Passionflower (Passiflora incarnate) has a long history of treating anxiety and symptoms of insomnia (i.e. sleeplessness) in Brazil, Iraq, Turkey and North America.
Symptoms of anxiety are often linked to sleep disturbances which is why many anti-anxiety drugs help improve sleep.
Examples of anti-anxiety drugs include alprazolam and lorazepam which are often recommended to be taken at night.
Research suggests passionflower can benefit anxiety and improve sleep.
Passionflower contains the amino acid, GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid), which is known to help relax nerve cells.
A study published in Phytotherapy Research evaluated passionflower for improving sleep with a double blind placebo controlled clinical trial.
Study Details:
- 41 Human subjects received Passionflower tea (2 grams) for 7 days
- Human subjects also consumed a tea for 7 days without passionflower (i.e. placebo)
- A 7 day washout period without tea was observed between receiving passionflower or placebo
- A sleep diary was filled out during the sleep study
- Each teabag contained 2 grams of passionflower and 2 grams of parsley
- Placebo contained parsley only
- The dose used was 1/3 of the often recommended 3 cups of passionflower tea per day
Results of the study:
- A significant better rating for passionflower compared with placebo in sleep diary measures was observed (i.e. t(40) = 2.70, p<0.01)
- A chi squared test was undertaken to determine if patients could determine if they were consuming placebo or passionflower. Subjects were unable to guess if they were consuming placebo or passionflower and higher than if they guessed by chance
Take away message: If you are looking for some help falling asleep at night passionflower appears to be a promising approach that you can try. It is available as dietary supplements or as a tea similar to this study. It is believed to relieve anxiety by increasing GABA levels that will help nerves relax.
His research on plant medicine has led to more than 45 publications and abstracts.This research has been presented at international meetings in the USA, France, Turkey, Peru, Israel, Austria, and Italy.
Categories: Clinical Trials, Plant Medicine, Sleep
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