Andrographis

A bitter annual herb of the Acanthaceae family, native to India and Sri Lanka and grown across South and Southeast Asia, whose leaves and aerial parts are dried and extracted. The stems are four-angled towards the top, the leaves opposite and lance-shaped. The signature compound is andrographolide, a labdane diterpenoid lactone, and it is the reason the plant is called the king of bitters.

Andrographolide is the constituent that has been studied. In laboratory work it suppresses NF-kB signalling and reduces nitric oxide and COX-2 expression. Its effect on immune cells runs in both directions depending on the model: it has increased antibody responses and splenic lymphocyte proliferation in some preparations, and inhibited T cell proliferation and interleukin-2 release in others. Either way, the conventional advice to avoid immune-active herbs in autoimmune disease is a precaution drawn from that laboratory picture rather than a demonstrated harm. Andrographis also engages cytochrome P450 enzymes, inhibiting CYP1A2 among others, which is where most of the drug interactions come from. What nobody has demonstrated is that any of this happens in a person who has swallowed 15 mg. The mechanism work runs at concentrations a strip cannot produce.

Traditionally used as a bitter tonic herb. In research settings it has been studied for short-term symptom relief during acute respiratory tract infection. AFTER makes no such claim, and this amount could not support one.

Men who want the traditional bitter set in an evening strip and are clear-eyed about both the amount and the allergy risk. Not for anyone who has ever reacted to a herbal product, anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with an autoimmune condition, anyone on immunosuppressants or living with a transplant, anyone with gallbladder disease, or anyone on anticoagulants, blood-pressure medicines or aminophylline without asking their doctor first.

One strip, dissolved on the tongue at the end of the evening. No food required. It is genuinely bitter, which is the plant doing the one thing it is named for. If you take any medicine on the interaction list, speak to your doctor before using it at all. Stop at the first sign of an allergic reaction and seek medical help rather than waiting to see.

Nothing you will notice, beyond the taste. At 15 mg there is no sensation to wait for and no timeline to judge it against, and anyone reporting a dramatic effect from this amount is reporting something other than the andrographis. The exception is an allergic reaction, which does not track neatly with dose: that is the one thing worth watching for, and it is a reason to stop, not to wait.

The largest synthesis is Hu and colleagues, PLOS ONE 2017: 33 randomised controlled trials, 7,175 patients, in acute respiratory tract infection. It reported improvement versus placebo for cough (SMD -0.39, 95% CI -0.67 to -0.10) and sore throat (SMD -1.13, 95% CI -1.37 to -0.89), and shorter sore throat and sick leave versus usual care, while stating that the included trials were generally poorly designed, underpowered and inadequately blinded. Daily andrographolide across those trials ranged from 15.75 mg to 1,200 mg, usually three times daily for five to seven days; Kan Jang trials used 400 mg of SHA-10 extract three times daily. A 2023 double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 165 adults with an acute viral respiratory infection (60 mg andrographolide three times daily for five days) found no significant difference from placebo. On safety, Worakunphanich and colleagues (Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 2021) pooled 10 RCTs and 3 intensive monitoring studies: serious adverse events 0.02 per 1,000 patients, non-serious events 102.6 per 1,000, mostly gastrointestinal and skin. Calabrese and colleagues' phase I trial of isolated andrographolide (2000) was halted at six weeks after adverse events including an anaphylactic reaction, with elevated liver enzymes in many participants. Europe's HMPC concluded that an EU herbal monograph on Andrographis paniculata folium could not be established (public statement EMA/HMPC/709282/2012; final assessment report, 27 August 2014). Australia's TGA published an updated anaphylaxis safety review in April 2026 and removed the ingredient from its Permissible Ingredients Determination on 17 September 2026. Not supported: any human evidence involving alcohol or the morning after (rat work in Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2021, and a 2026 in-silico and in-vitro paper are not evidence in people), and any demonstrated effect at 15 mg. It is not a treatment for any disease.