Herbal Medicines in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Therapeutic Potential, Plant Components, and Dosage Guidelines.

This review looked at herbal medicines that might help children with autism. Several herbs showed promise: Bacopa monnieri for thinking skills, turmeric for reducing repetitive behaviors, and green tea extract for brain inflammation. Cannabis products may help with sleep and social skills. Other herbs like ginkgo, passionflower, and valerian might help with anxiety and hyperactivity.

However, the research is still early and herbs should only be used alongside proven therapies like speech and behavioral therapy, never as replacements.

This 2025 narrative review examines herbal medicines for autism spectrum disorder, analyzing studies from 2018-2025 across multiple databases. The review identifies several promising herbs: Bacopa monnieri for cognitive flexibility, curcumin for reducing oxidative stress and repetitive behaviors, green tea extract for neuroinflammation, and cannabinoids for sleep and social engagement. Other herbs like Ginkgo biloba, passionflower, and valerian root show potential for specific symptoms. The authors emphasize that while herbal therapies may help with core ASD symptoms and comorbidities like anxiety and sleep issues, they should complement, not replace, evidence-based treatments.

Major limitations include lack of standardized formulations, unclear dosing protocols, and need for large-scale randomized trials to establish efficacy and safety.

Herbal medicines may offer supportive benefits for ASD symptoms and comorbidities, but should only complement evidence-based treatments like ABA and speech therapy. Standardization of formulations and large-scale trials needed before clinical implementation. Healthcare providers should consider herb-drug interactions and monitor for safety.

Narrative review methodology limits systematic evaluation. No standardized herbal formulations or rigorous dosing protocols established. Lack of large-scale randomized clinical trials. Herb-drug interactions and long-term effects not adequately addressed. Sample sizes and study quality not reported.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), marked by social communication deficits and repetitive behaviors, significantly impacts the quality of life for kids and caregivers. Herbal medicines help manage symptoms, yet no comprehensive review has collectively summarized recent evidence (2018-mid-2025). This narrative review utilized searches across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to identify studies published on herbal medicines for ASD. Inclusion criteria prioritized clinical trials and preclinical studies detailing plant bioactive compounds, dosing, and mechanisms.

Prominent herbs include Bacopa monnieri, which can enhance cognitive flexibility via bacosides; Curcuma longa (curcumin), which can reduce oxidative stress and repetitive behaviors; and Green Tea Extract (luteolin), which can modulate neuroinflammation. Cannabinoids show modest improvements in sleep and social engagement, while Ginkgo biloba improves cerebral blood flow. Passionflower and Valerian Root alleviate anxiety and hyperactivity through GABAergic pathways, and probiotic-fermented herbal combinations target gut-brain axis dysfunction. Ashwagandha demonstrates neuroprotective effects in preclinical trials.

Herbal therapies may address core ASD symptoms (anxiety and hyperactivity) and comorbidities (sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal issues). However, standardization of herbal formulations and rigorous dosing protocols are needed. Integrative approaches combining herbs with behavioral therapies show accepted synergistic potential but require further validation. While herbal medicine may offer supportive benefits, it should never be intended to replace other evidence-based therapies (e.g., applied behavior analysis and speech therapy).

Large-scale randomized clinical trials are crucial to confirming efficacy, safety, and optimal dosing. Research must address herb-drug interactions, long-term effects, and biomarkers for personalized treatment. autism spectrum disorder, herbal medicines, narrative review, doses recommendation, therapeutic effects, side effects.