Lovage
Quick Facts
- What it is: A celery-scented European garden herb whose leaf, seed and root are used in cooking and in folk remedies for urine flow and digestion.
- Main uses: Traditional "flushing" tea for mild urinary complaints, Bloating and heavy digestion, Food flavouring
- Active ingredients: Phthalides (ligustilide, butylidene phthalide), Furanocoumarins (bergapten, psoralen), Coumarins, Polyacetylenes, Quercetin glycosides
- Forms: Dried root for tea, Fresh or dried leaf, Seed, Tincture, Capsules, Essential oil (not for swallowing)
- Time to effect: Hours if anything happens; often nothing
- Side effects: Usually mild: more urination, stomach upset, and skin that burns easily in sun.
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What is Lovage?
Lovage is a tall garden herb in the carrot family, grown for its leaves, root and seeds. It smells and tastes strongly of celery and stock cubes. In German it is called Liebstöckel or Maggikraut, after the soup seasoning it resembles.
People use it in two very different ways. As a food, it flavours soups, broths, stews and potato dishes. As a folk remedy, the dried root was brewed as a tea to make you pass more urine and to settle a heavy stomach.
Here is the honest verdict on the evidence. No good human trial shows that lovage treats any illness. Its long use in Europe is tradition, not proof — and tradition is not a safety record either.
That said, lovage is not a dangerous plant in food amounts. The cautions on this page apply to strong teas, tinctures, capsules and the essential oil. A few groups should skip even those, and they are listed below.
How does Lovage work?
No one has shown, in people, how lovage acts on the body. What follows is a proposal, not a proven path.
The classic claim is that lovage is a diuretic (it makes you pass more urine). Folk healers used it to "flush out" the urinary tract. Animal and test-tube work on this is mixed, and some rodent studies found no clear rise in urine output.
The herb is rich in an aromatic oil. In laboratory tests, parts of that oil relax smooth muscle, the muscle in the gut wall. Whether a cup of lovage tea does this in a human gut has not been shown.
In test tubes, lovage extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. That is a long way from treating an infection in a person. Do not read it as an antibiotic effect.
Lovage also contains furanocoumarins. These are plant compounds that can make skin burn more easily in sunlight. This one is well documented across the carrot family and is a real-world caution, not a theory.
What forms does Lovage come in?
Lovage is sold in several forms. These first ones are kitchen forms.
- Fresh or dried leaf, used as a kitchen herb. - Dried cut root, sold loose or in tea bags for brewing. - Seeds, used as a spice.
The next forms are more concentrated.
- Tincture, an alcohol extract, in dropper bottles. - Capsules or tablets of dried root powder. - Essential oil, sold for scent and flavouring work.
You will also find fixed combination products. These pair lovage root with other herbs for urinary complaints.
The essential oil is very concentrated. It is not a drinking product. Do not swallow it.
Where it comes from:
Lovage has been grown in Europe for well over a thousand years. Roman writers recorded it as a kitchen and medicine plant. Charlemagne's ninth-century garden list for royal estates named it among the herbs to plant.
Monastery gardens kept it going through the Middle Ages. Herbalists of that era wrote it up for wind, sluggish digestion and "water" problems. Some folk sources also used it to bring on a late period, which is one reason pregnancy warnings stuck to it.
In modern Germany, the official herbal monograph body listed lovage root for "flushing-out therapy" of the lower urinary tract. That listing reflects traditional standing and expert opinion. It was not based on trials in people.
Who should avoid Lovage?
- Do not take lovage as a medicine if you are pregnant. Folk use to bring on a period makes this a firm no, and kitchen amounts of the herb in food are the limit.
- Do not take lovage products if you are breastfeeding, as safety has not been studied.
- Never use lovage products if you have reduced kidney function or kidney inflammation (a swollen, irritated kidney).
- Do not use lovage if you have oedema (swelling from fluid build-up) caused by a weak heart or failing kidneys.
- Never swallow lovage essential oil.
- Do not use lovage if you are allergic to celery, carrot, fennel, parsley or mugwort.
- Avoid giving lovage remedies to children under 12.
- Avoid sunbeds and long sun exposure while using lovage products, and cover skin that has touched the fresh plant.
- Do not use lovage in place of antibiotics for a urinary infection, and never delay treatment for one.
- Do not use lovage if you take lithium, unless your prescriber agrees.
When should you see a doctor?
Stop lovage and see a doctor if any of these happen:
- You get a fever, chills, or pain in your back or side. This can mean a kidney infection. - You see blood in your urine. - Burning or stinging when you pass urine lasts more than two days. - You pass much less urine than usual, or you feel faint and dizzy. - Your skin reddens or blisters after sun exposure. - You get a rash, or swelling of the lips, tongue or throat.
Swelling of the mouth or throat, or trouble breathing, is a medical emergency. Call emergency services straight away.
Is Lovage legal where you live?
In the UK, the EU and the US, lovage is an ordinary food herb and a permitted flavouring. Products sold for health are supplements, not licensed medicines, so no health claim has been approved for them.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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