Simonillo

What is Simonillo?

Simonillo is a small grey-green herb from the daisy family. Its botanical name is Laennecia filaginoides. You may also see it listed under an older name, Conyza filaginoides.

It grows in the highlands of Mexico and nearby parts of Latin America. Healers dried the whole flowering plant and brewed it as a tea. Bundles of the dried herb are still sold in Mexican markets.

It is best known as a folk remedy for the liver, the gallbladder and a sour stomach. It was also taken for "bilis", a folk illness blamed on anger.

Here is the honest verdict. Human evidence is very thin, and no good trials in people have been published. Long traditional use is not proof that a plant works, and it is not proof that it is safe.

This page gives you what tradition claimed, what the lab work shows, and who should stay away.

How does Simonillo work?

The short answer: no one has shown how simonillo acts in the human body.

Folk healers treated it as a bitter tonic for the liver. The idea was that it pushed bile along and cooled "heat" in the gut. That is a traditional model, not a tested one.

Lab work offers a few hints. In test-tube studies, extracts of the plant show antioxidant activity. That means they mop up reactive molecules in a dish.

In mice, some extracts of this plant lowered blood sugar. Those were small animal studies. They do not tell you what a cup of tea does in a person.

Flavonoids found in the plant can slow certain gut enzymes in lab tests. Whether that changes digestion in a real person is not known.

No human trial has measured bile flow, liver enzymes or blood sugar after taking simonillo. So treat the mechanism as an open question, not a settled fact.

What forms does Simonillo come in?

Simonillo is nearly always sold as the dried plant, loose or in bundles.

The common forms are listed below.

- Loose dried stems, leaves and flowers, brewed as a tea

- Tea bags of the cut, dried herb

- Alcohol tinctures, mainly from small herbal makers

- Mixed liver or stomach tea blends, where it sits alongside other herbs

- Occasional capsules of powdered herb

The tea is the traditional form and the one most people meet.

There is no standard extract and no agreed marker compound. Two products with the same name can differ in strength.

Blends are worth checking closely. The other herbs in the mix can carry their own cautions and their own drug interactions.

Buy from a seller who names the botanical source on the label. Unlabelled market bundles may be a different daisy-family plant.

Where it comes from:

Simonillo has a long place in Mexican folk medicine. Written records of its market use go back to the 1800s, and it likely ran further back in local practice.

It was classed as a bitter "liver herb". Healers gave it for jaundice (yellow skin or eyes), gallbladder pain and a heavy stomach after rich food.

It was also used for "bilis", a folk illness tied to anger and thought to upset the bile. Tradition linked strong feeling with the liver.

In the twentieth century it kept a steady place in Mexican market herbalism. It is still listed in surveys of plants sold for diabetes and liver complaints.

It never crossed into mainstream medicine. Modern research on it stayed small, and most of it stayed in the lab.

This section records what was done in the past. It is not a suggestion that you do the same.

What does Simonillo help with?

• Liver complaints in folk use: This is the main traditional use. Healers gave the tea for jaundice (yellow skin or eyes) and for a sluggish liver. The human evidence is absent. No trial has measured liver enzymes or liver health in people taking simonillo. Liver symptoms need a doctor. Yellow skin, dark urine or pain under the right ribs should be checked, not treated with tea.
• Gallbladder and bile complaints in folk use: Tradition held that simonillo made bile flow and eased gallbladder pain. There is no human study behind this. No trial has looked at bile flow or gallstone pain with this plant. If you have gallstones, a herb that moves bile could make matters worse. Talk to a doctor before trying anything of this kind.
• Indigestion, bloating and a heavy stomach: Bitter teas have a long folk record for easing a full, heavy stomach. Simonillo was used this way after rich meals. No trial has tested it for indigestion. Any benefit may be the warm drink, the bitter taste, or simple expectation. This is the mildest of its traditional uses. It is also the one least likely to hide a serious problem.
• "Bilis", a folk illness linked to anger: "Bilis" is a folk illness, not a medical diagnosis. It describes upset, anger and stomach trouble happening together. Simonillo was a standard remedy for it in Mexican practice. The claim sits inside the folk model of the liver and strong feeling. There is no scientific evidence to assess here. The condition itself is not defined in medical terms.
• Folk use for high blood sugar: Simonillo appears in market surveys of plants sold for diabetes in Mexico. Some mouse studies of this plant reported lower blood sugar. That is animal work, and it does not show the same thing happens in people. Do not use it in place of diabetes medicine. If you take diabetes drugs, the two together could push your blood sugar too low.

What are the side effects of Simonillo?

• Nausea or stomach upset
• A bitter taste that lingers
• Loose stools
• Skin rash or itching, in people sensitive to daisy-family plants
• Hay-fever-like symptoms, such as sneezing or itchy eyes
• Low blood sugar signs, such as shakiness or sweating, if you also take diabetes medicine

Good to know:

Reported side effects are few and mostly mild, but that is partly because the plant has barely been studied.

Stomach upset is the most likely problem. Allergy is the main real risk, and it runs in the daisy family.

Absence of reports is not the same as proof of safety. Stop and seek advice if anything feels wrong.

How much Simonillo should you take?

• Recommended daily: There is no established dose for simonillo, because no human trial has set one. Market and label custom in Mexico is roughly 1 to 2 grams of the dried herb brewed as a tea, up to two or three times a day. That figure describes what labels carry. It is not a dose for you, and it is not backed by trial data.
• Best time of day: Time of day does not matter much for this herb. Tradition favoured the tea after meals, when the stomach felt heavy. That reflects how it was used, not a proven effect.
• With or without food: The tea was traditionally taken after food. Bitter herbs can feel harsh on an empty stomach. Taking it with or after a meal is gentler.
• Time to effect: Nobody can give you an honest timeline, because the effect has not been measured in people. Any settling of a heavy stomach would likely be noticed within an hour, as with other warm bitter teas. It may also do nothing at all. That is a real possible outcome here.
• How long to take it: No safe length of use has been studied. Folk use was short: a few days around a bout of stomach or liver trouble. Long daily use has never been tested for safety. If you are taking it for symptoms that last more than a week or two, see a doctor instead.