What is somok?

Somok is the dark red heart wood of the sappan tree. Its Latin name is Caesalpinia sappan. In English it is called sappan wood.

Korean healers boil the wood chips to make a red tea. They use it most often for bruises, falls and blows. It is also used for period pain and for pain after childbirth.

The wood gives a deep red dye. The dye is used to colour food, drinks and cloth.

Long use is not proof that a herb works. Most somok research is lab and animal work. No strong human trials back its use for any health problem.

How does somok work?

No one has shown how somok works in the body. The honest answer is that we do not know.

Old Korean texts say somok moves the blood and clears blood stasis. Blood stasis is an old idea, not a lab finding. It means blood that is stuck or pooled and causes pain and dark bruises.

In lab dishes and in animals, a red dye in the wood called brazilin calms swelling and slows some germs. Some lab work hints it may make platelets (tiny blood cells that help blood clot) less sticky. Lab results often do not carry over to people.

What forms does somok come in?

You will most often see somok as dried red wood chips or shavings. These are boiled in water to make a tea, on their own or in a mixed herb formula.

Other forms include: - Powder made from ground wood - Granules or extract powders that you stir into hot water - Liquid extracts and tinctures - Food and cloth dye made from the same wood

Strength varies a lot between makers. Two products with the same name can be very different.

Where it comes from:

Somok has been used in Korean medicine for hundreds of years. It appears in the Donguibogam, a Korean medical text from 1613.

The same wood is used in Chinese medicine as su mu and in Japanese kampo. In India and South East Asia it is known as patanga or sappan. Traders carried the wood between these regions for both medicine and dye.

In all of these places it was mainly a blood and injury herb, given for bruises, swelling and painful periods.

What does somok help with?

• Bruises and pain after a knock or fall: This is the main traditional use in Korea. Healers add somok to formulas for falls, sprains and dark bruises. There are no human trials that test somok for injury pain or bruising.
• Painful periods: Old texts pair somok with other blood-moving herbs for cramping period pain. This use is well recorded but untested. No published human trial shows that somok eases period pain.
• Pain and slow recovery after childbirth (traditional use): Korean and Chinese texts describe somok for pain after birth. We list this to be complete, not as advice. Speak to your doctor or midwife before taking any herb after birth, above all if you are breastfeeding.
• Swelling in joints and soft tissue: Brazilin, one part of the wood, calms swelling in lab dishes and in animals. That is a long way from a result in people. No human trial has tested somok for joint or tissue swelling.
• Use as a red food and cloth dye: This use is real and well known, but it is not a health claim. Colouring a dish red does not mean the food will act as a medicine.

Which foods are rich in somok?

1. Red-dyed sweets and drinks: sappan wood has long been used as a natural red food colour, in tiny amounts
2. Sappan wood tea: a red drink made by boiling the chips, sold in parts of East and South East Asia

Practical Tips:

Somok is not part of a normal diet. Amounts used as a colour are far smaller than herbal doses.

What are the side effects of somok?

• Upset stomach, nausea or loose stools
• Red or pink colour in urine or stool from the dye
• Skin rash or itching in people who react to the wood
• Easier bruising or longer bleeding from small cuts
• Heavier period bleeding in some people

Good to know:

We do not know how common side effects are, because somok has not been tested in careful human studies. Reports so far are mostly from practice, not from trials.

The red colour in urine or stool is the dye and is harmless on its own. But blood in urine or stool looks similar, so do not guess. If you see red and you are not sure why, get it checked.

The effect that matters most is on bleeding. Stop somok and speak to a doctor if you bruise more easily, bleed longer than usual, or notice heavier periods.

How much somok should you take?

• Recommended daily: There is no dose proven to work in people. No trial has set a safe, useful daily amount. In traditional Korean and Chinese practice, herbalists use about 3 to 9 grams of dried wood a day, boiled into a tea, usually inside a mixed formula. Higher amounts were kept for short-term use by a trained practitioner. Product labels vary widely. Follow the label and, better still, work with a trained herbalist who knows your other medicines.
• Best time of day: There is no proven best time. Herbalists often split the tea into two doses, one in the morning and one in the evening. For period pain it is usually started a day or two before bleeding begins.
• With or without food: Usually taken warm, between meals. If it upsets your stomach, take it with food instead.
• Time to effect: Not known. No trial has measured how fast somok works, or whether it works at all. Traditional use suggests days rather than minutes.
• How long to take it: Traditional use is short and aimed at a clear problem, such as a bruise or a painful period. Two weeks is a common limit before you stop and think again. If nothing has changed after two weeks, stop taking it and see a doctor. Long daily use has not been studied for safety.