Wormwood

Artemisia absinthium · Absinthium

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Crohn's disease remission¹ Upper abdominal complaints² Mild gastrointestinal disorders³ Female sexual function⁴ Postmenopausal sexual quality of life⁵	Sesquiterpene lactone contact allergy⁶ Prolonged essential oil use

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is a bitter aromatic herb traditionally used for dyspepsia, indigestion, and loss of appetite⁷. Its bitterness changes neural responses to food cues in healthy women, and its constituent thujone antagonizes the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor. Patients take it for upper abdominal complaints, as an adjunct in Crohn's disease, as a parasite cleanse, and topically for female sexual function.

Two systematic reviews of herbal therapy in inflammatory bowel disease report wormwood superior to placebo for inducing Crohn's disease remission, with few and heterogeneous trials. Multi-herb liquids containing wormwood relieved upper abdominal symptoms in a randomized trial against metoclopramide and in an open non-interventional study. A placebo-controlled trial of topical wormwood vaginal gel found better sexual function and satisfaction after 4 weeks in reproductive-age women with sexual dysfunction⁴. In a 2022 in vitro study, an alcoholic wormwood extract impaired development of Ascaris suum eggs from swine, and no human trial has tested it as a parasite treatment. Products listing wormwood number 492, mostly liquid tinctures with some capsules; see Form comparison.

The main safety concern is thujone: long-term use of the essential oil is reported to cause convulsions, sleeplessness, and hallucinations⁷. Patients with sesquiterpene lactone contact allergy reacted on patch testing to wormwood tea⁶.

Last updated October 15, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

42 sources, 29 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources