{"id":1840,"date":"2020-07-02T10:49:35","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T09:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/84.18.216.250\/~herbalreality\/?post_type=herb&p=1840"},"modified":"2025-08-19T16:46:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:46:25","slug":"fennel","status":"publish","type":"herb","link":"https:\/\/www.herbalreality.com\/herb\/fennel\/","title":{"rendered":"Fennel"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":1376,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"1","beyondwords_project_id":"47224","beyondwords_content_id":"64b0af7c-c1c9-40bc-aa4a-147ff3a2b853","beyondwords_preview_token":"690eef21-355f-44ba-b1fc-b4c744654c67","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_code":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"tags":[53,42,70,69,54,46,43,73,74],"conditions":[685,698,702],"sustainability":[1576],"sense":[786,17,18,27],"western_action":[1003,993,997,1010,1012],"chinese_action":[1043,1046],"ayurvedic_action":[1072,1059,1099,1069,1087],"energetics_action":[1510,1498,1557,1614,1487,1546,1534,1627,1518,1621,1543,1519,1558,1560,1619,1626,1556,1617,1618,1496,1522,1529,1494,1536,1492,1568,1625,1380,1504],"region":[1897],"class_list":["post-1840","herb","type-herb","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cold","tag-digestion","tag-essential-oil","tag-fennel","tag-flu","tag-hot","tag-indigestion","tag-infections","tag-women","conditions-digestive-system","conditions-reproductive-system","conditions-stages-of-life","sustainability-green-sustainability-status","sense-cooling","sense-aromatic","sense-bitter","sense-sweet","western_action-carminatives","western_action-antimicrobial","western_action-antispasmodic","western_action-expectorant","western_action-galactagogue","chinese_action-regulate-the-qi","chinese_action-warm-interior-expel-cold","ayurvedic_action-dipaniya","ayurvedic_action-anuloma","ayurvedic_action-shula-prasamana","ayurvedic_action-chhardi-nigrahana","ayurvedic_action-pachana","energetics_action-acrid","energetics_action-bitter","energetics_action-blood","energetics_action-digestive","energetics_action-dry","energetics_action-dry-quality","energetics_action-heating","energetics_action-kapha-balancing","energetics_action-kidney","energetics_action-lactation","energetics_action-light","energetics_action-liver","energetics_action-muscle","energetics_action-nervous","energetics_action-nervous-channel-srotas","energetics_action-pitta-balancing","energetics_action-plasma","energetics_action-reproductive-channel-srotas","energetics_action-respiratory","energetics_action-sour","energetics_action-spleen","energetics_action-stomach","energetics_action-sweet","energetics_action-sweet-post-digestive-effect-vipaka","energetics_action-toning","energetics_action-urinary-channel-srotas","energetics_action-vata-balancing","energetics_action-warm","energetics_action-warm-temperature-chinese","region-ayurvedic-herbs"],"acf":{"last_reviewed":"20200702","herb_author":1235,"banner_text":"Fennel\u2019s characteristic taste comes from its essential oils","latin_name":"Foeniculum vulgare<\/em>","pseudonym_name":"","family_name":"Umbelliferae","herb_summary":"Fennel seeds are prime digestive remedies used also for chest infections and for a wide range of women\u2019s health problems.","key_benefits":"Digestive remedy\r\nWomen\u2019s remedy\r\nRespiratory remedy","how_does_it_feel":"Pick up a few fennel seeds from any spice jar and chew them (these will be sweet fennel). You will notice the gradually strengthening licorice-like, almost fruity sweetness, aromatic and slightly spicy tastes, with just a hint of bitterness at the end and a surprising cooling follow-through. Otherwise a very clean effect with no astringency or acidity at all.","hdif_image_1":1376,"hdif_image_2":2026,"hdif_image_3":2022,"hdif_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/xSFgUHY9J3g","sense":[17,18,786,16,27],"what_can_i_use_it_for":"Given in the form of a homemade tea or infusion, fennel is a useful standby for indigestion and colicky and gassy symptoms in the abdomen, well suited for both children and adults.\r\n\r\nStronger doses are good for bronchitis and catarrhal conditions, in which excess mucus is produced in the airways.\r\n\r\nIn traditional medicine around the world, fennel was classified as heating and drying (a gentle version of the hot spices) and was indicated where the body was fighting \u2018cold\u2019 conditions. Such conditions might include symptoms of heavy mucus production and digestive problems, especially linked with low energies.","into_the_heart_of":"\"\"Fennel\u2019s qualities were understood as usual from the characteristic taste which comes from its essential oils. These relax smooth muscle and relieve lower abdominal spasms and bloating in the digestive tract, known as a \u2018carminative\u2019 effect. Although a \u2018heating\u2019 herb, it benefits digestion without aggravating inflammation.\r\n\r\nFennel is also an effective expectorant within the respiratory system, encouraging the release of stuck mucous and catarrh. Fennel is particularly supportive to the female reproductive system, encouraging efficient menstruation and reducing the painful and spasmodic symptoms of dysmenorrhea. Its anti-spasmodic activity also extends to muscular spasms and pain.\r\n\r\nFor breastfeeding mothers, fennel will also promote efficient lactation.","tradtional_uses":"\"\"The ancient Greek hero Prometheus was said to have carried the fire he stole from the gods (ie the source of human special powers) in a fennel stalk and the plant has long had an important place in European life. It is a well-known culinary herb or vegetable from ancient Roman and Egyptian times that has for as long been regarded as a valuable warming \u2018carminative\u2019 (colic and gas reducing) and aromatic digestive; as the English herbalist John Parkinson put it in 1640:\u00a0 \u201cwhich being sweet and somewhat hot and comforting the stomach, helpeth to digest the crude flegmatick quality of fish and other viscous meats\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>It was a common ingredient in \u2018gripe water\u2019 and other remedies for infant colic. It was widely used by women to increase breast milk (1) and given also to increase milk flow in livestock.\r\n\r\nIt has long been used for improving appetite, especially during convalescence, and a respiratory remedy and expectorant for coughs and a range of other respiratory conditions. The seeds were applied in nausea, hiccups, shortness of breath, and wheezing. In communist China, \u201cbarefoot doctors\u201d used very large doses of fennel to treat acute cramping and abdominal pain, and modern research backs this up (2). Topically, it found use in Europe and Asia for eye complaints (3), including conjunctivitis, inflamed eyelids, and as a general \u201ccleanser\u201d to improve vision.","what_practioners_say":"

\"\"<\/strong>Digestion<\/h3>\r\nFennel will relieve digestive discomfort such as flatulence, cramps, nausea and a low appetite or metabolism. It relaxes the smooth muscles and is a specific herb for lower abdominal pain from lower bowel tension. Fennel water is also used for colic in babies.\r\n

Fever management<\/h3>\r\nFennel is useful when the body\u2019s capacity to maintain a healing fever might be flagging and needed \u2018heating\u2019 support. In this context, fennel would be considered particularly applicable when the source of the fever was digestive or respiratory.\r\n

Eye affections<\/h3>\r\nFennel is a great ingredient in eye baths for conjunctivitis, styes and other surface problems. Eyebaths are made by boiling the seeds in water and the decoction needs to be kept sterile.\r\n

Urinary<\/h3>\r\nHelpful in cystitis, difficult urination, burning and dark yellow urine, cloudy urine.\r\n

Nervous<\/h3>\r\nIndicated in nervous tension created by muscular spasms and contraction. All spasms are relieved with fennel, especially in the digestive tract, lungs and womb. Its nourishing effects means that it tonifies the brain and nervous system.\r\n

Respiratory<\/h3>\r\nUsed in congestive or productive coughs.\r\n

Women\u2019s health<\/h3>\r\nFennel can increase the flow of breast milk in breastfeeding mothers. It can also be used in menstrual difficulties that obstruct the lower abdomen influencing pain, cramps and a dragging sensation.\r\n\r\nIt is a specific herb for inguinal hernias and lower abdominal pain.","research":"Fennel has increasingly shown to be a useful women\u2019s remedy (4). It is an effective and safe treatment to reduce menstrual pain and duration (5), premenstrual syndrome (6), menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women (7), and was also found effective in menopausal women with depression and anxiety disorders (8).\r\n\r\nIn a separate study fennel vaginal cream was found to be an effective means of easing sexual activity in postmenopausal women (9).\r\n\r\nThere is some evidence that fennel does relieve colic in children and infants (10,11,12).","did_you_know":"Many people associate fennel with the bulbous base of the plant that is cooked as a vegetable. This is a modified variety that has been created through years of careful selection and breeding. Known as Florence fennel (or\u00a0Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum<\/em>), this variety is much shorter in height than the sweet and bitter varieties that are used medicinally.","additional_information_right":{"illustration":8468},"additional_information_left":{"botany":"There are two varieties of <\/span>Foeniculum vulgare<\/span><\/i> with slightly different chemical constituents: sweet fennel (<\/span>F. vulgare var. dulce<\/span><\/i>) and bitter fennel (<\/span>F. vulgare var. vulgare<\/span><\/i>). Both are bluish-green biennial or perennial herbs that can grow to a height of 2.5 m They are perennial plants that thrive in dry, hot climates. <\/span>\r\n\r\nAs with other members of the Apiaceae (carrot or parsley family), fennel displays small flowers in distinctive ascendant umbels, similar to those of cow parsley. It can be most easily identified by its large, beautiful, aniseed-scented feathery leaves. Depending on the country of origin and the latitude where it is grown, fennel plants produce seeds with varied essential oil composition: it is this that determines the sweetness and bitterness of the plant.<\/span>","common_names":"