Have you ever seen a tall, green weed growing by the side of the road or in a wild field? It might be mugwort, with dark green leaves on top and a fuzzy, silver underside. For hundreds of years, people around the world have used this wild plant to make natural medicine.
Today, many people dry the leaves and make a bitter tea out of them. They drink this tea to ease a sore stomach, help them fall asleep and support women’s health. But is this old, wild weed really safe and good for your body? It is essential to understand exactly what this plant does before trying it. Let us look closely at what healthcare providers and science say about mugwort.
What the science says
Science tells us that mugwort has strong, distinctive oils in its leaves. These natural oils can kill harmful germs and help relax tight muscles. However, the National Institutes of Health explains that scientists still need to conduct much more testing in humans to know exactly how well it works for everyday illnesses.
According to Tunde Rasheed, B.Sc. Researcher in Chemical and Polymer Medical Engineering, “There is one special way scientists know this plant really does work. It is used in an old Chinese treatment called moxibustion. In this treatment, a healthcare provider rolls the dried leaves into a cigar-shaped stick. The medical expert lights the stick on fire and holds the warm, smoking herb very close to a person’s skin.”
The heat from a burning herb is used in a traditional practice to warm a small point on the body. Some trained practitioners use this method with pregnant women. If a baby is facing the wrong way in the mother’s belly near the end of pregnancy, the gentle heat may sometimes help encourage the baby to move into a head-down position.
Some studies suggest this old technique can increase the chances of the baby turning, but it does not always work and should only be done with proper medical guidance to keep both the mother and baby safe.
Benefits of mugwort
People love to use this wild plant for a few main reasons. Because it has a very strong, bitter taste and a strong smell, it changes the way the body acts.
Helping the stomach
If you have a bad tummy ache, drinking tea made from this plant might help you feel better. When your tongue tastes something bitter, such as mugwort, it tells your mouth to make more spit. It also tells your stomach to produce more digestive juices to prepare for food.
As the Cleveland Clinic explains, bitter herbs and foods are great for the body because they help relieve uncomfortable gas, prevent your belly from puffing up and calm an upset stomach after a very big meal. By increasing the flow of stomach juices, the plant helps your body break down heavy foods so they do not sit in your belly and cause pain.
Calming the mind for better sleep
Another big reason people use this plant is to help them rest. Many people find that drinking the tea helps calm a busy, worried mind. It has a gentle, sleepy effect on the brain.
Because it makes you feel relaxed, people use it to fight insomnia, which means having a very hard time falling asleep at night. Some people even put the dried, fuzzy leaves inside their soft pillows. They do this because they believe the plant’s strong smell gives them vivid, colorful and happy dreams while they sleep, explains the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
Risks and safety considerations
Just because a plant grows in the dirt and is completely natural does not mean it is safe for everyone to eat or drink. You must be very careful. This plant belongs to the ragweed family. Ragweed is a common plant that makes many people sneeze in the fall. If you sneeze, get a runny nose or get itchy eyes from wild weeds, you will probably have a very bad allergic reaction to this plant, explains the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
Also, Johns Hopkins Medicine notes that you have to be extra careful with any herbal supplements you buy at the store. The government does not test plant medicines as rigorously as it tests regular pills from the pharmacy. This means a box of tea might contain other wild weeds by accident.
The plant also holds a chemical called thujone. In very small amounts, this chemical is fine. But if you drink too much of the tea, this chemical can become poisonous. It can cause your brain to have a seizure, which is a dangerous electrical storm in your head that makes your body shake.
Mugwort alternatives
If you are afraid to try this wild plant because of the risks, you do not have to worry. There are many other safe, gentle choices you can use instead to get the same helpful benefits.
Chamomile and peppermint teas
If you want to sleep much better at night, try drinking a warm cup of chamomile tea before bed. Chamomile comes from a beautiful, tiny white flower. It is very gentle, completely safe and helps your brain feel sleepy and calm.
If your stomach hurts or you feel gassy, peppermint tea is a safe choice. According to Healthline, peppermint oil is a wonderful tool that helps relax tight stomach muscles and push painful gas out of your body, without the dangerous risks of stronger wild herbs. Ginger root is also a very safe and powerful food that helps you feel less sick.
If you ever want to try a new plant, oil or herb on your body, always do a small test first. Rub a single drop of the plant tea or oil on the inside of your wrist. Wait for one whole day. If your skin turns red, itchy, or bumpy, wash it off right away. This simple test keeps you safe and prevents a terrible whole-body allergic reaction.
Does mugwort balance hormones?
As the Cleveland Clinic explains, hormones are special chemical messengers that travel all over your body. They tell your body how to grow, how to use food and how to act. For women, these messengers regulate their menstrual cycle. Sometimes these chemicals get out of balance, making women skip their periods or feel very sick, as noted by a publication in PubMed Central.
Many people think this wild plant fixes this delicate chemical balance. But it does not actually fix the root problem. Instead, the plant causes the muscles in the lower belly to squeeze very hard. This hard squeezing forces menstrual blood out. It brings on the bleeding, but it is not a true, lasting cure for the deeper hormone problems. If your chemicals are mixed up, you need to see a real healthcare provider to fix them properly.
Who should not take mugwort?
There are a few groups of people who must stay far away from this plant. Pregnant women must never drink or eat this herb. Because the plant can make the belly muscles contract very hard, it can force the baby out of the mother too early. This can cause a terrible miscarriage and hurt the baby. Mothers who are feeding their new babies with their own breast milk should also stay away from it, because the strong plant chemicals can pass right into the milk and make the tiny baby sick.
If you know you are allergic to ragweed, daisies, sunflowers or marigold flowers, you should not touch this plant. Touching it will give you a terrible, itchy red rash, and drinking it could make your throat swell up so you cannot breathe.
“It’s more beneficial to focus on whole dietary pattern changes rather than trying to focus on one magic food,” said Erica Jansen, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Bottom line
Mugwort is an old, wild plant people use as a bitter tea to help calm an upset stomach and promote a sleepy, relaxed feeling at night. While it is useful in special medical treatments to help turn unborn babies, drinking the plant can be very dangerous because it causes strong allergic reactions and can harm pregnant women. For a safer option, you can easily use gentle chamomile or peppermint tea to get the same stomach and sleep benefits without taking any risks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is mugwort used for in women’s health?
It is used to force the tight muscles in the belly to contract, which can help start a woman’s monthly period if it is late.
Can you drink mugwort tea daily?
You should never drink it every day, because the chemicals in the plant can build up in your body and become poisonous.
Can mugwort cause liver damage?
If you drink too much of it for a long time, the strong chemicals can hurt your liver and your brain.
Citations
Campbell L. Traditional Herbal Plants and their Phytoconstituents Based Remedies for Respiratory Diseases: A Review. The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal. 2025;19(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.2174/0118743064341009241210045737
Samuels L, Nakstad B, Roos N, et al. Physiological mechanisms of the impact of heat during pregnancy and the clinical implications: review of the evidence from an expert group meeting. International Journal of Biometeorology. 2022;66(8):1505-1513. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02301-6
Cleveland Clinic. The Benefits of Bitters: They’re Not Just for Cocktails. Cleveland Clinic. Published 2022. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/digestive-bitters
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Mugwort. NCCIH. Published January 2021. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/mugwort
American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Ragweed Allergy | Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. ACAAI Public Website. Published 2023. https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/ragweed-allergy/
John Hopkins Medicine. Herbal medicine. John Hopkins Medicine. Published 2025. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/herbal-medicine
Groves M. 12 Science-Backed Benefits of Peppermint Tea and Extracts. Healthline. Published October 12, 2018. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/peppermint-tea
Cleveland Clinic. Hormones: What They Are, Function & Types. Cleveland Clinic. Published February 23, 2022. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22464-hormones
Ekiert H, Pajor J, Klin P, Rzepiela A, Ślesak H, Szopa A. Significance of Artemisia Vulgaris L. (Common Mugwort) in the History of Medicine and Its Possible Contemporary Applications Substantiated by Phytochemical and Pharmacological Studies. Molecules. 2020;25(19):4415. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25194415
