Benefits
Traditional use to increase urine flow
The European Medicines Agency accepts goldenrod as a traditional herbal medicine to increase the amount of urine, as an add-on for minor urinary complaints, based only on long-standing use. Its review cites one unpublished open study in 22 healthy people in which daily urine volume was 27% higher on 2 days of goldenrod drops than in a placebo phase that was not randomized. No randomized trial has measured urine output.
Bladder comfort reports from open, uncontrolled studies
In German post-marketing studies with no comparison group, 69.2% of 745 women with painful urination reported less frequent urination after 14 days of extract, and doctors rated 71% to 79% of 1,487 users with various urinary complaints as improved after about 4 weeks, depending on the complaint. The EMA found these studies too poorly reported to judge and limited goldenrod to traditional use.
Three-herb blend with restharrow root and Java tea
In a placebo-controlled trial run decades ago in 200 women with an acute lower urinary infection and reanalyzed later with its sponsor, 7 days of a restharrow, Java tea and goldenrod tablet lowered urine bacterial counts more often (64.4% vs 25.4% of 122 evaluable women) and fewer women needed antibiotics. The goldenrod species is not named, and the role of each herb is unknown.
Goldenrod, Java tea and birch blends used with standard urology care
In an Italian study of 164 women with repeat urinary infections that was not randomized, adding a goldenrod, Java tea and birch blend to preventive antibiotics did not change relapses during treatment, though relapses were fewer in the following year. In a small randomized pilot in catheter users, a version with cranberry lowered positive urine cultures at 30 days. Neither had a placebo.
Five-herb blend studied for ureteral stent comfort
In an open randomized trial of 60 people fitted with a ureteral stent, a daily capsule of goldenrod, Phyllanthus, willowherb, boldo and restharrow improved stent-related symptom scores from baseline, but urinary symptoms improved more on the prescription drug tamsulosin at days 7 and 21. Pain, general health, work and sexual scores did not differ. There was no placebo group.
Aspen, ash and goldenrod drops for musculoskeletal discomfort
Phytodolor, an oral tincture of aspen, ash and goldenrod, was pooled across 11 randomized trials in people with rheumatic or musculoskeletal pain. More users rated it good or very good than on placebo (69.1% vs 48.9%), with no difference in the knee osteoarthritis subgroup and none versus NSAID painkillers. The EMA notes that goldenrod's own share of this effect is not known.
Mechanism of action
Raises urine output in rats
Flavonoid fractions of European goldenrod given by mouth to rats raised overnight urine output by up to 88%, with less sodium and potassium excreted. The EMA review also cites rat work in which leiocarposide and a saponin fraction raised urine output while another flavonoid fraction did not, so no single compound explains the effect and none of this has been confirmed in people.
Relaxes bladder muscle strips in the lab
Goldenrod extract weakened drug-induced contraction of rat and human bladder muscle strips in a dish, acting partly through muscarinic receptors, the same target as some bladder medicines. The authors stressed that any benefit in patients still had to be shown in controlled clinical studies.
Gut bacteria turn its polyphenols into absorbable acids
When a goldenrod infusion was incubated with human fecal bacteria, its caffeoylquinic acids and flavonoids were broken down into smaller phenylpropanoic acids. In a gut cell model, most original compounds did not cross the intestinal barrier but these metabolites did, so they may be what the body actually absorbs. This was lab work, not a human study.
Antibacterial activity in a dish, with a catch
A European goldenrod extract reduced survival and 24 hour biofilm of urinary E. coli strains in the lab, but combined with the antibiotics amikacin or ciprofloxacin it weakened their antibacterial activity. These are test-tube findings only.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a fixed combination (Aqualibra) of restharrow root 80 mg, Java tea 90 mg and goldenrod herb 180 mg extracts per tablet, 2 tablets 3 times daily for 7 days; run in 1991 to 1992, registered in 2019 (NCT04032574), and reported here as a sponsor-supported secondary analysis. (Vahlensieck et al. 2019, Antibiotics (Basel))
200 women with acute lower uncomplicated urinary tract infection in Germany; 122 had evaluable urine cultures.
In the original analysis, bacterial counts fell at least 100-fold (the primary endpoint) in 64.4% on the blend vs 25.4% on placebo (p < 0.0001). The reanalysis of symptom scores favored the blend from day 1, and fewer women on it needed antibiotics (15.3% vs 49.2%). The trial was sponsored by the maker and two authors work for it. The goldenrod is named only as Solidaginis herba, the current pharmacopoeia name for giant and Canadian goldenrod, although the authors cite the EMA review of European goldenrod, so the species is uncertain. Each herb's share is unknown.
Comparative study, not randomized and with no placebo, of a Solidago, Orthosiphon (Java tea) and birch extract (Cistimev), 1 capsule daily for 3 months, added to 3 months of weekly antibiotic prophylaxis. (Frumenzio et al. 2013, Arch Ital Urol Androl)
164 consecutive women in Italy with recurrent urinary tract infections: 107 took the blend plus antibiotics and 57 took antibiotics alone.
During the 3 months of treatment, relapse rates did not differ (11.2% vs 10.5%, p = 0.854). In the following 12 months, the relapse risk was 2.5 times higher in the antibiotics-only group (p < 0.0001). The groups were unequal in size and not randomized, so the later difference may reflect who ended up in each group.
Single-blinded, randomized, controlled pilot study of a Solidago, Orthosiphon, birch and cranberry extract tablet (Cistimev Plus), 1 tablet daily for 30 days, versus no treatment. (Cai et al. 2014, World J Urol)
83 outpatients in Italy with indwelling urinary catheters (48 tablet, 35 no treatment); 10 dropped out.
At 30 days, per protocol, positive urine cultures were found in 10 of 43 on the tablet vs 16 of 30 untreated (p = 0.013). Symptomatic infection was not the outcome, there was no placebo, and the blend includes cranberry, so goldenrod's own contribution cannot be separated. The authors called for larger trials.
Open-label randomized trial of a phyto-complex of Solidago virgaurea, Phyllanthus niruri, Epilobium angustifolium, Peumus boldus and Ononis spinosa extracts, 1 capsule daily for 1 month, versus tamsulosin 0.4 mg daily. (Gallo et al. 2026, Urologia)
60 patients in Italy after double J ureteral stent placement (30 per group).
Both groups improved from baseline on the Ureteral Symptom Score Questionnaire. The only significant between-group difference favored tamsulosin, on the urinary symptoms domain at days 7 and 21; pain, general health, work, sexual and other scores did not differ. The authors concluded the blend could be as effective as tamsulosin, but the trial was open label, small and had no placebo arm.
Uncontrolled clinical observation combined with cell-line and computer docking work on Fluxonorm, a food supplement of Solidago virga-aurea, Phyllanthus niruri, Epilobium angustifolium, Peumus boldus and Ononis spinosa extracts, 1 tablet (1,200 mg) daily for 30 days. (Orlando et al. 2021, Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci)
30 men with lower urinary tract symptoms from benign prostatic hyperplasia, taking the supplement alongside their standard treatment.
The authors reported that all measured clinical parameters, including maximum urine flow (Qmax), improved after one month. There was no control group, so the change cannot be separated from the standard treatment or from time. The anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative findings came from a prostate cancer cell line, not from the patients.
Reanalysis of raw data and meta-analysis of 11 published and unpublished randomized controlled trials of the oral herbal combination Phytodolor (STW1), compared with placebo or NSAIDs. (Uehleke et al. 2011, Forsch Komplementmed)
Patients with rheumatic or musculoskeletal pain, including a knee osteoarthritis subgroup.
Patients rated the tincture good or very good more often than placebo (69.1% vs 48.9%, p < 0.001), with similar results for pain at rest and on movement, but not in the knee osteoarthritis subgroup. It did not differ from NSAIDs. Minor adverse events occurred in 14.2% on the tincture, 8.1% on placebo and 18.9% on NSAIDs, with none serious. Some pooled trials were unpublished and were found partly through the manufacturer, and the EMA notes goldenrod's share of the effect is not known.