Lemon balm is an herb that has been used to support sleep and mental health for centuries in a number of cultures. It can be enjoyed as a tea, powder, capsule, or tincture.
It has been studied in a select number of conditions so far, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, pain, and more. Here are 6 ways lemon balm can support physical & mental health, according to the research!
1. Improving depression scores and mental health
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in adults with depression and/or anxiety shows that using lemon balm, usually orally, daily for 6 weeks moderately improves depression scores when compared with control (1).
Another small clinical study in adults with mostly mild depression shows that taking lemon balm daily for 8 weeks moderately improves depressive symptoms when compared with baseline. The improvement appears to be similar to taking lavender powder 2 grams daily or fluoxetine 20 mg daily - however there were methodological flaws with this study (2).
2. Reducing anxiety and improving cognitive function
A small study in 18 healthy adults suggests that a single dose of lemon balm extract increases calmness and alertness during laboratory-induced psychological stress when compared with placebo (3).
Another small study in healthy adults shows that a single dose of lemon balm extract added to food or drink reduces anxiety and improves memory and alertness during multi-task cognitive testing when compared with placebo (4).
3. Reducing postpartum pain
The postpartum pains with breastfeeding as your uterus returns back to it's regular position is rarely discussed, however lemon balm may be able to help with that! A small clinical study shows that taking lemon balm leaf extract every 6 hours for 24 hours following childbirth is slightly more effective for reducing postpartum pain when compared with taking mefenamic acid 250 mg using the same dosing schedule (5).
4. Improving sleep quality and quantity
Lemon Balm has usually been combined with other herbs when studied for sleep so it’s hard to know whether it’s the lemon balm itself that helps sleep or a combination of herbs. However, it's an easy tea to add to any sleepy tea blend that's part of your wind down routine before bed!
Some early clinical research in postmenopausal adults with challenges sleeping shows that taking lemon balm leaf and fennel fruit orally once daily for 8 weeks improves menopausal symptoms including vasomotor, psychomotor-social, physical, and sexual symptoms, by 24% to 38% when compared with baseline. These improvements were significant when compared with placebo (6).
In another study, adults taking a specific combination product providing lemon balm leaf and valerian root extract 2-3 times daily appears to improve the quality and quantity of sleep (7).
Other clinical research in healthy adults with insomnia shows that using a combination product containing ground lemon balm herb and Persian lavender at bedtime for 4 weeks improves sleep quality and sleep duration and reduces sleep disturbance, sleep latency, and daytime dysfunction when compared with placebo (8).
5. It can even help improve sleep in children!
A clinical study in children 12 years and younger shows that a specific combination product containing lemon balm leaf and valerian root extract 1-2 tablets once or twice daily might decrease symptoms of restlessness and dyssomnia by 70-80% when compared to baseline (9).
6. It may reduce menstrual cramps
A study looked at the impact of lemon balm on menstrual cramps compared to placebo in 100 high school girls over 3 cycles. The group who took the lemon balm reported a significant reduction in symptoms (10).
References
PMID: 34449930
PMID: 32620104
PMID: 15272110
PMID: 25360512
PMID: 31598505
PMID: 33465795
DOI:10.1016/S0367-326X(99)00018-0
PMID: 29741926
PMID: 16487692
PMID: 26339667