Lemon verbena helps people with insomnia

A team of researchers from Iran has found a potential treatment for insomnia patients in lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora). This finding, which was published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, was based on the results of a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

• Different societies use lemon verbena as a traditional sedative and treatment for insomnia. The researchers wanted to provide scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of lemon verbena in patients with this sleep disorder.
• To do this, they randomly divided 100 patients into lemon verbena (1.66 mg total essential oil per 10 ml and 3.22 mg of quercetin per 10 ml syrup) and placebo groups. The participants took 10 cc of their assigned syrup one hour before bedtime for four weeks.
• At the beginning of the study, the researchers assessed the participants using Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaires and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The latter has four major components, namely sleep latency, habitual sleep efficiency, daytime dysfunction, and subjective sleep quality.
• Evaluation using the ISI questionnaires and PSQI was repeated after two weeks then once again after four weeks.
• The results showed that the lemon verbena group exhibited significant improvements in their PSQI and ISI scores during the evaluations done at two weeks and four weeks.

Overall, the results of the study suggest that lemon verbena has potential use as a treatment for insomnia.

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Journal Reference:

Afrasiabian F, Ardakani MM, Rahmani K, Azadi NA, Alemohammad ZB, Bidaki R, Karimi M, Emtiazy M, Hashempur MH. ALOYSIA CITRIODORA PALAU (LEMON VERBENA) FOR INSOMNIA PATIENTS: A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL OF EFFICACY AND SAFETY. Phytotherapy Research. 19 November 2018;33(2). DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6228