Benefits
Minerals and water in the fresh leaves
Fresh chickweed leaves collected in Spain were about 92 percent water and supplied, per 100 g, about 22 kcal, 710 mg potassium, 83 mg magnesium, 72 mg calcium, 1.3 mg iron and 0.8 mg zinc, with very little protein or fat. Another Spanish survey found 4.2 mg carotenoids per 100 g. Values vary with soil, season and site.
Traditional use as a salad green and herbal tea
Chickweed is eaten raw in salads and cooked in soups and stews. Folk medicine uses it as a tea and as an expectorant, diuretic and soothing herb, in Hungary the tea is taken for cholesterol, and it is promoted as a remedy for weight loss. None of these traditional uses has been tested in a human trial.
Body weight and blood fats in mice on a high-fat diet
Mice fed a high-fat diet plus freeze-dried chickweed juice at 900 mg/kg for 6 weeks gained less weight and abdominal fat and had lower total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol than mice on the diet alone; 400 mg/kg had no significant effect. Six mice per group; not tested in people.
Blood lipids in rats given chickweed tea
In rats on a cholesterol-rich diet, freeze-dried chickweed tea at 100 mg/kg a day, a dose the researchers matched to human tea use, did not change total, LDL or HDL cholesterol, triglycerides or weight gain over 8 weeks. The authors concluded the results do not support its folk use for cholesterol.
Heart function and blood sugar in a rat metabolic model
In rats given a high-fructose diet plus a low dose of streptozotocin to model diabetes, 100 mg/kg of chickweed tea daily for 20 weeks did not improve fasting blood sugar or glucose tolerance, but heart output and cardiac work in isolated hearts were better preserved than in untreated rats on the same model. Animal work only.
Mechanism of action
Digestive enzyme inhibition
Freeze-dried chickweed juice inhibited pancreatic amylase and lipase in test tubes, and in mice a 900 mg/kg dose lowered blood triglycerides 3 and 4 hours after an oral fat load. The authors proposed slower fat and starch absorption as the basis of the weight findings in mice.
Flavonoid glycosides
Chemical profiling of chickweed extracts identified twelve phenolic compounds, mostly flavonoids such as apigenin and kaempferol derivatives, and the water extract scavenged free radicals best. Analysis of the chickweed tea used in rats suggested rutin and several apigenin glycosides as possible components. How much of these is absorbed from a tea is unknown.
Saponins and plant sterols
Triterpenoid saponins of the gypsogenin and oleanolic acid types have been reported from chickweed, and beta-sitosterol was detected in a methanol extract. Measured saponin content was low: 1.19 micrograms per gram of freeze-dried juice in one analysis.
Clinical trials
Animal study: Swiss albino mice on a high-fat diet received freeze-dried chickweed juice by mouth at 400 or 900 mg/kg body weight for 6 weeks; the juice was also tested on digestive enzymes in vitro and against an oral fat load. (Rani et al. 2012, BMC Complement Altern Med)
Swiss albino mice, six per group in four groups; no human participants.
At 900 mg/kg, weight gain, retroperitoneal fat, liver weight and serum total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol were lower than with the high-fat diet alone, without lower food intake; 400 mg/kg had no significant effect. The juice inhibited amylase and lipase in vitro. Not tested in people.
Animal study: male Wistar rats on a cholesterol-enriched diet received 100 mg/kg body weight of freeze-dried chickweed tea stirred into cookie balls once daily for 8 weeks, compared with untreated rats on the same diet and with rats on standard chow. (Demján et al. 2020, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med)
Male Wistar rats, eight per group; no human participants.
On the main outcome there was no effect: chickweed tea did not significantly change total, LDL or HDL cholesterol, triglycerides or weight gain. Liver and kidney markers and heart structure and function were not altered compared with untreated rats on the same diet, although AST was higher than in rats on standard chow. The authors concluded the results do not support folk use for cholesterol.
Animal study: rats fed a 60 percent fructose diet with one low-dose streptozotocin injection received 100 mg/kg body weight of chickweed tea by oral gavage daily for 20 weeks; glucose tolerance and isolated working-heart function were measured. (Demján et al. 2022, J Tradit Complement Med)
Male Wistar rats, 10 per group in three groups (8 to 10 analyzed); no human participants.
Chickweed tea did not significantly change fasting blood sugar or glucose tolerance. It lessened the decline in cardiac output and cardiac work and prevented a rise in cardiac STAT3 phosphorylation. Chemical analysis suggested rutin and apigenin glycosides as possible tea components. Not tested in people.