Lemon Grass Tea Benefits: What the Research Shows About This Herbal Brew

Lemongrass tea has been used in traditional medicine systems across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America for generations. In recent decades, researchers have begun examining some of those traditional uses more closely — and while the science is still catching up, there's a growing body of evidence worth understanding.

What Is Lemongrass and What Makes It Biologically Active?

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus and related species) is a tall tropical grass with a bright, citrus-like aroma. When steeped as a tea, it releases a range of bioactive plant compounds, including:

• Citral — the primary volatile compound, responsible for its lemony scent and most studied for its biological activity
• Myrcene — a terpene with antioxidant properties
• Chlorogenic acid and isoorientin — polyphenols associated with antioxidant effects
• Quercetin — a flavonoid found across many plant foods

These phytonutrients are not unique to lemongrass, but lemongrass delivers them in a concentrated form through hot-water infusion.

What Research Generally Shows About Lemongrass Tea

Antioxidant Activity 🍃

Several lab and animal studies have found that lemongrass extracts demonstrate significant antioxidant activity — meaning they appear to neutralize free radicals, which are unstable molecules associated with cellular stress and aging. The polyphenols and flavonoids in lemongrass are the primary compounds involved.

Important limitation: Most antioxidant research on lemongrass has been conducted in cell cultures or animal models. Human clinical trials are limited, and how these effects translate to drinking a cup of brewed tea — with variable steeping times, water temperature, and plant quality — is not well established.

Anti-Inflammatory Properties

Citral, lemongrass's dominant active compound, has shown anti-inflammatory effects in laboratory settings, inhibiting certain inflammatory signaling pathways. Some animal studies have supported these findings.

Again, the evidence base here is primarily preclinical. What happens in a lab dish or a rodent model doesn't always carry over directly to human physiology — particularly when considering the concentrations used in studies versus what's present in a typical brewed tea.

Digestive Comfort

Traditional use of lemongrass tea for digestive complaints — bloating, cramping, and general stomach discomfort — is widespread. Some small human studies and observational reports support a mild carminative effect (helping to reduce gas and ease digestion), and lemongrass is generally well-tolerated as a food-grade herb.

Anxiolytic and Calming Effects

A small number of studies have examined whether lemongrass may influence anxiety or nervous system activity. Preliminary findings suggest citral may interact with certain neurotransmitter receptors, but evidence in humans is sparse and not conclusive. The ritual of drinking warm herbal tea itself has a documented calming effect, which makes isolating lemongrass's specific role more difficult.

Antimicrobial Properties

Lab studies have found that lemongrass oil and extract show inhibitory activity against certain bacteria and fungi, including some strains relevant to food safety. However, this research is conducted using concentrated extracts, not brewed tea, and should not be interpreted as evidence that lemongrass tea treats or prevents infections.

Nutritional Profile of Lemongrass Tea

Brewed lemongrass tea provides minimal macronutrients — it's essentially calorie-free. Its value lies almost entirely in its phytonutrient content, which varies considerably depending on:

Variables That Shape Individual Responses

Even setting aside the research limitations, how someone responds to lemongrass tea depends significantly on their individual circumstances.

Medications and drug interactions: Lemongrass may have mild effects on blood pressure and blood sugar regulation based on early research. For people taking medications that affect either — antihypertensives, diuretics, or glucose-lowering drugs — even modest herb-drug interactions can matter. This is an area where individual health context is essential.

Pregnancy and hormonal considerations: Some traditional uses of lemongrass involve stimulating menstrual flow, and certain animal studies have raised questions about its use during pregnancy. This is a population where caution and professional guidance are particularly relevant.

Allergic sensitivity: Lemongrass belongs to the grass family. People with grass pollen allergies may experience cross-reactive sensitivity, though this varies by individual.

Kidney and liver function: As with many herbal preparations, the compounds in lemongrass are metabolized and filtered by the liver and kidneys. People with compromised function in either organ metabolize herbal compounds differently.

Consumption frequency and volume: Occasional use as a beverage is generally considered safe in the food context. High-volume or highly concentrated intake is a different question — and one where individual health status matters considerably.

How Different Profiles Experience Different Results 🌿

Someone who drinks one or two cups of lemongrass tea occasionally as part of a varied, plant-rich diet is in a very different position than someone drinking it several times daily expecting measurable therapeutic effects. A healthy adult with no medications and no relevant sensitivities is starting from a different baseline than someone managing a chronic condition or taking multiple prescriptions.

Research findings — particularly preclinical ones — describe what happened in controlled conditions with specific concentrations. They don't describe what any one person will experience drinking a cup of tea brewed to their own taste and preference.

What the research does suggest, at a general level, is that lemongrass contains biologically active compounds with plausible mechanisms of action in several areas. What it cannot tell you is how those compounds behave in your body, in the quantities you'd consume, given your specific health status, diet, and circumstances — and that's the part the science hasn't resolved for any individual reader.