Compound or practice · Supplement
Lemon Balm
A pleasant mint-family herb with small acute anxiety, mood, and sleep signals.
- Overall grade
- Grade C
- Last revised
- 2
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
A structured monograph in Prometheus's bundled library. Its grades are the monograph's own reading of the evidence, not a peer-reviewed review.
2 at grade C — 2 graded rows
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- Acute anxiety / stressEvidence grade C
Acute
Smallmixed
- Sleep qualityEvidence grade C
Often combined
Smalllow
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Thin evidence: Acute anxiety / stress (grade C); Sleep quality (grade C).
Interactions
Documented pairings with supplements and medicines. A medicine on this list is a conversation for whoever prescribes it.
ValerianWorks together
Common sleep-blend pairing.
The evidence in words
What it is
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a calming culinary herb used for stress, sleep, and cognition.
How it works
It has GABAergic and cholinergic activity, with acute calming and mild cognitive effects.
What the evidence shows
Small studies show acute reductions in anxiety/stress and improved calmness and some memory measures, plus sleep benefits when combined (e.g., with valerian). Modest, benign, often in blends.
How to use it
300–600 mg standardized extract acutely, or as tea.
Safety & interactions
Very safe; mild additive sedation; may affect thyroid at high doses theoretically. Valerian — Common sleep-blend pairing.
Bottom line
A gentle, pleasant calmer for acute stress and sleep, frequently combined. Low-risk, modest.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Standard
- 300–600 mg extract acutely, or tea.
Goes with
- ValerianCommon sleep-blend pairing.Evidence grade C
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- KavaOne of the few genuinely effective anxiety botanicals — shadowed by a real (if debated) liver-safety history.Evidence grade B
- Kava for AnxietyEvidence grade B — Meta-analytic vs placeboEvidence grade B
- Lemon Balm for Acute anxiety / stressEvidence grade C — AcuteEvidence grade C
- Lemon Balm for Sleep qualityEvidence grade C — Often combinedEvidence grade C
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.