St. John's Wort

Hypericum perforatum / St John's wort extract / LI 160 / WS 5570 / Ze 117 / STW3-VI

The strongest current support is for depression symptoms (mild to moderate). Other uses on this page have narrower, weaker, or not-yet-clear evidence.

What the research says

Each row is a different health effect. A means the support looks strongest, B likely helpful, C mixed or modest, and — not enough human evidence yet.

A · Strong evidence of benefit
A
Depression symptoms (mild to moderate)
This is the best-supported use on this page. The evidence supports depression symptoms (mild to moderate) more clearly than the other uses listed here, but not broader claims.
13 papers · 7 research reviews
C · Mixed or limited evidence
C
Depression symptoms / major depressive disorder
The research on depression symptoms / major depressive disorder is mixed, modest, or both. Any claim here should stay narrow and specific.
9 papers
— · Not enough human evidence yet
Anxiety / mood symptoms
Research has been reviewed for anxiety / mood symptoms, but the current human evidence is still too limited or inconsistent for a confident benefit claim.
1 paper · 1 research review
Sleep quality
Research has been reviewed for sleep quality, but the current human evidence is still too limited or inconsistent for a confident benefit claim.
1 paper

Safety

Safety is graded separately from benefits. Read these cautions first, especially if you take medication or have a medical condition.

⚠ Concerning The human evidence points to a meaningful reason for caution.
Medication and interaction cautions
This is a safety note, not a benefit claim. It points to a real reason for caution.
2 direct human studies
Side effects and tolerability
This is a safety note, not a benefit claim. It points to a real reason for caution.
5 direct human studies

Quick facts

A quick read on what this page supports right now.

Health effects reviewed
4 health effects reviewed
Best grade shown
A · Strong evidence of benefit
Benefits with support
2 uses currently show some level of supportive evidence
Safety rows
2 separate safety or caution rows
Research volume
24 unique research papers across graded uses on this page
What this means
Keep any benefit claims limited to the specific graded uses shown here.

Quality-verified products

Products that pass third-party quality testing.

Product quality data coming soon

Any future product listings should stay aligned with the specific graded outcomes and the separate safety rows shown here.

How we graded St. John's Wort

This page shows the current public rows for St. John's Wort: 24 unique research papers across 4 visible health effects. Safety rows are shown separately from benefit rows when available. The page includes 8 review-level papers and 16 direct human studies. Each supplement is graded by health effect using a certainty × effect matrix applied across PubMed evidence per health effect. Cochrane reviews and high-quality systematic reviews carry the most weight. See Methodology for full detail.

Read the full methodology → · Citation PDF coming soon