5 Peruvian Herbs People Brew for Lung & Respiratory Health

May 18, 2026

Cold season hits Lima and the herb stalls in Mercado de Surquillo get busy. People come in coughing, asking for the same handful of dried leaves. Their grandmothers used these herbs. So did their grandmothers' grandmothers.

Modern research on most of them is thin. A few have decent studies, others have folk tradition and not much else. We sell them because customers in the US ask for what they grew up with in Peru, and because some of these plants have ingredients that make pharmacological sense. We are not telling you they replace an inhaler or antibiotics.

Here are five we move the most of when the weather turns, with an honest read on what each one does.

1. Eucalyptus (Eucalipto)

The most familiar one on this list. Eucalyptus arrived in Peru in the 19th century from Australia and naturalized fast in the highlands. In Cusco and Puno, families still throw a handful of fresh leaves into a pot of boiling water and breathe the steam under a towel. The smell alone clears your sinuses.

The active compound is 1,8-cineole, also called eucalyptol. It has decent evidence for thinning mucus and easing the cough that lingers after bronchitis. A 2014 review of cineole capsules in chronic bronchitis found small but real improvements in symptoms. Tea is less concentrated than the capsule form, but the steam delivers cineole directly to the airways.

We sell loose eucalyptus leaves and tea bags. One teaspoon of dried leaves per cup, off the boil, covered for 5 to 8 minutes. One to three cups a day during a cold.

2. Lungwort (Pulmonaria)

The name gives it away. Pulmonaria has been used in European and later Peruvian herbal traditions for "weak lungs" since at least the 16th century. The leaves have mucilage, which coats irritated tissue, and saponins, which thin mucus.

Honest take: the human research is almost nonexistent. Most of what is published is in vitro or animal work. People drink it because their families drank it, and because it tastes mild and soothing when your throat is raw. That is a real benefit even if it is not a curative one.

3. Cat's Claw (Uña de Gato)

Not strictly a respiratory herb, but it keeps showing up in Peruvian respiratory blends. The reasoning: cat's claw is an immune modulator, and immune balance during a respiratory infection is the actual fight. Preliminary studies of Uncaria tomentosa show consistent immunomodulatory activity, though clinical trials are still small.

Asháninka tradition in the Amazon basin uses the inner bark as a general "warrior tea." It is bitter and earthy. People take it preventively during the rainy season rather than waiting until they are already sick. You can read our full breakdown in our Cat's Claw guide.

4. Matico (Soldier's Herb)

Matico (Piper aduncum) grows wild in the Peruvian montaña, the foothills between the Andes and the Amazon. Soldiers in the colonial wars supposedly chewed it to clean wounds and brewed it for chest infections, which is where the nickname comes from.

The leaves contain dillapiole and a handful of antimicrobial compounds. Lab tests show activity against certain bacteria and fungi. As a respiratory tea, it has a clove-like warmth and a slight pepperiness. People in Cusco brew it for a productive cough.

5. Bronquiosan Blend

This is the one we tell people about when they ask for "something that does all of it." Bronquiosan is a Peruvian house blend that combines dried eucalyptus, lungwort, and cat's claw in tea bag form. The idea is to get the cineole hit from eucalyptus, the soothing mucilage from lungwort, and the immune support from cat's claw in one cup, instead of buying three separate tins and dosing them yourself.

Each box has 25 tea bags. One bag per 8 oz cup, steep 5 to 7 minutes, drink hot. Some people add a slice of fresh ginger or a spoon of honey. We do not add the honey at the factory because it goes off in shipping.

A few cautions before you brew

Cat's claw can interact with immunosuppressants and blood thinners, and it is not recommended during pregnancy. Eucalyptus is generally safe as a tea but should not be taken as an essential oil internally. If you are on prescription medication or have asthma, ask your doctor first.

Where this fits in a routine

Tea is supportive. It is not a substitute for a nebulizer, an inhaler, or antibiotics if you actually have pneumonia. The customers who get the most out of these herbs are the ones who use them at the first scratch in the throat, with steam inhalation in the evening and a humidifier at night. Layered with rest and fluids, the symptoms tend to pass faster.

If you live in a place where dry winter air sets off bronchitis every January, the Peruvian approach is to keep a tin of respiratory herbal tea in the kitchen and brew it preventively for two weeks when the weather turns, not to wait until you are already sick.