What is Dolnamul?

Dolnamul is a small, low-growing green plant that Koreans eat as a spring vegetable. Its Latin name is Sedum sarmentosum. The young stems and leaves are crisp and juicy.

Cooks toss it raw with a sweet bean paste dressing, or mix it into kimchi. Folk healers also gave it as a tea or a fresh juice. They used it for a sick liver, for fever, and for hot, sore skin.

This is a single herb, not a blend. Here is the short verdict: dolnamul has a long record as food and home medicine, but human trial evidence is thin. A long history of use does not prove that a plant works.

How does Dolnamul work?

No one has shown how dolnamul works in the body. What we have is lab work, not proof in people.

Test tube and rodent studies point to two things. One is sarmentosin, a plant sugar compound. The other is a group of plant pigments called flavonoids.

In those studies, extracts of the plant calmed swelling and shielded liver cells from harm. Results in dishes and rodents often fail to hold up in people. Treat this as a lead, not a finding.

What forms does Dolnamul come in?

Fresh leaves are the most common form. Korean markets sell bundles of raw stems through the spring.

Dried herb for tea is the next most common form. Herbal shops in Korea and China sell it loose, by weight. In China the dried plant goes by the name chuipencao.

You may also see fresh juice, frozen packs, and powder in capsules. Strength varies a lot between brands. A label rarely tells you how much sarmentosin is inside.

Where it comes from:

Dolnamul comes from Korea's spring table. Villagers picked it off rocks and banks when little else was growing.

It shows up in Korean folk medicine as a cooling herb for the liver and the skin. Chinese medicine uses the same plant as chuipencao, mostly in the last century, for liver illness.

So its standing as a food and home remedy is strong. Its standing in formal medicine is much newer and much thinner.

What does Dolnamul help with?

• Liver complaints, in folk use: This is the best known use, and the weakest on proof. Korean and Chinese folk healers gave the plant for a hot, swollen liver, and Chinese shops still sell it for that. Rodent studies show extracts can protect liver cells from chemical harm. We could not find a clear, well-run human trial. Dolnamul must never take the place of care for hepatitis (liver swelling caused by a virus) or any other liver disease.
• Mild swelling and heat in the body, in folk use: Korean folk use puts dolnamul in the 'cooling' group of herbs. People drank the juice for a hot, heavy feeling in the body. Lab studies show the extract can lower some markers of swelling in cells. That is a long way from showing it helps a person feel better.
• Hot, sore or itchy skin, used on the skin: Crushed fresh leaves were laid on burns, boils, bites and hot rashes. The plant is cool and wet, so it may simply soothe. There is no human trial behind this. Do not put it on a deep wound, a burn that blisters, or skin that is spreading redness. That needs a doctor.
• Fever, in folk use: Folk healers gave the juice or a thin tea during a fever. No study has tested this in people. A fever over 39C (102F), a fever lasting more than three days, or a fever with a stiff neck is a reason to get medical help, not a reason to try a herb.
• Everyday nutrition as a spring vegetable: This is the one use that is solid. Dolnamul is a low-calorie green that brings water, fibre and some vitamin C to a meal. As with any leafy green, the benefit comes from the whole diet, not from one dish.

Which foods are rich in Dolnamul?

1. Dolnamul namul: raw stems tossed with a sweet red pepper and bean paste dressing, the classic spring side dish
2. Dolnamul kimchi: a light, quick kimchi made with the fresh leaves
3. Dolnamul juice: fresh leaves blended with water or pear juice
4. Mul kimchi with dolnamul: the leaves floated in a cold, watery kimchi broth

Practical Tips:

The plant itself is the food, so eating it as a side dish is the safest way to try it.

What are the side effects of Dolnamul?

• Loose stools or mild diarrhoea, mostly from strong juice or strong tea
• Stomach cramps or nausea (feeling sick)
• Needing to pass urine more often
• A chilled or heavy feeling in the belly, reported in folk use
• Itchy rash or swelling in people allergic to the plant
• Skin irritation when fresh juice is left on the skin too long

Good to know:

Side effects are uncommon at food amounts. Koreans have eaten this plant for generations with no pattern of harm.

The reports we have involve strong juice, strong tea or capsules, not a side dish. Most settle within a day of stopping.

There are no published reports of liver injury, bleeding or heart problems from dolnamul. That is not the same as proof of safety for concentrated extracts, which nobody has tested well in people.

How much Dolnamul should you take?

• Recommended daily: No trial has set a safe, useful dose for dolnamul as a medicine. What follows is custom, not proof. As a food, one side dish is about 50 g to 100 g of fresh leaves. People eat that much without trouble. Folk tea uses about 15 g to 30 g of the dried herb, simmered in water and split over the day. Chinese herbal shops list the same range for chuipencao. Start at the low end if you try it at all.
• Best time of day: There is no best time. Most people eat it with lunch or dinner as a side dish. If you drink the tea, splitting it between morning and evening is the usual folk pattern.
• With or without food: Either way works. The tea sits better with or just after food if your stomach is easily upset. Raw juice on an empty stomach is the most likely to cause cramps.
• Time to effect: No one has measured this in people, so we cannot give you a number. As a food, there is nothing to wait for. If you are trying the tea for a health complaint and nothing has changed in two to four weeks, stop and talk to a doctor.
• How long to take it: As a vegetable, eat it as often as you like while it is in season. As a tea, keep any self-run course short. Two to four weeks is a fair limit, then stop and see how you feel. If you are taking it for a liver problem, that problem needs a doctor and a blood test, not a fixed number of weeks of herb tea.