The most potent and appropriate remedy for inhabitants of any given region is arguably that region’s local native plants. For example, similar to how an unhealthy deer eats a certain native plant to rid itself of disease, humans have traditionally used herbal medicine endemic to where they live. Some herbalists claim that local medicinal plants are better suited to treat their local human populations. According to Professor J. R. Worsley:

“Anything that can be done with needles can also be done with herbs, but if you use herbs, for God’s sake use local ones, because they are not ten times stronger, they are not a hundred times stronger, they are one thousand times stronger than any plants that grow someplace else.” (Cowen 64)

Here at Santa Barbara Health & Healing Center, we believe in integrating native plant medicine alongside Traditional Chinese Medicine to support immunity, respiratory health, and more. One of our favorite local herbs is Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon spp.), a powerful plant with deep traditional uses and exciting modern science.

Traditional Uses

Spanish Missionaries & Settlers

Spanish missionaries called this plant Yerba Santa — “holy herb” — a name that testifies to its healing power (Timbrook 83). Settlers in the nineteenth century used Yerba Santa for colds, coughs, and asthma, making teas and remedies from the leaves.

Chumash (Wishap)

The Chumash people refer to Yerba Santa as wishap. They prepared leaf decoctions for coughs, colds, fevers, and chest pain (Timbrook 83). Today, Chumash descendants still use it as a tonic and mucus-expeller. Frequent, small doses of tea are considered especially effective. Yerba Santa also was (and is) used externally by the Chumash as a liniment for the feet, chest, and pain relief.

Cahuilla (Eriodictyon trichocalyx)

For the Cahuilla, Yerba Santa functioned as a blood purifier, and a general remedy for coughs, colds, sore throat, asthma, tuberculosis, catarrh, and rheumatism (Bean 71). Externally, they applied it as a liniment, poultice, or tea bath to rheumatism, fever, sore limbs, and skin sores.

Eriodictyon californicum Applications

Using Eriodictyon californicum, people poulticed wounds, healed insect bites, treated broken bones, and applied sores (Foster 278). Steam baths were employed for hemorrhoids (Foster 278).

Early Physicians (19th–20th Century)

In the early 1900s, physicians used Yerba Santa leaves for conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, coughs, and allergies. It was once officially listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia (Foster 279).

Modern Rediscovery & Feminine Health

In the 1990s Yerba Santa was rediscovered for post-chemotherapy recovery and for treating vaginal dryness. Feminease, a vaginal moisturizer, leverages Yerba Santa’s mucopolysaccharide components to bond with water molecules; its hydrating effect is comparable to Aloe vera, with reports suggesting Yerba Santa is even stronger.

Chemistry & Flavor

Yerba Santa’s potent healing comes from a rich phytochemical profile:

• Flavonoids: eriodictyol, homoeriodictyol, pinocembrin, sakuranetin, sterubin, cirsimaritin — responsible for anti-inflammation, expectorant, antibiotic effects.

• Phenolic compounds / resins / acids: eriodictyonine, ericolin, eriodictonic acid, acetic/formic/butyric/cerotic acids, tannins.

• Other compounds: hispidulin, naringenin, volatile oils, phytosterols, polysaccharides (mucilage).

Flavor is bittersweet with an earthy, slightly honeyed finish. Some people perceive bitterness initially, which mellows into sweetness.

In TCM flavor energetics:

• Bitter (Fire element; Heart, Small Intestine): clears heat, drains dampness, cools restlessness and hyperactivity.

• Sweet (Earth element; Spleen, Stomach): nourishes, supports digestion, harmonizes other actions.

Sterubin & Modern Science

Recent studies point to sterubin, a flavonoid found uniquely in Yerba Santa, as a major player:

• In Alzheimer’s models, sterubin increases antioxidant defenses (e.g. GSH, NRF2), reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS), and chelates toxic iron — protecting neurons from degenerative stress. (Fischer et al., 2019)

• In Parkinson’s disease model (rots treated with rotenone), sterubin improved motor symptoms (catalepsy, akinesia), restored neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine), reduced lipid peroxidation, and lowered inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α). (Alqurashi et al., 2024)

These findings suggest that sterubin’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and possibly neuroprotective actions could make Yerba Santa valuable for long-term wellness and aging support (while clinical human studies are still needed).

Processing Variations by Use

How you prepare it changes what you emphasize:

• Respiratory / colds / cough (Decoction): simmer ~10 min, steep ~10 → mucilage + water-soluble flavonoids; expectorant, soothing to membranes.

• Digestive / bitter-masking (Infusion): quick hot-water infusion → lighter volatiles + bitter-masking flavonoids; traditionally added to very bitter formulas.

• Skin / external:

  • Poultice (fresh mashed) for wounds, bites, sores.

  • Liniment (alcohol extract) for sore muscles/rheumatism.

  • Wash/bath (strong decoction) for itchy skin, poison oak, hemorrhoids.

• Neuroprotective / anti-aging:

  • Longer decoction (15–20 min) with a squeeze of lemon (slight acidity) for sterubin yield.

  • Alcohol tincture (40–60% ethanol) concentrates flavonoids including sterubin.

  • Glycerite (alcohol-free) preserves mucilage + flavonoids; sweet, soothing.

• Ceremonial / aromatic: steam inhalation or incense-style use of dried leaf.

Make Your Own Yerba Santa Glycerite

A glycerin tincture (“glycerite”) is a sweet-soothing, alcohol-free way to capture flavonoids + mucilage.

Recipe

• 1 part dried Yerba Santa leaf (by weight)

• 5 parts solvent: 75% vegetable glycerin + 25% distilled water (by volume)

• Glass jar, cheesecloth, amber dropper bottles

Steps

1. Crush or lightly grind leaf; put into jar (about ⅓ full).

2. Cover with glycerin/water mix; seal, label. Shake daily.

3. Let sit 4–6 weeks, cool and dark.

4. Strain through cheesecloth, bottle in dark glass.

Dosage: ~20-40 drops (≈1-2 mL) up to 3 times daily.
Optional: Warm gently (<45 °C) in a water bath for a few days for faster extraction.

Recipes

Traditional Cough Syrup

• 3 leaves Yerba Santa + 1 cup water

• Boil, strain; optional: sweeten with honey or monkfruit (½ tsp sugar in older recipes)

• Take ~1 tsp every 4 hours during acute illness

Decoction for Cold & Flu

• 30 g dried leaf (or 60 g fresh) + 3 cups water

• Boil, simmer 10 min; steep 10 min. Strain.

• Sip small amounts frequently throughout the day

Neuroprotective Brew

• 5 g coarsely ground Yerba Santa leaf + 1½ cups water and a squeeze of lemon

• Simmer 15 min; steep 20 min. Strain.

• Optionally combine with tincture or glycerite for stronger effect

Modern Applications & Availability

• Yerba Santa is on the FDA’s GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) list as a food flavoring, especially useful to mask bitterness in foods and herbal formulas.

• Widely used in skincare and cosmetics for its moisturizing (polysaccharide) and anti-inflammatory, antioxidant flavonoid effects.

• At Santa Barbara Health & Healing Center, we offer loose leaf Yerba Santa tea in our herbal products line.

Yerba Santa in Santa Barbara Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Care (Cough, Cold & Respiratory Support)

At Santa Barbara Health & Healing Center we integrate Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Native Plant Medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle using functional medicine. Yerba Santa aligns with several of our services:

• Supports respiratory health and immune resilience, helpful for sinusitis, asthma, cold/flu symptoms (which we treat regularly).

• Offers neuroprotective potential—relevant for chronic illness, aging, mood, and neurological support.

• Works topically and internally—fits with herbal formulations, liniments, and botanical skincare we often recommend.

• Its flavor and energetics align with Chinese herbal theory—bitter and sweet properties useful in balancing heat, dampness, digestion, liver/heart imbalances.

References

• Adams, James D. Jr. and Cecelia Garcia. 2005. Palliative Care Among the Chumash People. Evidence Based Complementary Alternative Medicine 2(2):143-147.

• Alqurashi MM, Al-Abbasi FA, Afzal M, et al. 2024. Protective effect of sterubin against neurochemical and behavioral impairments in rotenone-induced Parkinson’s disease. Braz J Med Biol Res. 57:e12829. PMC10868181

• Bean, Lowell John, and Katherine Siva Saubel. 1972. Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning: Malki Museum Press.

• Cowen, Eliot. 1995. Plant Spirit Medicine. Columbus: Swan Raven & Company.

• Fischer W, Currais A, Liang Z, Pinto A, Maher P. 2019. Old age-associated phenotypic screening for Alzheimer’s disease drug candidates identifies sterubin as neuroprotective. Redox Biology 21:101089.

• Foster, Steven and Christopher Hobbs. 2002. Peterson Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

• Holmes, Peter. 1997. The Energetics of Western Herbs: Volume 1. Boulder: Snow Lotus Press.

• Hofmann J, Fayez S, Scheiner M, et al. 2020. Sterubin: enantioresolution, purity, and neuroprotective activity. Chemistry 26:7299-7308.

• Timbrook, Jan. 2007. Chumash Ethnobotany. Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.