Hawthorn is a flowering shrub or tree of the rose family. It is promoted for the heart and blood vessels, weight loss and anxiety, and in people it has been studied mostly for heart failure.
Also known as: Crataegus, Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus laevigata, WS 1442, tejocote.
The HERB CHF heart failure trial used 900 mg a day of the extract WS 1442 for 6 months (Zick 2008). NCCIH says no study has tested whether hawthorn is safe for more than 16 weeks. These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. NCCIH says there is little or no good evidence on hawthorn for most conditions, no evidence it helps weight loss, and that it is unclear whether it affects anxiety.
What studies show is conflicting. A 2008 Cochrane review of 14 trials, mostly with hawthorn added to usual heart failure treatment, found better exercise capacity and less shortness of breath and fatigue than with placebo; it had almost no data on deaths or heart events (Pittler 2008). In a later analysis of the HERB CHF trial, 6 months of hawthorn extract did not slow heart failure from getting worse and appeared to raise the risk of early worsening (Zick 2008); NCCIH says it is unclear why, and one possibility is an interaction with heart medicines.
Safety: FDA has warned that some supplements labeled "tejocote root" (Mexican hawthorn) actually contain yellow oleander, a poisonous plant that can cause severe or fatal nervous system, stomach and heart effects; some were sold for weight loss, and FDA advises people to stop using them. NCCIH says side effects of hawthorn can include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and muscle pain, and little is known about pregnancy or breastfeeding.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for hawthorn that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. Plant and bee products are mixtures of many compounds, so no single figure would describe them.
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