This page has two jobs. First, it explains every plant printed on the tube we write about, what each one is, what the seller's own precautions say, and what the research does and does not say. Second, it lists the headlines we run, tells you which ones overreach, and separates the few things that are genuinely supported from the many that are not.
You almost certainly arrived here from an advertisement. The headline you clicked was written by us and paid for by us to appear next to real news stories. It was designed to make you stop scrolling, and some of our headlines lean harder on a story than the evidence does.
Everything on this site is a paid advertisement for a product sold by someone else. If you buy through a link on any of our pages, we may be paid a commission. That is the reason this site exists.
The product is a loose-leaf herbal tea sold by Alkaline Herb Shop of Miami, Florida: black cherry bark, palo guaco, dandelion root, elderberry and mullein flower, 400 mg of each in a two-teaspoon serving, in a 4 oz tube of about 56 cups. Its name is "Lung Tea." The name is a name, not a finding: no study has ever tested this blend. No tea on this page is a substitute for your own clinician or for anything your clinician has given you for your chest.
If the stairs have been getting longer, or your chest feels tight in the morning, the single most useful thing you can do is tell your clinic, this week. That costs you nothing from us, and it is worth more than anything we write about.
| The headline as you saw it | What is actually behind it |
|---|---|
| "A Letter to My Lungs, Written on the Stair Landing With a Fountain Pen" | Story, not a claim The tube is real; Rosalind, Inés, the building and the clinic visit are composites, and the column is a dramatization built on the seller's listing, label, precautions, reviews and guarantee. |
| "Lung Tea" / "Healthy Breathing Blend" | Exaggerated The product's name and the words on its label, not its evidence. Of the five plants, mullein has a long traditional history and a reported soothing, coating nature, mostly from old use and laboratory work; elderberry has "insufficient evidence" according to the federal complementary-health center; the other three have folk traditions and no study we would quote. Nobody has tested this blend. |
| "Five plants, 400 mg each" | Broadly supported The seller's ingredient panel lists black cherry bark, palo guaco (whole plant), dandelion root, elderberry fruit and mullein flower at 400 mg each per two-teaspoon serving, 2,000 mg in all, read in October 2026. |
| "About 54 cents a cup" | Broadly supported $29.99 for a 4 oz tube the seller lists at about 56 servings. The seller says one teaspoon makes a lighter cup, which halves the cost per cup. |
| "No caffeine" | Broadly supported The seller says none of the five plants contains caffeine and that nothing is added: no flavoring, no caffeine, no filler. |
| "Her stairs got easier" | Partly true The composite narrator walked daily and practiced slow breathing as her clinic asked, while drinking an evening cup. The column says plainly that no one can tell which of those mattered, and that the walking is the likelier candidate. |
| "A neighbor brought it across the hall" | Story, not a claim A storytelling device. The three customer reviews we quote are real, verbatim and marked as verified purchases on the seller's page; the neighbor is a composite. |
Because stories stop the scroll better than ingredient lists do. That is exactly the problem. We keep the honest version of every claim here so you can compare it with the ad side by side.
The seller prints its own precautions under a heading in capital letters. We reproduce them here as printed, because they outrank everything else on our page.
"Contains palo guaco, which naturally contains coumarin and may increase the effect of warfarin and other blood thinning medication. Do not use if you take an anticoagulant." "Contains black cherry bark, traditionally taken short term only." "Not for use during pregnancy or nursing." "Individuals under 18 and individuals with known medical conditions should consult a physician before use."
The seller offers a satisfaction guarantee: if you are not satisfied, you email them within 30 days of receipt, mail back the unused portion, and they issue a full refund once it arrives at their facility. Return shipping labels are not provided, so the postage is yours; international returns carry a 10 percent restocking fee.
The refund is for the unused portion you send back. If that matters, write to [email protected] before you mail anything.
Verbascum thapsus · Long tradition
Gordolobo in Spanish: a tall roadside plant with woolly leaves and a spike of yellow flowers. The seller uses the flower, not the leaf. A 2021 review of its folk uses describes a long history for coughs, hoarseness and colds and a reported soothing, coating quality from its mucilage; most of that evidence is traditional use and laboratory work, not trials in people.
Sambucus nigra · Insufficient evidence
The small dark fruit of the elder tree. The federal National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says the evidence is limited, that there is insufficient evidence to know whether it can help with symptoms, and that it is not known whether it is safe during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Taraxacum officinale · Label ingredient
The root of the lawn dandelion, dried and cut. It gives the cup its bitterness. We quote no study on it for this tea.
Prunus serotina · Short term only
The inner bark of the American black cherry, also sold as wild cherry bark, with an almond-like aroma. The seller notes it is "traditionally taken short term only." We quote no study on it for this tea.
Mikania glomerata · Read the precaution
A climbing vine from Central and South America; the seller uses the whole plant, from Honduras. It naturally contains coumarin, which is why the seller says not to use the tea with any anticoagulant. We quote no study on it for this tea.
Five plants in equal amounts, printed plainly. One with a long tradition and mostly laboratory evidence, one with "insufficient evidence," three with folk traditions, and no study on this blend. A warm evening cup, not a plan for your chest.
The label says "Healthy Breathing Blend," and the product is called "Lung Tea." Those are the seller's words for the product, not findings. No clinician, no panel and no medical society has endorsed this page or this tube.
Dietary supplements are not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration to diagnose or cure anything. That sentence outranks every other sentence we print.
None of our ads should be your health information. Tell your clinician if stairs or walks that used to be easy now make you stop, if your chest feels tight on waking, or if a cough you have had for years has changed. Get urgent care at once for chest pain, lips or fingertips turning bluish, coughing up blood, or breathlessness at rest.
If you take warfarin or any other blood thinner, the seller says not to use this tea. If you take anything daily, show the tube to your pharmacist before the first cup.
Every plant printed on the tube, in the order printed, with what it is.
The common lawn "weed" with the yellow flower, whose long taproot has been roasted as a coffee stand-in and steeped as a spring tonic in Europe, China and North America for as long as kitchens have kept records. Every part of the plant is edible.
Traditional and everyday use. A spring green and roasted-root tonic of European and Chinese folk kitchens, centuries old.
What the research says. The National Institutes of Health states there is no strong evidence for using dandelion for any health condition. No trial has tested this bottle.
Amount per serving in Lung Tea (Lung Tea Supplement, 4 oz Loose Leaf). 400 mg (raíz del diente de león, amarga)
Good to know. Dandelion can cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to related plants (ragweed, daisies). It may add to the effect of anything that thins the blood or that acts on the kidneys. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything daily.
A tall roadside plant with fuzzy leaves and a yellow flower spike, naturalized across North America. The leaves carry mucilages (soothing plant gels) and the plant has a long folk record in cough syrups and respiratory teas.
Traditional and everyday use. A 2021 review of mullein ethnobotany (Biology 10(5):618) documents its traditional use for cough, bronchitis, hoarseness and colds, with expectorant and demulcent (soothing) properties attributed to its mucilages.
What the research says. Mostly traditional and in vitro; we did not register a randomized trial of mullein leaf extract in humans for this page.
Amount per serving in Lung Tea (Lung Tea Supplement, 4 oz Loose Leaf). 400 mg (gordolobo; flor, no hoja; revisión etnobotánica 2021 (ref:232))
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information does not constitute medical advice and it should not be relied upon as such. This product is not a substitute for medication or other treatment prescribed by a physician or health care provider. Consult your doctor before starting any dietary supplement.
Nobody honest can promise that, and no one has studied this blend. Our column describes one composite reader whose mornings got easier during two months of daily walks, slow breathing and an evening cup, and she could not say which one mattered.
Because that is the name the seller chose. A product name is marketing, not evidence, and this guide exists to keep the two apart.
No. The seller says not to use it if you take an anticoagulant, because palo guaco contains coumarin.
The seller notes black cherry bark is traditionally taken short term only. Treat one tube as one stretch of time and talk to your clinician before continuing.
Alkaline Herb Shop, 2423 SW 147 Ave #102, Miami, FL 33185. Phone (786) 536-2903; email [email protected].
No numbered sources are cited on this page.
This guide is part of the advertising page it links from. It exists because the ad that brought you here did not tell you the whole story.
If you remember nothing else: this is an earthy herbal tea with five plants at 400 mg each, the research on its plants is thin, its name is not a finding, it is not for anyone on a blood thinner or expecting or nursing, and your clinician outranks all of us.