Interview with the Bestselling Author and Health Expert on the "Medicinal Plant of the Year 2025"

"What folk medicine already knew is now being confirmed by modern science. There are more than 4500 scientific studies on this plant!" Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, was named the Medicinal Plant of the Year in 2025. Native to Europe, Asia, and North America, it has been used for centuries in folk medicine. With its delicate, feathery leaves and dense white to pink flower clusters, it is not only an eye-catcher for nature lovers but also a valuable plant for health, both for the soul and the body. Its spectrum of effects is enormously broad and is increasingly fascinating modern science. A conversation with nutrition expert and bestselling author Barbara Simonsohn, author of the compact guide "Yarrow. The All-Rounder Among Medicinal Plants," among others.

You have written many successful books about so-called native superfoods. What impressed you so much about yarrow, and what makes it a superlative medicinal plant?

Barbara Simonsohn: What I find particularly special about yarrow is its versatility, so much so that even modern scientists ask themselves: "Is yarrow a panacea, a cure-all?" That's how people in the Middle Ages viewed it, because it helps with almost everything. You could say there's a herb for everything, and that's yarrow. Whether you have cold feet or hot flashes during menopause: yarrow helps. Whether you have menstrual pain, your period lasts too long, or it has been absent for a while: yarrow solves all three problems. Whether you suffer from constipation or diarrhea, yarrow normalizes both, optimizing digestion. No other medication has such diverse and seemingly contradictory effects. The Native Americans know more than three hundred applications or indications for yarrow, by far more than for any other plant. The herb expert Wolf-Dieter Storl says: "If you don't know any other herbs, this [meaning yarrow] would be enough to heal almost everything." In folk medicine, yarrow is also called "Heal all harms" and "Heal all the world," "Allheilchrut" and "Allerweltsheilkraut" or "Herrgottskraut" (God's herb).

Yarrow has been used in folk medicine for millennia, and modern science has also confirmed its effectiveness in numerous studies. What active ingredients and applications distinguish it?

Barbara Simonsohn: Yarrow is indeed an all-rounder among medicinal herbs. What folk medicine already knew is now being confirmed by modern science. There are more than 4500 scientific studies on this plant! The beneficial ingredients include bitter substances, bioactive substances such as flavonoids and polyphenols, as well as azulenes and other essential oils, which have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antiseptic, antioxidant, and liver-protective effects. So far, about 140 health-relevant ingredients have been discovered in yarrow. The flowering herb and leaves, used as a tea, compress, or tincture, have antispasmodic, detoxifying, sudorific, fever-reducing, hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, digestive, menstruation-regulating, antibacterial, and antiviral effects. Hot yarrow tea helps with viral diseases such as flu, measles, and chickenpox. The tea lowers high blood pressure, cleanses, and detoxifies. The flavonoids and bitter substances make yarrow a remedy for liver disorders and gallbladder spasms. The tea relieves headaches and migraines, and also helps with digestive problems, hay fever, and meadow dermatitis. Fresh juice demonstrably supports in cases of angina pectoris and degeneration of the heart muscle.

Among many other applications, yarrow is also considered one of the best medicinal plants for women. Which complaints can be treated with it, and what should be particularly considered?

Barbara Simonsohn: Everywhere the composite plant grows, it is used as a women's herb. However, yarrow is both: a male "soldier's herb," assigned to Mars as a wound-healing plant because it healed wounds, especially stab wounds, but also a women's herb and thus a Venus plant. The plant is known for its contradictions. The flowers smell sweet but are extremely bitter. The leaves are delicate and soft, but the stem is hard and upright. Yarrow relieves menstrual discomfort, as numerous studies have shown. It helps with tension and cramps in the lower abdomen, and it normalizes the cycle. Besides sage, yarrow is the plant that helps with hot flashes during menopause – and also with other menopausal symptoms. The tea increases the venous blood flow back to the heart and therefore helps with varicose veins and chronic venous complaints. During pregnancy, one should be somewhat cautious with its use, meaning no concentrated essential oils should be used, because yarrow, while antispasmodic, also has an astringent effect and could therefore trigger premature uterine contractions. However, flowers and leaves in salad or yarrow tea are harmless even during pregnancy.

Yarrow oil – which can be easily prepared according to Barbara Simonsohn's instructions – helps with menstrual and digestive problems, among others. Essential yarrow oil, often deep blue due to its chamazulene content, is valued for its antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties and is popular in skin care products. It is also increasingly gaining importance in aromatherapy because it has a emotionally stabilizing effect, dispels melancholy, and balances overexcited emotional states.

Studies show that yarrow also helps with anxiety, depressive moods, and depression, and even promotes spiritual growth. What insights and experiences exist in this area?

Barbara Simonsohn: Many yarrow subspecies contain azulenes, which have been shown to have calming and stress-reducing effects. There are numerous studies that prove yarrow's beneficial effect on anxiety and depressive moods. Hildegard von Bingen already postulated that it was an ideal remedy for internal and external wounds and bleeding. What I didn't know at first was that she also meant trauma. In Hildegard von Bingen medicine, yarrow is used for the transformation of all kinds of trauma. Therapists say there is no other plant whose ingredients cross the blood-brain barrier and create new neural connections, thus preventing retraumatization on a physiological level and strengthening people's resilience and emotional fortitude. Anyone interested in their spiritual growth will notice: yarrow gives us self-confidence and balance. We can better balance and integrate our feminine and masculine aspects. Our self-confidence grows, we experience cheerful serenity more often, and we develop more drive to tackle our lives.

Since all aerial parts of the plant – leaves, flowers, and stems – can be used for health and well-being, yarrow is also found in recipes for cosmetics and cooking. How is it used there, and which recipe would you recommend to start with?

Barbara Simonsohn: The simplest use is to finely chop flowers and leaves and mix them into a salad or add them with herb salt to wholemeal bread. Or, of course, brew them as a tea. Yarrow is suitable for pesto, pasta salads, smoothies, and herbal pastes. Regarding skin: yarrow protects against UV radiation and helps with pigmentation disorders and wrinkles. As the simplest recipe, add one drop of essential yarrow oil to a portion of your day or night cream, mix it all, and apply it as usual. Yarrow extract provides skin rejuvenation; there are corresponding products available, and in my book, you'll find many simple DIY recipes.

Our food contains fewer and fewer vital nutrients. "With yarrow and other edible wild plants, you are on the safe side regarding your vital nutrient needs," writes the health expert in the book. Yarrow helps us to become and stay healthy; many of its valuable ingredients work synergistically, meaning they enhance each other.

Despite its versatility and effectiveness, the inconspicuous yarrow is often reviled as a weed. Where can you find this all-rounder in nature, and where can you get high-quality yarrow products if you don't have a garden?

Barbara Simonsohn: Yarrow grows almost everywhere in large quantities, as if it were calling out to us: "I am available to humans and animals, use my powers!" Until the first frost, usually at the end of October, it blooms diligently and persistently. So we can easily collect and dry it ourselves and thus create a winter supply for tea. Yarrow tea is available in every pharmacy. Anyone with an allergy to composite plants – yarrow belongs to this family – should use azulene-rich varieties. Azulene is a blue, particularly healthy dye that neutralizes allergens. In our country, for example, the company Kasimir & Lieselotte offers products from azulene-rich varieties, and the company Südflora Baumschulen has plants and seeds of azulene-rich subspecies. These varieties are not only ideal for composite plant allergy sufferers but for everyone, because they are particularly potent in healing.

In your compact guide, you have also compiled some testimonials about yarrow. For which diseases has it been successfully used, and are there any risks or side effects?

Barbara Simonsohn: I mentioned earlier that pregnant women should be cautious with yarrow essential oil and that someone with a composite plant allergy should use azulene-rich subspecies. I was impressed by the testimonials I found in the literature. It was particularly fascinating that many people suffered from their health problems for years, and yarrow brought the long-awaited healing in just days or weeks. Yarrow, as a tea and hip bath, worked for arthritis, fibroids, bladder infections, and pelvic inflammatory diseases; as a tea, it helped with all kinds of digestive problems, non-alcoholic fatty liver, intestinal bleeding, and also with nervous heart complaints. And these are just a few of the many, many impressive examples.

Barbara Simonsohn Yarrow. The All-Rounder Among Medicinal Plants Recipes and applications for health, cooking, and beauty. Compact Guide Mankau Verlag, 1st edition Sept. 2025 Paperback, color, 11.5 × 16.5 cm, 159 pages ISBN 978-3-86374-778-7 12.00 Euro (D) | 12.40 Euro (A) To the book →

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