Most women who search osha root benefits for women want two answers. They want to know what the plant has been used for, by whom, and what the lab work says. Then they want to know how a dark little root from the mountains fits between a 7am alarm and a 6pm yoga class. Osha (Ligusticum porteri) has a long, well recorded history on both sides of the US and Mexico border, and it takes about 20 seconds a day to make it part of yours.
Osha root benefits for women start with its history
Osha grows high, between 1,500 and 3,500 metres, often near aspen and fir. It belongs to the carrot and parsley family (Apiaceae) and is a close relative of lovage. The people who live near it have used it for a very long time. A piece of the root was found in a Utah medicine bundle dated to between 200 and 600 years old.
In northern New Mexico, Hispanic families call the root chuchupate, and chuchupate tea made in family kitchens for sore throats is a long-standing household tradition. The University of Kansas native plants program notes that every place in the US with "Oshá" in its name is in New Mexico, close to those communities.
Further south, in the Sierra Tarahumara of Northern Mexico, Rarámuri families brewed the root as a tea for stomach pain and fever. The Zuni used it for sore throats and body aches. The Diné (Navajo) used it for a hoarse voice and credit the medicine to the bear. The Lakota name, mato tapejuta, means bear medicine.
Why it's called bear root
The story told across many of these nations is that the bear showed people the plant. Bears are said to dig for it when they wake from hibernation. Ethnobotanist Shawn Sigstedt tested the story. He gave dried osha root to a pair of captive brown bears in Colorado Springs, and the female chewed it into a mash and rubbed it over her shoulders, chest and head. Years later, motion cameras on his ranch near Steamboat Springs filmed wild bears rubbing osha pulp on a tree and then rubbing their bodies against the bark. The American Herbal Pharmacopoeia's 2018 monograph on osha repeats the old name for the root in some Southwest traditions, "gift of the bear".
Is osha root good for you? What the research found
Three university studies, two from Texas and one from Mexico City, give the clearest numbers so far.
- University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. Oscar Beltran tested the root the Rarámuri use against the TB bacterium. Osha stopped more than half of its growth at the lowest concentration tested.
- Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, 2017. Nguyen, Sparks and Omoruyi, writing in Pharmacognosy Research, added osha root extract to human cells under oxidative stress. At 400 µg/mL, the cells' own antioxidant enzymes rose sharply: superoxide dismutase by 90.7% and catalase by 148.4%. Glutathione rose by about 30%.
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2010. Brindis, Bye, Mata and colleagues gave an oral osha root extract to mice and reported lower blood glucose in both normal and diabetic animals. They traced the effect to a compound in the root, (Z)-3-butylidenephthalide, and published it in the Journal of Natural Products.
The compound most often named in osha is Z-ligustilide, which makes up 0.15 to 2.5% of the root.
Osha stopped more than half the growth of the TB bacterium at the lowest concentration tested.
What osha tastes like
Earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite from the root. It reads as a savoury herb more than a sweet one. In chamomile or ginger tea the bite softens and the warmth stays. People who like the taste of lovage, celery seed or a strong bitters tend to like osha on the first try.
How to take osha root through the day
Bear Root is a tincture, so the whole ritual is a dropper and a drink. Take 1 to 2 droppers a day. Here's how it fits an ordinary week, any month of the year.
- Morning tea. Stir a dropper into your first cup of tea while it steeps. The earthy note sits well with black tea, rooibos or ginger.
- At the desk. A dropper in a glass of water at 10am, sipped through a meeting or a long inbox.
- After a yoga class. Add it to the water bottle in your bag and drink it on the walk out.
- On a hike or run. One dropper in your bottle before you leave the car park. It weighs almost nothing and sits in a side pocket.
- Evening tea. A dropper in a cup of chamomile after dinner, as the last thing before the phone goes down.
- Under the tongue. Hold it there for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow. This is the fastest way when there's no tea nearby.
Pick two of these and keep them steady. One tea moment and one water moment is an easy pattern to keep, and a 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days at that rate. For more on brewing it into a cup, see how to make bear root tea with a tincture.
Osha root tea benefits, and why the tincture wins
Rarámuri and New Mexico families made tea from the root, and that tea is where the osha root tea benefits people read about come from. The root itself is hard to deal with at home. It's dense and fibrous, it needs a long simmer, and almost all of the supply is wild-harvested from plants that are often over 10 years old. Osha also looks a lot like poison hemlock, so foraging it is a job for experts only.
A tincture is the alcohol extract of the root, already done for you. You get the same earthy, warming flavour in any cup in a few seconds, measured the same way every time. It travels in a gym bag and goes into juice or a smoothie as easily as hot tea.
What to check on the bottle
- The Latin name, Ligusticum porteri, on the label.
- Where the root comes from.
- The glass. Clear glass lets light reach the extract. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction. The gold standard is dark Miron glass, which keeps light off the extract.
- A short ingredients list.
Bear Root, from the mountains of Northern Mexico
Mara's Bear Root is osha root tincture made from Ligusticum porteri, a mountain plant of Northern Mexico, the same ranges where Rarámuri families have brewed it for generations. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract. It comes in a 50 ml dark Miron glass dropper bottle, so the extract sits in the dark from the day it's bottled to the last dropper.
Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.
Add to bagFor the full story of the plant, read our complete guide to osha root.
Bear Root considerations
Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask
How do you take osha root?
Take 1 to 2 droppers of tincture a day. Hold it under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and swallow, or stir it into water, tea, juice or a smoothie.
What does osha root taste like?
Earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite. Tea and juice soften the bite.
Is bear root the same as osha?
Yes. Bear root is a common name for osha, Ligusticum porteri, from the story that bears dig up the root and chew it.
Can I take osha every day?
Bear Root is made for daily use, any time of year. At 1 to 2 droppers a day, one 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days.