Osha Root for Pneumonia (Why the Comanche Boiled It)

People who search for osha root for pneumonia have usually read one line somewhere: the Comanche boiled it for pneumonia. That line is real. It comes from a Comanche medicine woman named Sanapia, recorded by an anthropologist in 1972, and it sits alongside records from at least eight other peoples who kept osha (Ligusticum porteri) for the chest and throat.

For the plant itself (where it grows, why it's called bear root, how it's harvested), start with our complete guide to osha root.

Where the idea of osha root for pneumonia comes from

Sanapia (born Mary Poafpybitty in 1895, died 1984) was a Comanche eagle doctor raised near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. She worked with anthropologist David E. Jones, who wrote down her medicines in Sanapia: Comanche Medicine Woman. In that record she explains that osha root could be boiled into a thick broth for people suffering from pneumonia. Almost every web page that pairs osha with pneumonia traces back to this account, often without naming her.

The Comanche were not alone. Ethnobotanical records for the Rarámuri (Tarahumara) of the Sierra Madre in Northern Mexico list osha for pneumonia and headaches, and Rarámuri families also brewed it as a tea for stomach pain and fever. A 2017 University of Kansas thesis by Natasha Myhal gathered these records into one table, and pneumonia appears under both peoples.

Osha root and the Comanche, Rarámuri and their neighbours

The pneumonia records are the sharpest version of a pattern that runs across the plant's whole range. Here is what the sources Myhal compiled say each people did with the root:

• Cochití and Taos Pueblo: taken to loosen phlegm in the chest during lung infections (herbalist Michael Moore, 1977).
• Mescalero Apache: a preparation of the root for a cough (Hrdlicka, 1890).
• Southern Ute: still kept for upper respiratory infections, and for spiritual protection (McBeth, 2008).
• Lakota: used for fevers and bronchitis; their name for it, mato tapejuta, means "bear medicine".
• Zuni: for sore throats and body aches, and in curing ceremonies.
• Diné: sucked for a gravelly voice; the Diné credit the medicine to the bear.

The habit is old. Osha root turned up in a Utah medicine bundle dated to between 200 and 600 years ago. Bears come into the story too: researcher Shawn Sigstedt watched Kodiak bears chew the root and rub it into their fur, which fits the legend that bears dig for it when they wake from hibernation.

If the chest and breathing side of this history is what brought you here, our post on osha root for lungs covers the breath and lung records in more detail.

Is osha root an expectorant?

In Western herbal tradition, yes. Herbalists class osha as an expectorant (a plant taken to move mucus up and out of the chest) and as a diaphoretic (one that brings on a sweat). Michael Moore, the New Mexico herbalist who founded the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine, wrote about the Pueblo use of the root to loosen phlegm, and that description became the standard herbalist shorthand for osha. Herbal reference sources such as Christopher Hobbs's herb database list it the same way: expectorant, with tincture or tea as the form.

Herbalists also point to the smell. Break a fresh osha root and you get a strong, celery-like, resinous scent. That aroma comes from the root's volatile oil, which is where the lab work starts.

What researchers found when they tested the root

In 2008 Oscar Beltran, working at the University of Texas at El Paso, tested three plants used against tuberculosis in Northern Mexico and the US Southwest, including Ligusticum porteri, which he chose because the Rarámuri and neighbouring groups use it for TB and other respiratory infections. His extracts went up against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium behind TB, in the lab. Osha stopped more than half of the bacterium's growth at the lowest concentration tested.

The other line of research follows Z-ligustilide, the main aromatic compound in osha root. It makes up roughly 0.15 to 2.5% of the dried root, depending on the plant and where it grew. In a 2012 study in Archives of Pharmacal Research, Ji Won Chung and colleagues in South Korea gave Z-ligustilide to immune cells (mouse macrophages) that had been triggered into an inflammatory state. The compound lowered the cells' output of two inflammatory enzymes, iNOS and COX-2, in a dose-dependent way, and damped the NF-κB signalling pathway that switches them on.

Put those two results next to the Comanche and Rarámuri records and you can see why osha keeps coming up whenever people search about the lungs.

How people take osha root tincture every day

The everyday way to take osha now is a tincture, daily, any time of year. The usual amount is 1 to 2 droppers a day. There are two common ways:

• Under the tongue: hold the dropperful there for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow.
• In a drink: stir it into a mug of morning or evening tea, a glass of water, juice, or a smoothie. Some people add it to a water bottle after a hike or a run.

The taste is earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite from the root. In hot tea the aroma opens up and fills the mug. At 1 to 2 droppers a day, a 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days, so it becomes part of a morning routine without much thought.

Why a tincture in dark Miron glass is the practical form

Osha is slow to grow and hard to find. Almost all of it is wild-harvested, the plants are often more than 10 years old when dug, and United Plant Savers lists osha as "At-Risk". It also looks a lot like poison hemlock, which is a good reason to leave wild harvesting to people who know the plant.

A tincture is an alcohol extract of the root. It keeps for a long time once sealed, you measure it with a dropper, and it goes into tea or water in a second. Loose dried root loses its aroma once it's exposed to air, and powders go stale faster still.

The bottle counts too. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction, but the gold standard is dark Miron glass, which blocks visible light that breaks down plant extracts over time. That's what Mara uses for Bear Root: a mountain plant of Northern Mexico, extracted and bottled in 50 ml dark Miron glass, with simple ingredients (premium quality extract).

Bear Root considerations

The recommendation on the Bear Root page: "Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it."

Questions people ask

Did the Comanche use osha root for pneumonia?

Yes. Sanapia, a Comanche medicine woman, told anthropologist David E. Jones that the root could be boiled into a thick broth for people with pneumonia. Her account was published in 1972.

What is osha root called in herbal tradition?

Herbalists call it an expectorant and a diaphoretic. The Lakota name is mato tapejuta, "bear medicine", and in New Mexico it is also called chuchupate.

What compound is in osha root?

The best-studied one is Z-ligustilide, at about 0.15 to 2.5% of the root. Lab studies such as Chung and colleagues (2012) have measured its effect on inflammatory enzymes in immune cells.

How do you take osha root tincture?

Take 1 to 2 droppers a day, held under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds or stirred into tea, water or juice. A 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days.