What are the benefits of steeping honeysuckle and forsythia in water?

Jul 07, 2025 Source: Cainiu Health

Dr. Sun Lianqing

Introduction

Under normal circumstances, soaking honeysuckle and forsythia in water is a common traditional Chinese herbal beverage. By steeping honeysuckle and forsythia in hot water and consuming the liquid, their medicinal components can exert health benefits. This herbal infusion has effects including clearing heat and detoxifying the body, dispersing wind-heat, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial actions, cooling the blood, stopping dysentery, and enhancing immunity. However, both honeysuckle and forsythia are cold in nature, and individuals with deficiency-cold in the spleen and stomach should avoid long-term or excessive consumption.

Generally speaking, a herbal beverage made by steeping honeysuckle and forsythia in hot water is a common traditional Chinese medicine preparation. By steeping these herbs in hot water and consuming the resulting infusion, their medicinal components can exert health benefits. This herbal infusion offers various effects and functions, including clearing heat and detoxifying the body, dispersing wind-heat, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial actions, cooling the blood to stop dysentery, and enhancing immunity. The specific effects are analyzed as follows:

1. Clearing Heat and Detoxification

Honeysuckle is cold in nature and sweet in taste, affecting the lung, heart, and stomach meridians; forsythia is slightly cold and bitter in taste, affecting the heart, lung, and small intestine meridians. Both herbs are cold in nature, and the cold property can clear heat and purge fire toxicity. They are commonly used to alleviate symptoms caused by excessive internal heat toxins, such as boils, carbuncles, sore throat, and swelling and pain.

2. Dispersing Wind-Heat

Honeysuckle and forsythia are light and dispersing in nature, possessing a mild and penetrating quality. When external wind-heat pathogens invade the body's surface, causing symptoms such as fever, headache, dry throat, and cough, drinking this herbal infusion can help disperse wind-heat, allowing the pathogenic factors to be expelled from the body's surface.

3. Anti-inflammatory and Antibacterial Effects

Honeysuckle contains components such as chlorogenic acid and luteolin, while forsythia contains forsythoside and phillyrin. These constituents exhibit anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities, inhibiting various bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, as well as viruses. They can reduce inflammatory responses and help prevent and alleviate infectious diseases.

4. Cooling the Blood and Arresting Dysentery

Both honeysuckle and forsythia have the effect of cooling the blood, helping to clear heat toxins in the blood. For dysentery caused by heat toxins accumulating in the intestines and forcing blood to flow abnormally, resulting in symptoms such as abdominal pain, tenesmus, and passage of pus and blood in the stool, drinking this herbal infusion can offer a certain effect in cooling the blood and arresting dysentery.

5. Enhancing Immunity

The active components in honeysuckle and forsythia can stimulate the immune system, promoting the production and activity of immune cells—for example, enhancing the phagocytic function of macrophages and increasing the activity of lymphocytes. This helps strengthen the body's immune function and improve resistance to diseases.

However, both honeysuckle and forsythia are cold in nature, and individuals with a cold constitution affecting the spleen and stomach should avoid long-term or excessive consumption, as it may damage the yang energy of the spleen and stomach.

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Can Chinese wolfberry, chrysanthemum, lemon, red date, astragalus, and honeysuckle be steeped together in water for drinking?

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