Cynara scolymus L. (Cynara cardunculus subsp. scolymus), folium · herb
Evidence tier: limited
A bitter digestive that stimulates bile flow, useful for fat related digestive discomfort, sluggish digestion, and LDL support.
Artichoke leaf is a choleretic: cynarin and related caffeoylquinic acids stimulate bile production and flow. This is the accepted traditional mechanism and it is the reason the EMA writes a bile duct contraindication around the plant, so the regulator treats the mechanism as real enough to legislate against. It is also the mechanism behind the plausible LDL story, since increased bile acid excretion draws on the cholesterol pool, and luteolin has been proposed to inhibit cholesterol synthesis in laboratory systems. Plausible, and partially supported by the lipid trials, but not proven as the operating mechanism in people.
Limited, and the regulatory claim the seed rests on is false. Europe's regulator, the EMA HMPC, registers Cynara scolymus leaf as a TRADITIONAL herbal medicinal product, not a well established use one. The indication is the relief of digestive disorders such as indigestion with a sensation of fullness, bloating and flatulence, and the HMPC explicitly reached that conclusion on the basis of long standing use, having judged that the clinical studies were too poorly designed to draw firm conclusions from. That is the regulator saying, in its own assessment, that the trial evidence does not carry the indication. The dyspepsia trial base is one decent study: Holtmann 2003 (PMID 14653829), a six week double blind placebo controlled multicentre trial in 247 people, which improved dyspeptic symptom scores. A later systematic review carried that single study forward at LOW certainty (standardised mean difference 0.34, 95 percent CI 0.59 to 0.09, one study, 244 participants). One trial at low certainty is a signal, not a finding. Cholesterol is the more interesting column and it is genuinely non zero: a systematic review and meta analysis of nine randomised trials in 702 people (PMID 28609140) found total cholesterol down about 17.6 mg per dL and LDL down about 14.9 mg per dL, and a later dose response meta analysis of 14 studies found LDL down about 17.5 mg per dL. But four of the nine trials in the first meta analysis showed NO LDL effect at all, the effect scales with baseline LDL, and the trials are small and heterogeneous. So the honest read is a modest, real, poorly replicated LDL signal in people who already have raised cholesterol, plus a traditional registration for digestive complaints that the regulator itself declined to base on trials.
The EMA traditional use monograph registers herbal tea at 1.5 g of the leaf in 150 ml of water twice daily, and about 1,500 mg of the herbal powder, in adults and adolescents over 12 only. The lipid trials generally used standardised extracts in the range of 500 to 1,800 mg daily, and the Holtmann dyspepsia trial used 320 mg extract capsules.
500 to 1500 mg standardised extract daily with meals; or 1 to 2 g dried leaf as tea before meals.
Avoid in gallstones (stimulates bile). Caution with bile duct obstruction.
Pregnancy: avoid
Breastfeeding: avoid
Active compounds: cynarin, chlorogenic acid, luteolin, caffeoylquinic acids, sesquiterpene lactones
Remedies using Artichoke Leaf · Browse by body system · Check it against what you take
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.