eneldo

What is eneldo?

Eneldo is the Spanish name for dill, Anethum graveolens. It is a feathery green herb in the carrot family. Both the leaves and the small flat seeds are used.

In Latin American homes it is best known as a warm tea, often called agua de eneldo. Families have long sipped it after heavy meals for gas and bloating. It is also a kitchen herb for fish, soups, beans and pickles.

Here is the honest verdict on the evidence. Human studies on dill are few, small and weak, so most claims are unproven. Long use in kitchens and home care is not proof that a remedy works, and it is not proof that it is safe for every person or every use.

As a food, dill is widely eaten and well tolerated. Stronger forms, such as capsules, seed extracts and the essential oil, are a different matter. Those deserve more care, and the safety section below explains why.

How does eneldo work?

No one has shown in good human trials how eneldo works, or that it works at all.

The main idea comes from lab work. In test tubes and in animal gut tissue, dill seed oil appears to relax the smooth muscle of the gut. That is the proposed reason for the old use against gas and cramping.

Dill is also rich in plant antioxidants. In cell studies these compounds mop up reactive molecules linked to inflammation. Whether eating dill does anything useful in your body is not established.

In rats and mice, dill seed extracts have lowered blood sugar and blood fats in some studies. Animal results often fail to repeat in people. Small human trials on cholesterol have given mixed and unconvincing results.

A few lab tests show dill oil slowing the growth of certain bacteria and fungi. That happens in a dish, at strengths you do not reach by drinking tea. Treat it as a lab finding, not a treatment.

What forms does eneldo come in?

You will meet eneldo in several forms, from mild to strong.

- Fresh leaves, sold as a bunch for cooking - Dried leaf, often labelled dill weed - Whole seeds, used for tea and for pickling - Tea bags of dill seed, alone or mixed with anise or fennel - Capsules or tablets of dill seed or leaf extract - Dill essential oil, a very concentrated distilled oil - Gripe water products for babies, which may list dill seed oil

Food and tea forms are the mildest. Capsules and extracts are stronger and less well studied. The essential oil is the most concentrated form and is not a drink.

Gripe waters vary a lot by brand and country. Some older or imported products have contained alcohol, sugar or sodium bicarbonate. Read the label, and ask a pharmacist before giving any of them to a baby.

Where it comes from:

Dill travelled to the Americas with Spanish and Portuguese settlers and became a fixture in home kitchens and home remedies.

In Latin American folk practice, a warm seed tea was given after meals for wind and a heavy stomach. Mothers and grandmothers also used it for fussy, gassy babies, and some believed it helped milk come in.

The plant is far older than that. Egyptian and Greek writings mention dill, and it appears in European herbals through the Middle Ages. Roman writers linked it with soothing the stomach.

The British gripe waters of the 1850s made dill seed oil famous for infant colic. That product spread worldwide and shaped the modern idea of dill as a baby remedy. None of this history was tested the way a medicine is tested today.

This page describes what was done in the past. It is a record, not a suggestion that you do the same.

What does eneldo help with?

• Gas and bloating after meals: This is the classic Latin American use for eneldo tea. In lab and animal tissue, dill seed oil appears to relax gut muscle, which could ease trapped wind. There are no good human trials of dill tea for bloating. Many people find a warm drink after a meal settling on its own, and that may be most of the effect.
• Mild stomach cramping and indigestion: Tradition treated dill as a carminative, meaning a herb that helps you pass wind. Human evidence is essentially absent. If cramping is severe, lasting or comes with fever, weight loss or blood, that is a reason to see a doctor rather than to brew tea.
• Infant colic (traditional use only): Dill seed oil is the historic base of gripe water for crying babies. Trials of gripe water have been few, small and poorly designed, and results are not convincing. Giving a newborn herbal waters can crowd out milk and carries real risk. Talk to a paediatrician (a children's doctor) before giving a baby anything but milk.
• Period pain: Small trials, mostly from Iran, compared dill seed capsules with standard painkillers in young women. Some reported similar pain relief, but the groups were small and the methods weak. This is a promising hint, not a proven treatment.
• Supporting breast milk supply (traditional use only): Dill is a folk galactagogue, meaning a herb believed to boost milk. There is no reliable human evidence that it does. Milk supply responds best to frequent feeding and good attachment. A lactation consultant or midwife is a better first call.
• Bad breath and low appetite: Chewing seeds after a meal is an old habit in several cultures. The strong oil freshens breath for a short time. Nothing suggests it treats the cause of bad breath, such as gum disease.
• Blood sugar and cholesterol (unproven): Rat studies and a handful of small human trials have looked at dill extracts for blood fats and blood sugar. The results are mixed and the trials are too small to trust. Do not change or stop a prescribed medicine on the strength of this.

Which foods are rich in eneldo?

Eneldo is itself a food. It appears as fresh leaf in fish dishes, soups, salsas and bean stews, and as seed in pickles and breads.

What are the side effects of eneldo?

• Itchy mouth, lips or throat in people allergic to the carrot family
• Skin rash from handling the fresh plant
• Sun sensitivity, meaning easier burning, after plant juice gets on skin
• Mild stomach upset or loose stools with strong extracts
• Rare allergic reactions with swelling or trouble breathing
• Vomiting or feed refusal in babies given herbal waters

Good to know:

In food amounts, side effects are uncommon and usually mild.

Allergy is the main concern. People who react to carrot, celery, fennel or anise may react to dill too. Birch pollen allergy can also cross over.

Skin reactions come from the fresh plant and its furanocoumarins. Juice on the skin plus strong sun can cause a burn-like rash.

Serious reactions are rare. Swelling of the lips or tongue, wheeze or trouble breathing is an emergency.

How much eneldo should you take?

• Recommended daily: Eneldo is first of all a food, and food amounts need no measuring. Seed tea labels commonly list about 1 to 2 grams of seed per cup, which is roughly a teaspoon. Capsule products vary widely in strength, so the label is the only guide. These are typical label figures, not advice for you. The essential oil is not a food. It is not meant to be swallowed, and it should never be given to a child.
• Best time of day: Timing does not matter much. People who use it for wind usually drink it after eating. There is no evidence that any hour works better.
• With or without food: Culinary dill is eaten with food by definition. The tea is usually taken after a meal. Capsules with food may be gentler on the stomach.
• Time to effect: If a warm seed tea helps your bloating, you would expect to notice within an hour. For most claimed uses there is no reliable timeline, because the effect itself is unproven. It is fair to expect that it may do nothing at all.
• How long to take it: Traditionally the tea was used now and then, after a heavy meal, rather than daily for months. No study has tested long-term use of dill supplements, so a safe long-term amount is not known. If you feel you need it every day for weeks, the symptom needs a diagnosis.