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Herb library · Spice · Vanilla planifolia

Vanilla

The fermented, dried seed pod of a Mexican climbing orchid, the flavor of ice cream, cakes and chocolate. There is almost no research on eating vanilla for health; the few studies in people test its smell, for premature babies and for children at the dentist, and none is conclusive.

Traditional use

Used by the peoples of Mexico to flavor chocolate long before the Spanish brought it to Europe. King's American Dispensatory (1905) listed it as an aromatic stimulant given as an infusion, and noted its main use in perfumery and to flavor syrups and confectionery. Today vanilla scent is used in aromatherapy and has been tested in hospital nurseries.

What studies show

  • Insufficient

    Premature babies: a 2026 Cochrane review found that food smells such as vanilla, cinnamon or anise may slightly reduce breathing pauses (low-certainty evidence) but found no clear effect on feeding or hospital stay. In a 2024 randomized trial of 165 premature infants, vanilla scent did not shorten tube feeding, and a small 2026 trial of vanilla, mint and grapefruit scents found no fewer breathing pauses.

  • Insufficient

    Dental anxiety in children: a single 2026 randomized trial of 126 children reported less pain and anxiety with vanilla or orange scent during dental work; it has not been repeated.

  • Insufficient

    Eating vanilla for health: no studies in people of vanilla as a food or supplement for any health condition were found.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • AllergyVanillin, the main flavor compound, can cause allergic skin reactions; a 2021 report describes allergic contact dermatitis from airborne vanillin.
  • NoteVanilla extract has a high alcohol content, and some essences are high in glycerol: a man with alcohol dependence who drank 600 ml of vanilla essence developed seizures and a coma from glycerol poisoning and needed dialysis.
  • PregnancyNo information about vanilla beyond food amounts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found in the sources used here.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“Vanilla has probably been in use among the Mexicans from times immemorial, as a flavor to their chocolate, and was made known to the western world by the Spaniards.”
Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd, King's American Dispensatory (1905), vol. 2, p. 2043. See the page of King's American Dispensatory, vol. 2, p. 2043 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from King's American Dispensatory, vol. 2, p. 2043

Sources

  1. Olfactory stimulation for promoting development and preventing morbidity in preterm infants (Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Vanilla odor promotes oral feeding in premature infants — a randomized controlled trial (Physiol Behav, 2024) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Automated intermittent olfactory stimulation to reduce apnea in preterm infants: the PREMODEUR randomized clinical trial (Eur J Pediatr, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Effectiveness of vanilla aromatherapy and orange aromatherapy on pain and anxiety in children under dental procedures (SAGE Open Nurs, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  5. Airborne allergic contact dermatitis to vanillin (Dermatitis, 2021) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  6. Severe glycerol intoxication mimicking toxic alcohol ingestion following large volume consumption of vanilla essence (Clin Toxicol, 2022) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.