Thyme

Our naturopaths get asked about thyme every winter, and the first thing they check is whether your product matches what was tested.

A good fit if

• You've got a chesty cough and you want the option with the best herbal trials behind it
• You've found a product that pairs thyme with ivy leaf or primrose root, the blends used in the trials
• You're an adult buying for yourself, and you're happy to give it the 11 days the trials ran
• You want the evidence explained plainly, including the parts that don't apply to plain thyme

Check with us first if

• It's for a child. Cough products like these must say adults only, or not for children under 2 without medical advice.
• You're pregnant or breastfeeding. There's no Australian warning for thyme, but we couldn't find any pregnancy or breastfeeding data either. Eating it in food isn't the same as taking a concentrated extract.
• You take prescription medicine. We couldn't find any interaction data for thyme, thymol or the blends. That doesn't mean it's clear, only that no one we can cite has looked.
• Your product also contains ivy leaf or primrose root. Those herbs have their own safety profiles, which this page doesn't cover.
• Your label says Thymus serpyllum or another Thymus species. It's permitted, but it isn't the species used in the trials.
• You take prescription medicines. Check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.

• Thyme and ivy leaf fluid extract syrup. Best known for: The first of the two big cough trials, and the strongest single result in this family. Absorption: Not reported in the records we have. Typical use: 5.4 mL three times a day for 11 days in the trial. Ivy leaf has its own rules and safety profile, which this page doesn't cover.
• Thyme and primrose root dry extract tablets. Best known for: The second cough trial, with the same design and a near-identical result. Absorption: Not reported in the records we have. Typical use: One tablet three times a day for 11 days in the trial. Primrose root contains saponins and has its own rules, not covered here.
• Thyme herb dry, on its own (Schedule 1 item 4925). Best known for: The plain dried herb, and the one thyme ingredient Australia puts no conditions on at all. Absorption: We have no absorption data. Typical use: Cooking, tea and single-herb products. We found no trial of thyme alone for cough, and no trial of thyme tea either.
• Thyme oil, and Thymus vulgaris oil or distillate (items 4926 and 4933). Best known for: The concentrated essential oil, where the thymol is. Absorption: Thymol makes up anywhere from 10% to 64% of the oil, so strength varies a lot between bottles. Typical use: Aromatherapy. Above 50% concentration it must come in 25 mL or less, with a restricted flow insert and a keep-out-of-reach-of-children warning. We found no trial of the oil.
• Thymol (item 4927). Best known for: Thyme's main compound, isolated. Absorption: We found no human trial of thymol. Typical use: As an active it's only allowed in medicated throat lozenges or a medicated space spray. There's no permitted thymol supplement to swallow.
• Wild thyme, Thymus serpyllum (item 4932), and other Thymus species. Best known for: Related species sold under the thyme name. Absorption: Not established in any source we have. Typical use: Allowed, with the same oil packaging rules, but none of them is the species used in the cough trials.

Reference values. There's no recommended intake for thyme. It's a herb, not a nutrient, so there's no RDI, no deficiency and no upper level to measure against.

Typical supplemental range. The only doses backed by good evidence come from the two set blends. The thyme and ivy syrup was taken at 5.4 mL three times a day. The thyme and primrose tablets were taken one at a time, three times a day. Both trials ran for 11 days. There's no trial dose for thyme on its own, thyme tea or thyme oil, so we won't give you one. Follow the label of the product you buy.

Upper level. Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1) doesn't set a maximum daily dose for any thyme ingredient. The rules that do apply are about packaging and form: concentrated thyme oil must come in small bottles with a restricted flow insert, and thymol can only be an active ingredient in throat lozenges or a medicated space spray.

Worth knowing. Timing matters as much as dose. In both trials, people on the blend reached a 50% drop in coughing fits about two days sooner than those on placebo, and the gap was measured on days 7 to 9. Coughing fits also halved on placebo, because a chest cough usually clears by itself. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Fresh or dried thyme, used in cooking: an everyday Mediterranean herb, used by the pinch. No source we hold measures its thymol content or compares a kitchen serve with a trial dose
• Thyme tea, infused from the dried herb: A common way people take thyme at home. No trial of thyme tea turned up in our research, so we can't tell you how a cup compares
• Thyme in blended foods, such as herb mixes and flavoured fats: present as flavour. Nothing in our research suggests these deliver anything like the extract doses the trials used

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• Children under 2. Cough indications P2, P3, P7, P8 and P15 require the label statement Adults only, OR Not to be used in children under 2 years of age without medical advice.
• Households with children, and concentrated thyme oil. Above 50% concentration it must come in a container of 25 mL or less, with a restricted flow insert and the warning Keep out of reach of children.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. There's no Schedule 1 warning and we found no human data either way. This is unresolved, so check with a practitioner before using supplement-strength products.
• Any prescription medicine. We found no interaction data for thyme, thymol or the fixed combinations. That's a lack of data, not a clear safety record.
• If you use the fixed blends. Ivy leaf and primrose root weren't assessed here, and primrose root contains saponins.
• Thymol by mouth. Item 4927 only allows thymol as an active in medicated space sprays or medicated throat lozenges.
• A cough that persists or gets worse. Every cough indication carries If symptoms persist, talk to your health professional.
• Thymol toxicity. It's reviewed in the literature but not described in any source we have, so we make no statement.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.