europe. That tells you the plant was valued, not that it treated anything.

None of this history is reported here as a reason to treat yourself. It explains why dill ended up in remedy shops, not whether it belongs there.

What does Dill help with?

• Wind, gas and bloating: This is dill's main folk use, and the one with the longest record. European tradition gave crushed dill seed in hot water after a heavy meal. In animal and test tube work, dill extracts relax gut muscle. There is no good human trial of dill alone for bloating. Warm fluid and a rest after eating may do much of the work. If it helps you, it is a low-risk thing to use; it is not a treatment.
• Indigestion and poor appetite: Dill belongs to a group of aromatic seeds used before and after meals to settle the stomach. Fennel, caraway and aniseed were used the same way. The bitter, aromatic taste was thought to wake up digestion. Human evidence for dill here is essentially absent. Ongoing indigestion needs a doctor, not a seed tea, because it can signal something that needs treatment.
• Infant colic (traditional use only): Dill seed oil was once a standard part of gripe water for crying babies. That is history, not a recommendation. No good trial has tested dill on its own in infants. Old gripe waters also contained alcohol or sugar, so any effect cannot be pinned on dill. Do not give dill oil, dill extracts or home-made dill water to a baby. Babies handle concentrated plant oils poorly. Speak to your health visitor or doctor about a crying baby.
• Breath freshening: Chewing dill seed after a meal freshens the breath, and this is simple to check for yourself. The aroma comes from carvone and limonene. In lab tests, dill oil slows the growth of some mouth bacteria. Whether that reduces plaque or treats bad breath in people has not been shown. Lasting bad breath can come from gum disease, so see a dentist.
• Period cramps (traditional use only): Folk use gave dill tea for cramping pain. A small number of trials in Iran tested dill capsules for period pain, with mixed results. The trials were small and short. Some compared dill to painkillers without a strong control group. This is not enough to recommend dill for cramps. Severe or worsening period pain should be checked by a doctor.
• Blood fats and blood sugar (studied, weak evidence): A handful of small human trials have tested dill seed extract for cholesterol and blood sugar. Most were small, short and run in one country. Results have gone both ways, and some showed no change at all. Dill is not a treatment for high cholesterol or diabetes. If you take medicine for either, see the interactions section before using dill supplements.

Which foods are rich in Dill?

Dill is itself a food. It is common in Scandinavian, Polish, Russian, Greek and Turkish cooking. You will meet it in pickles, fish dishes, yoghurt sauces, soups and potato salad. Eating it this way carries no special caution for most people.

What are the side effects of Dill?

• Itchy mouth, lips or throat in people allergic to the carrot family
• Skin rash after handling the fresh plant
• Skin that burns more easily in sunlight after heavy skin contact
• Mild stomach upset or loose stools with concentrated extracts
• Nausea or vomiting if essential oil is swallowed
• Rarely, a whole-body allergic reaction

Good to know:

In food amounts, side effects are rare and mild. Dill has a long record of safe eating.

The common problem is allergy. People allergic to carrot, celery, fennel or birch pollen may react to dill as well.

Skin reactions come mostly from handling lots of fresh plant, not from eating it. The essential oil is the form most likely to cause harm, because it is so concentrated.

How much Dill should you take?

• Recommended daily: Dill is a food first, and any amount you would cook with is a normal food amount. For remedy products, labels commonly carry about 1 to 2 grams of crushed dill seed per cup of tea, up to three cups a day. Capsule labels vary widely, because extracts differ in strength. These figures describe what labels say. They are not an instruction for you. Follow the label on the product in your hand, and ask a pharmacist if you take regular medicines. Dill essential oil is not for swallowing at any amount given here.
• Best time of day: Timing does not matter much. Tradition took dill seed tea after meals, when wind and fullness are worst. Use it when the symptom is there.
• With or without food: Either is fine. Most people take dill seed tea just after eating. Capsules with food may be gentler on the stomach.
• Time to effect: If a warm dill tea settles your stomach, you would expect to notice within an hour. For anything else, there is no reliable timeline, because the effects are not established. It is honest to say it may do nothing at all for you.
• How long to take it: There is no tested length of use for dill as a remedy, because the trials needed to set one do not exist. Food use needs no limit. Short runs of seed tea for a few days are the traditional pattern. If a symptom lasts more than two weeks, stop guessing and get it checked.