Your Clove Tea Won't Save You (But Drink It Anyway)

Your local wellness store probably has a new trending product: clove tea.

 It's not just another fancy beverage - this traditional Asian remedy is attracting attention for its supposed health benefits. There are 1000+ search results on amazon if you are on a hunt for a clove tea with the most popular items (10k+ sales per month) being dried cloves. So consumers are buying into this trend faster than research can keep up.

But here's something interesting: while people are rushing to buy clove tea, scientists who are finding the health benefits of cloves are studying something else entirely - a compound called eugenol. So if you are looking into clove tea for its health benetits, a word of warning is required:  dried clove buds, the main component of the tea, only contain about 20% essential oil, which is 70-90% eugenol. But let’s dig deeper. 

_{Disclaimer: I discovered this trend using Exploding topics (I am an affiliate and a long-time fan of this tool), which has become my go-to resource for uncovering under-the-radar opportunities. While the tool doesn’t provide the research that comes with my newsletter, if you're into finding even more trends in all the fields, this tool is definitely worth a look.} 

Table of Contents

• Benefits and Drawbacks

• How to navigate this trend and why should you care …

Benefits and Drawbacks

Clove has an impressive research profile - if you're looking at clove oil and its main compound, eugenol. Here's what studies suggest:

• Research shows eugenol might reduce inflammation at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg, decreasing fluid accumulation without affecting white blood cell counts

• At 200 mg/kg, it significantly reduced swelling in experimental models

• For pain management, doses of 50-100 mg/kg showed effectiveness in specific types of pain relief

Even Healthline's comprehensive article about clove benefits primarily references studies about eugenol - not clove itself. It’s mentioned in 5 out 8 sections of the article, and if you click through the links within sections where it’s not mentioned you’ll find eugenol referenced in the research papers. 

But here's where things get complicated:

1. Concentration Matters: As mentioned above dried clove buds contain about 20% essential oil, which is 70-90% eugenol. But when you make tea, you're getting a much lower concentration than what's used in any studies looking into the health benefits of clove oil.

2. Safety Concerns: Despite being recognized as safe in small amounts, there are serious toxicity concerns with higher doses. Multiple papers cite that the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives established the acceptable daily human intake of clove oil at 2.5 mg/kg body weight, e.g., this, this and this. Though interestingly, I wasn’t able to find confirmation of those numbers directly from WHO resources.

3. Documented Risks: The safety profile becomes concerning at higher doses:

   • Case studies document severe liver failure in children from small amounts of clove oil

   • Medical literature warns that high doses can cause liver and kidney injury

   • Some individuals may experience allergic reactions

4. Research vs. Reality Gap: While studies show promising results for specific health conditions, most research uses concentrated forms, not tea. For example, recent studies showing benefits for conditions like PCOS used specific doses of clove oil, not tea.

So while clove and its compounds show genuine benefits in research, the average cup of clove tea likely contains concentrations too low to replicate these effects - which might actually be safer, given the documented risks of higher doses.

How to navigate this trend and why should you care?

The clove market's projected growth to $6.95 billion by 2029 might make you think you're missing out on some miracle tea. But here's the reality: most health benefits shown in research come from concentrated eugenol, and dried cloves only contain measly amounts of that compound to begin with. 

So why drink clove tea at all? Simple: because you enjoy it. If you love the warm, spicy aroma and distinctive taste of cloves, there's nothing wrong with brewing yourself a cup. Traditional use in Asian respiratory remedies suggests it might provide gentle support through its aromatic properties. Just don't expect it to replicate the effects seen in studies of concentrated eugenol.

If you do try it, opt for whole cloves from reputable spice vendors rather than expensive wellness-branded products. Start with one or two cloves per cup, and pay attention to how your body responds. And remember - sometimes a comforting cup of tea is valuable simply for being exactly that: a comforting cup of tea.