Lemon verbena extract improves sleep quality

A recent study published in Nutrients examines the effectiveness of lemon verbena in improving sleep in people with sleep problems.

Lack of adequate sleep affects millions of people around the world, disrupting their normal functioning and emotional balance. Sleep disorders also reduce the ability to cope with stress and interfere with social interactions. As a result, poor sleep reduces the quality of life of those affected and also increases the risk of developing neuropsychiatric diseases and other medical problems.

Poor sleep interacts with stress in both directions, so their simultaneous presence worsens the prognosis. Although there are certain therapeutic agents available to treat sleep disorders, their effects are often short-lived. In addition, many of these medications can be addictive and have side effects.

Due to the limitations of traditional sleep treatments, there is increasing interest in research into non-drug therapies. Previous studies have shown that various herbal formulas can improve sleep quality and reduce pain in adults with chronic pain.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora Paláu or Lippia citrodora Kunth) has antioxidant, anxiolytic, antimicrobial, anticancer and sedative properties, which are due to the presence of verbascoside in its leaves. Verbascoside, a polyphenol, binds to GABA-A receptors, reducing activity in calcium and cAMP channels, while increasing the levels of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and other excitatory neurotransmitters.

An eight-week treatment with lemon verbena extract has previously been shown to reduce stress and improve sleep. The present randomized controlled trial aims to further investigate these results in a larger sample and to evaluate the effects of lemon verbena on melatonin levels.

The present study involved the use of a nutraceutical formula of lemon verbena over a 90-day period in healthy individuals with sleep problems. The study was carried out at the Department of Health Sciences of the Universidad Católica de San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM) in Murcia, Spain.

The formula contained at least 24% verbascoside, with 400 mg of lemon verbena in each capsule. Sleep quality was assessed at baseline, midpoint, and endpoint using a visual analogue scale (VAS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and actigraphy. Actigraphy was used to assess four sleep-related domains: latency, efficiency, wakes after sleep, and wakefulness.

The study involved 80 people who were evenly distributed into intervention and control groups. By the end of the study, 33 people remained in the experimental group, and 38 in the control group. The average age of the study participants was 29.5 years, the average weight was 70.8 kg. The mean sleep quality VAS score at baseline was 3.7 for both groups.

After 90 days, the intervention group had significantly greater improvements in sleep quality compared to the control group in terms of VAS and PSQI. All four sleep domains also improved, including a decrease in nighttime awakenings.

Stress levels decreased by 5.8 and 9.1 points in the control and experimental groups, respectively. The level of anxiety in the experimental group also decreased significantly.

Nighttime melatonin levels increased significantly in the intervention group, suggesting a mechanism for improved sleep with lemon verbena. In both groups, there were no changes in systolic and diastolic pressure, heart rate and other laboratory parameters.

Improved sleep was reported using lemon verbena extract using three different methods, as well as a decrease in anxiety levels and an increase in melatonin levels. These results support data from a previous randomized controlled trial that reported a similar wide range of improvements in all four sleep domains and insomnia severity.

The wide range of improvements associated with lemon verbena included the ability to fall asleep faster and sleep more restfully, while reducing the frequency and duration of full awakenings. These effects may be due to the 24% verbascoside concentration used in this formula.

Lemon verbena has been shown to be an anxiolytic and hypnogogic, as well as promoting beneficial mood changes. Notably, the present study is the first to show that lemon verbena also increases melatonin production.

These encouraging results require further research involving a larger and more diverse population sample and a longer follow-up period to confirm and extend the findings.