Skullcap: Everything You Need to Know

Chinese skullcap capsules, tea bags, tincture, and extract

Verywell / Anastasia Tretiak

Skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis) is an herb commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. It's rich in nutrients, including antioxidants known as flavonoids that reduce the effects of stress on the body.

In particular, skullcap contains baicalin and baicalein, two compounds studied for a wide range of healing properties.

This article discusses the potential uses and benefits of skullcap. It also covers side effects and precautions to note before adding it to your medicine cabinet.

Dietary supplements are not regulated the way drugs are in the United States, meaning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve them for safety and effectiveness before products are marketed. Whenever possible, choose a supplement tested by a trusted third party, such as U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP), ConsumerLab.com, or NSF International.

However, even if supplements are third-party tested, they are not necessarily safe for all or effective in general. Therefore, it is important to talk to your healthcare provider about any supplements you plan to take and ask about potential interactions with other supplements or medications.

Supplement Facts

  • Active ingredients: Baicalin, wogonin, baicalein, wogonoside, and oroxylin A
  • Alternate names: Baikal skullcap, Huang Qin, Scutellaria baicalensis, hoodwort
  • Legal status: Over-the-counter supplement in the United States
  • Suggested dose: Unknown due to lack of human clinical trials
  • Safety considerations: Not enough safety data for children, during pregnancy or breastfeeding

Uses of Skullcap

Supplement use should be individualized and vetted by a healthcare professional, such as a registered dietitian, pharmacist, or healthcare provider. No supplement is intended to treat, cure, or prevent disease.

Preliminary research in test tubes or animal models suggests skullcap may be useful in the treatment of the following health conditions:

However, clinical trials in humans are needed to explore the health effects of skullcap fully. More research is needed to recommend it for any of these conditions.

There are limited human trials for skullcap for two conditions: ankylosing spondylitis and gingivitis.

Ankylosing Spondylitis

Skullcap has been studied in people with a type of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis (AS). AS mainly affects joints in the spine.

In the clinical trial, skullcap was more effective than sulfasalazine, a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), which is used off-label for AS.

Along with improving AS symptoms, components in skullcap act as an antioxidant. Oxidative stress may cause damage to cells and tissues in the body.

More human studies are needed to determine skullcap's effect on AS. Until more research is conducted, it's best to stick with standard treatments like physical therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Gingivitis

A review investigated the effects of baicalin, a component of skullcap, on gingivitis, a gum disease caused by plaque buildup.

While results were promising, more data is needed before skullcap can be routinely recommended for gingivitis prevention.

What Are the Side Effects of Skullcap?

Your provider may recommend you take skullcap for inflammation or another use. However, consuming an herb like this one may have potential side effects.

These side effects may be common and mild or less common and severe.

Common Side Effects

Skullcap is believed to be safe and well tolerated by adults, though data is scarce. In one 2021 study, one of skullcap's active ingredients, baicalein, was given as a single dose of up to 800 milligrams (mg) to 80 healthy adults.

Only mild side effects were noted, including the following:

Skullcap side effects are still being determined.

Severe Side Effects

There's not enough safety information to predict severe side effects of skullcap.

Precautions

People with the following conditions need to take additional precautions before taking skullcap:

Diabetes: People with diabetes should not take skullcap without first consulting their healthcare provider. It may lower blood sugar and, in turn, increase the risk of hypoglycemia (lower blood sugar than is normal) if it's taken with other diabetes medicines like metformin or insulin.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding: Skullcap should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. There's no safety data for these populations.

Be sure to speak with your healthcare provider if you have any questions about skullcap.

Dosage: How Much Skullcap Should I Take?

Always speak with a healthcare provider before taking a supplement to ensure that the supplement and dosage are appropriate for your individual needs.

There is no recommended daily allowance for skullcap and insufficient scientific evidence to determine an appropriate range of doses.

What Happens If I Take Too Much Skullcap?

There is not enough data to know if skullcap can cause toxicity.

In a 2014 study, single doses of up to 2,800 mg of skullcap's major ingredient, baicalein, were well-tolerated in healthy adults, with no signs of liver or kidney toxicity.

But a study in rats showed that high doses of baicalein, 800 to 1,600 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg), were potentially toxic to the kidneys.

More research is needed to determine to determine the risk for humans.

Speak with your healthcare provider before taking any herb or supplement.

Interactions

Skullcap and its active ingredients have been found to have several drug interactions in preliminary studies.

Skullcap has been shown to enhance the effect of the following prescription medications in test tube or animal studies:

These interactions may or may not be clinically significant in humans. More trials are certainly needed.

It is essential to carefully read the ingredients list and nutrition facts panel of a supplement to know which ingredients and how much of each ingredient is included. Please review this supplement label with your healthcare provider to discuss any potential interactions with foods, other supplements, and medications.

Chinese skullcap capsules
Verywell / Anastasia Tretiak

How to Store Skullcap

Store skullcap according to manufacturer's advice, away from children and pets.

Discard after one year or according to product directions.

Similar Supplements

Other herbs that have been studied for cancer include the following:

  • Salvia (Salvia miltiorrhiza)
  • Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
  • Ginseng (Panax ginseng)
  • Snake needle grass (Hedyotis diffusa)
  • Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus)

Sources of Skullcap & What to Look For 

Skullcap can be consumed as a tea or used in a variety of supplement forms.

Food Sources of Skullcap

Skullcap may be used to make a tea. It has a slightly bitter taste. It's not likely to be found as an ingredient in other commercially available foods in the United States.

Skullcap Supplements

Skullcap supplements are available online and in health food stores and pharmacies. It's sold in capsule and as an extract. Skullcap is often combined with other herbs into a preparation.

Follow dosing recommendations on the label.

When selecting a brand of supplements, look for products that have been certified by ConsumerLab.com, USP, or NSF. These third-party testers try to ensure that listed ingredients match what's in the product. They also test whether the product is free of harmful contaminants.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What are the traditional uses of skullcap?

    The dried root of skullcap, known as Huang-Qin, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for diarrhea, high blood pressure, hemorrhaging, insomnia, and respiratory infections.

    Of note, there have not been clinical trials in humans to support these traditional uses.

  • What cancer types has skullcap been studied for?

    Preliminary studies suggest skullcap's active ingredients may benefit brain, breast, cervical, colon, esophageal, liver, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and skin cancers, among others. Researchers noted that more safety, toxicity, and dosage studies are needed. Research in humans is needed.

  • Is skullcap safe for children?

    Due to a lack of research findings supporting its use, skullcap is not recommended for use in children.

Summary

Due to limited research, it's too soon to recommend skullcap as a treatment for any condition. It's also important to note that self-treating a condition and avoiding or delaying standard care may have serious consequences. If you're considering using skullcap for any health purpose, please first consult your healthcare provider.

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Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Additional Reading

By Megan Nunn, PharmD
Megan Nunn, PharmD, is a community pharmacist in Tennessee with over twelve years of experience in medication counseling and immunization.