Dill is one plant that gives two seasonings. The feathery green leaves, sold as dill weed, taste sweet and soft, while the small brown seeds taste citrusy and bitter. Both come from Anethum graveolens, and dill was already in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep II around 1400 BC.
This page covers fresh dill weed, the leaves. A quarter cup (2.2 g) has 1 calorie and 1.87 mg of vitamin C, 2% of the daily value, so dill adds flavor more than nutrients. It does carry flavonoids: the same serving has 1.21 mg of quercetin and 0.96 mg of isorhamnetin in the USDA data used on this site, and dill is one of only 12 foods in our database with measured isorhamnetin. It is best fresh, because it loses its flavor quickly when dried.
The research is a different story. Most human trials used boiled seed, dried powder, tablets or extracts, usually in small trials from Iran, and none below fed people fresh dill leaves as a food. Every card says which form was tested.
Health benefits of dill
The top findings from 18 studies, strongest evidence first
What the stars mean
- Strong. Several randomized trials, pooled in a meta-analysis, point the same way, or regulators (FDA or EFSA) have approved the claim.
- Moderate. Good randomized trials support it, but there are fewer of them, or their results vary.
- Limited. Small, short or single trials, or mixed results. Promising, but it needs confirmation.
Population and lab studies get no stars: they show a link or a mechanism, not proof.
How we rate evidence →- ★Shorter labor in small trialsIn 153 women in active labor, a drink of boiled dill seed (10 g in 100 mL of water) shortened labor compared with routine care. A review of two trials found all three stages of labor were shorter.
- ★Less period pain in a small trialIn 75 students, 1,000 mg of dill powder twice a day eased period pain about as well as a pain drug (mefenamic acid). Pain also fell on placebo in the second month.
- ★Lower LDL in pooled small trialsAcross 7 trials with 330 adults, dill supplements lowered LDL by 15.64 mg/dL, but not total cholesterol, triglycerides or fasting blood sugar. One placebo-controlled trial of dill tablets found no significant change in cholesterol.
- ★Smaller thyroid nodules in one small trialIn 68 people with benign thyroid nodules, 90 days of dried dill capsules lowered thyroid antibodies, CRP and nodule size more than placebo. One small trial is not a reason to treat a thyroid condition with dill.
- ★No clear effect on metabolic syndrome markersIn 24 people with metabolic syndrome, 12 weeks of dill extract did not improve markers compared with placebo. Triglycerides fell, but no more than on placebo.
All 18 studies, strongest evidence first
A drink of boiled dill seed in active labor shortened labor; only the second stage in first-time mothers did not differ significantly
Randomized trial in 153 women with regular contractions. The drink was 10 g of dill seed boiled for 10 minutes in 100 mL of water, taken once when the cervix was 3 to 4 cm open. The comparison group got routine care with no placebo. Dilation and effacement scores were also better 1 to 4 hours later. The abstract reports no pain result.
After delivery, no woman who drank boiled dill seed in labor had severe trait anxiety, against 4 of 50 women given oxytocin
Randomized trial in 100 women, 50 in each group. The dill group drank 10 g of seed boiled for 10 minutes in 100 mL of water at the start of active labor, and the other group got an oxytocin drip. Almost severe trait and state anxiety were also lower with dill (0 against 7 of 50). The P values were borderline (0.050 and 0.041), and the comparison was a drug, not a placebo.
A review of dill seed in labor found that two trials shortened all three stages of labor
Systematic review of 2 randomized trials and 2 retrospective cohort studies of dill seed. The pooled difference was 43.66 for the first stage (the abstract gives no unit), 15.76 for the second and 1.79 for the third. The two cohort studies also found shorter first and second stages. Two trials are a thin base.
Dill seed, 3 g a day for 3 days of each cycle, reduced period pain more than ginger or cumin did
Comparative trial in 31 women with painful periods, randomly split into three groups taking dill seed (3 g a day), ginger (1 g a day) or cumin (3 g a day) over 3 cycles. Cumin did not reduce pain but did ease cold sweats, backache, fatigue and cramps. The abstract gives no pain scores and mentions no placebo group, and each group was small.
Dill powder, 1,000 mg twice a day around the period, eased period pain about as well as mefenamic acid
Double-blind randomized trial in 75 students aged 18 to 28, excluding mild pain. They took dill powder, 250 mg of mefenamic acid or a 500 mg starch placebo for 5 days, starting 2 days before bleeding, over two cycles. Pain scores were lower with dill and with the drug in both months. Pain also fell on placebo in the second month.
Celery-family herbs, dill seed among them, showed a significant positive effect on period pain against standard drugs
Systematic review of 14 randomized trials of herbs such as anise, dill, cumin and fennel. The meta-analysis pooled 7 trials against standard treatments, and the subgroup of fennel seed and dill seed against mefenamic acid or ibuprofen was also positive. The authors flag concerns about deviations from the planned treatment and selective reporting in the dill and fennel trials against standard drugs. The abstract gives no numbers and covers several herbs, not dill alone.
3 g a day of dill powder lowered LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and insulin more than placebo in people with type 2 diabetes
Randomized trial in 42 people with type 2 diabetes who took three 1 g capsules of dill powder a day or placebo. A marker of oxidative damage (malondialdehyde) also fell more than on placebo, while HDL rose more. Fasting blood sugar was measured, but the abstract gives no result against placebo. It does not say which part of the plant was ground into the powder.
Capsules of dried dill for 90 days lowered thyroid antibodies, CRP and nodule size in 68 people with benign thyroid nodules
Placebo-controlled trial with 33 people on dill and 35 on placebo, taking three capsules a day of dried, ground dill. The abstract gives no dose in grams and no plant part. Anti-TPO, CRP and nodule size fell more than on placebo, but TSH and free T4 fell too, and the abstract does not say whether they were abnormal at the start. One small trial is not a reason to treat a thyroid condition with dill.
Dill supplements lowered LDL cholesterol by 15.64 mg/dL across 7 trials, but not total cholesterol, triglycerides or fasting blood sugar
Meta-analysis of 7 randomized trials with 330 adults taking dill by mouth. The abstract does not say which plant part or form was used. Fasting insulin fell 2.28 µU/mL and HOMA-IR (a measure of insulin resistance) fell 1.06, while HDL did not change significantly. Higher doses and longer trials worked better, and the authors call for more research.
Six dill tablets a day for 2 months lowered total cholesterol by up to 18% and triglycerides by 7.38% in people with high blood fats
Randomized trial in 91 people with high blood lipids. The comparison group took 900 mg of gemfibrozil a day, a lipid drug, and there was no placebo group. HDL did not change on dill. Gemfibrozil lowered triglycerides more (32.7%), and dill lowered total cholesterol more than the drug did. No side effects were reported on dill. The tablet contents are not described.
Dill tablets, 650 mg twice a day for 6 weeks, did not significantly change blood cholesterol
Single-blind placebo-controlled trial in 150 people with high blood lipids, 50 in each group, all on a cholesterol-lowering diet. Total cholesterol fell 0.4% and LDL 6.3% on dill, neither significant, and triglycerides rose 6.0%. Garlic powder tablets in the same trial did lower total cholesterol (12.1%) and LDL (17.3%).
Dill tablets for 6 weeks, alone or with Pilates, did not change BMI, body fat or insulin resistance more than placebo in 45 women with overweight
Randomized trial with four groups of 11 or 12 women: Pilates plus dill, Pilates plus placebo, dill alone and placebo. Dill was taken three times a day as tablets. A hormone called nesfatin-1 rose most in the Pilates plus dill group, and fasting glucose fell most there. The tablet dose is not given in the abstract.
Dill extract for 12 weeks did not improve metabolic syndrome markers compared with placebo
Double-blind randomized trial in 24 people with metabolic syndrome, 12 on dill extract and 12 on placebo. Triglycerides fell from 257.0 to 201.5 in the dill group (P = 0.01), but that was not different from placebo. Waist size, blood pressure and fasting blood sugar did not differ between groups either. The dose is not given in the abstract.
An extract of dill leaves, 1 mL three times a day for 5 days, reduced Giardia infection in babies, which the authors call comparable to metronidazole
Randomized trial in 28 babies aged 3 to 11 months with giardiasis, 14 in each group. The comparison group took metronidazole, 15 mg/kg three times a day. Stool tests were checked after 5 and 14 days, and the abstract gives no infection rates. It was a single clinic in Baghdad, and a baby with a gut infection needs a doctor, not a home remedy.
Fractions of a dill leaf extract lowered total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL by 30.5 to 54.8% in rats fed a high-fat diet
Study in rats, not people. Rats ate a high-fat diet for 3 weeks, then got one of three solvent fractions of a dill leaf extract at 50 mg/kg a day for 2 weeks. HDL cholesterol rose, and the liver antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT and GSH rose too. The ether fraction worked best, and none of this is a food dose.
An alcohol extract of the aerial part of dill reduced colon damage and inflammation in mice with induced colitis
Study in mice, not people. The dried leaves and stems of dill were extracted with 70% ethanol and given by gavage at 200 or 400 mg/kg for 7 days. The extract lowered the disease activity index and the inflammation markers IL-6 and IL-1β, and it shifted gut bacteria toward a better balance. In cell tests it also calmed inflammation.
A dill tablet and a dill extract lowered blood and liver fats in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet
Study in rats, not people. Thirty-six rats on a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet got a dill tablet or dill extract at 300 mg/kg for 30 days. Liver antioxidant capacity rose, a marker of fat damage (MDA) fell, and liver tissue looked more normal. The extract worked better than the commercial tablet.
An extract of dill fruit (the seed) protected the colon from damage in rats with acetic acid colitis
Study in rats, not people. Forty-two rats were split into seven groups of six and got an aqueous dill fruit extract at 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg for 10 days, or a comparison drug. The extract reduced damage to the colon lining and eased inflammation and oxidative stress. The authors call dill fruit a promising candidate, which only human trials can test.
Who should be careful with dill
Most people can eat dill freely. Take a little care if one of these applies:
- Allergy to dill, celery or mugwort pollen. A case report describes a severe reaction to dill, with swelling of the tongue and throat and hives, confirmed by a skin test. Dill is also on lists of possible cross-reacting foods for people allergic to mugwort pollen and celery. Allergic reactions to herbs and spices are infrequent.
- Dill supplements and medicines. The trials that changed insulin, LDL or thyroid tests used 2 to 3 g a day of powder, tablets or extracts, far more than a garnish. If you take medicine for diabetes, cholesterol or a thyroid condition, ask your clinician before adding dill supplements. A sprinkle of fresh dill is a different matter.
- Gripe water and herbal products for babies. The NHS says colic remedies such as herbal supplements are not recommended and there is no evidence they help. One 9-month-old went into septic shock after a contaminated herbal colic product, which shows how loosely these products are made.
How to choose, store and eat dill
- Fresh leaves (dill weed): use it fresh, because dill loses its flavor quickly when dried. A quarter cup (2.2 g) has 1 calorie and 2% of the daily value for vitamin C.
- Seeds: they taste citrusy and bitter and go into breads and akvavit. The period pain trial used 3 g of seed a day for 3 days of each cycle.
- Powder, tablets and extracts: trials used 1,000 mg of powder twice a day, 3 g of powder a day or six tablets a day. That is far more than a garnish, and the abstracts rarely say what was in the tablets.
Choose green, feathery dill with sturdy stems and skip wilting or yellowing sprigs. Keep fresh dill in the fridge, wrapped in a damp paper towel or with the stems in a glass of water, where it lasts only about two days, or freeze it chopped or whole. Dried seeds keep up to six months in an airtight glass jar in a cool, dark place.
Sources
- Chiu AM, Zacharisen MC. Anaphylaxis to dill. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2000.
- Celery-carrot-mugwort spice syndrome. Altmeyers Encyclopedia.
- Colic. NHS.
- Sas D, Enrione MA, Schwartz RH. Pseudomonas aeruginosa septic shock secondary to “gripe water” ingestion. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2004.
- Dill. FoodLink, Purdue Extension.
- Dill. Wikipedia.
History of dill
Dill is native to North Africa and West Asia, and it has a long paper trail. It was found in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep II, dated to around 1400 BC, and at the Greek city of Samos from around the 7th century BC. The Greek writer Theophrastus, who lived from 371 to 287 BC, also mentioned it.
The botanical name, Anethum, is the Latin form of Greek words that meant both dill and anise. Latin later settled on anethum for dill and anisum for anise. The English word dill has relatives in most Germanic languages, but where it comes from is unknown. In Greek myth, dill began as a young man named Anethus who was turned into the plant.
In the kitchen, dill gave its name to dill pickles, and the leaves flavor gravlax, borscht and soups. It is a staple herb in central and eastern Europe, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, Ukraine and Russia, while the seeds go into breads and, in Sweden, akvavit.
Dill also became a baby remedy. Gripe water, a sweet liquid for colicky babies, was sold by a firm founded by William Woodward in 1850. The original recipe held dill oil, sodium bicarbonate, sugar, water and 3.6% alcohol, and Woodward registered “Gripe Water” as a trademark in 1876.
Brands now differ in what they put in the bottle, and some use fennel, ginger or chamomile instead of dill. Today the NHS says colic remedies are not recommended and there is no evidence they help, so gripe water remains a tradition more than a treatment.
Sources
- Dill. Wikipedia.
- Gripe water. Wikipedia.
- Woodward’s Gripe Water. Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History.
- Blumenthal I. The gripe water story. J R Soc Med. 2000.
- Colic. NHS.
Frequently asked questions about dill
Is dill good for you?
For most people, yes, though dill is a flavoring, not a big source of nutrients. A quarter cup of fresh dill (2.2 g) has 1 calorie and 2% of the daily value for vitamin C. The 14 human studies here used seed, powder, tablets or extracts, none reached moderate or strong evidence, and none fed fresh leaves.
How many calories and how much vitamin C does dill have?
Very few calories and a small amount of vitamin C per serving. A quarter cup of fresh dill (2.2 g) has 1 calorie, 0.08 g of protein, 0.05 g of fiber and 1.87 mg of vitamin C, which is 2% of the daily value. Fresh dill is 86% water, so per 100 g it has 43 calories and 85 mg of vitamin C, but nobody eats that much.
What is the difference between dill weed and dill seed?
Dill weed is the feathery leaf, and dill seed is the small brown fruit of the same plant. The leaves taste sweet and soft, and the seeds taste citrusy and bitter. Most health trials used seed: 3 g a day for period pain, or 10 g boiled in 100 mL of water in labor. The nutrition facts on this page are for the leaves.
Is dill good for your stomach?
It has a long reputation, but the evidence is thin. No trial here tested dill for digestion directly. In 42 people with type 2 diabetes, 3 g a day of dill powder reduced one gut symptom, colonic motility problems, but that was one of several symptoms checked. For colicky babies, the NHS says herbal remedies are not recommended and there is no evidence they help.
Does dill help with period pain?
Possibly, but the trials are small. Dill seed, 3 g a day, reduced pain more than ginger or cumin in 31 women, and dill powder, 1,000 mg twice a day, worked about as well as mefenamic acid in 75 students. Pain also fell on placebo in the second month, and a pooled review flagged concerns about reporting. None of this tested fresh dill.
Does dill lower cholesterol or blood sugar?
Not reliably. A pooled analysis of 7 trials found LDL lower by 15.64 mg/dL, but total cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting blood sugar did not change significantly. Single trials disagree: dill tablets lowered total cholesterol by up to 18% in 91 people, and did not significantly change it in 150 people. The doses were supplement-sized, so do not swap dill for medicine.
Is dill safe during pregnancy?
No study here tested dill as a food in pregnancy, so there is no evidence either way. The labor trials gave one drink of boiled seed (10 g in 100 mL of water) to women already in active labor, which says nothing about earlier pregnancy. Ask your midwife or doctor before using dill seed teas or supplements.
How long does fresh dill last?
Only about two days in the fridge, according to Purdue Extension. Wrap it in a damp paper towel or stand the stems in a glass of water. For longer storage you can freeze it chopped or whole, and dried seeds keep up to six months in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place.