Natural Remedies & Herbs for Asthma

There are two categories of herbs generally used for people with asthma. These are herbs that help dilate the airways and herbs that are anti-inflammatory. Herbs in each category are summarized in the table below.

Amrita bindu is an Ayurvedic herbal preparation that contains a mixture of 13 salts and spices. It has been shown to have antioxidant activity. In a preliminary study, children with severe asthma received 250 to 500 mg (depending on their age) of amrita bindu twice a day after meals. After three months of treatment, most of the children were able to stop their prescription asthma medications and were no longer having asthma attacks. While these results are impressive, they should be followed up with a double-blind study, to rule out the possibility that the benefit was due to a placebo effect.

One double-blind trial has investigated the effects of the Ayurvedic herb boswellia in people with acute bronchial asthma. Participants took 300 mg of powdered boswellia resin extract or placebo three times daily for six weeks. By the end of the study, the number of asthma attacks was significantly lower in the group taking boswellia. Moreover, objective measurements of breathing capacity were also significantly improved by boswellia...