Chamomile vs Lemon Balm for sleep
Short answer: For sleep, more users report improvement with Lemon Balm — 92% of 106 reports, versus 85% of 46 for Chamomile.
Chamomile has 59 meta-analyses and 93 randomized trials on PubMed; Lemon Balm has 14 and 28.
Based on 122 reports about Chamomile and 459 about Lemon Balm. Not medical advice.
| Chamomile Supplement | Lemon Balm Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 62%helped51 reports · medium confidence | 70%helped184 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 59 / 93 | 14 / 28 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 85% (46) | 92% (106) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 83% (12) | 88% (121) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | — | 93% (14) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 50% (2) | 75% (8) |
| Common side effects | drowsiness, tolerance with, brain fog, adverse reaction | drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, heart rate |
| Typical dose reported | 20 mg / before bed | 20 mg / before bed |
Chamomile improved sleep, especially the number of awakenings after sleep or staying asleep; however, it did not lead to an improvement in the duration of sleep, percentage of sleep efficiency, and daytime functioning measures. Future studies are suggested to assess objective measures.
Complement Ther Med, 2024 ↗“chamomile significantly improves the clarity of my thought. I also find that I can be a lot more patient, and therefor focus on what I am working on with less distraction.”
The small number of clinical trials and differences between their methods were the limitations of the present study. Further high-quality studies are needed to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of the lemon balm.
Phytother Res, 2021 ↗“drinking lemon balm tea has turned out to be a game changer for me when I’m sad or have anxiety (so I drink it every day now lol)”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate