Lemon Balm for Sleep: What the Trials Show and Who Ran Them

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a herb in the mint family that is taken as a tea, capsule, tablet or extract for calm and sleep. Its evidence for sleep is a set of small trials, several of them of combinations, and some with ties to companies that sell the product. This guide sets out what those trials found, what the reviews say, and what is still unknown.

It is not medical advice. If sleep trouble is persistent, talk to a healthcare provider.

The Short Answer

The sleep evidence is small and mixed. In our PubMed search we found no systematic review or meta-analysis of lemon balm for sleep. The research is a handful of small trials, some of lemon balm alone and some of combinations, in specific groups such as menopausal women and people with heart disease.
A placebo-controlled trial of a combination found no benefit. In adults with impaired sleep, a combination that included lemon balm did not improve sleep more than placebo over 6 weeks.
Results depend on the preparation. A 2026 review says lemon balm’s reported effects are strongly preparation-dependent, varying between polyphenol-rich extracts and volatile-oil fractions.
Several of the studies involve companies that sell the product. The most positive recent sleep trial has authors tied to the maker, and the 2024 review that calls lemon balm promising was funded by a company that employs two of its authors.
On safety, NIH’s lactation database calls it generally well tolerated in adults. The trials are short, and long-term effects are not established.

What Lemon Balm Is and How It Might Work

Lemon balm is a Lamiaceae herb. It contains rosmarinic acid, citral, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid, among other compounds, and a 2024 review says animal and cellular work suggests these may modulate several brain signaling pathways, including GABA, cholinergic and serotonin systems (Mathews et al., 2024). Another team says the effects on anxiety and sleep are probably due, at least in part, to rosmarinic acid acting on the enzyme that breaks down GABA, and adds that these effects “have not always been observed in a reproducible manner in humans” (Di Pierro et al., 2024). That is a hypothesis from laboratory work. It is not a finding about people.

What the Trials Show

Di Pierro and colleagues, 2024. A cross-over trial of 30 adults aged 18 to 65 who reported fatigue on waking and unrefreshing sleep. They took 400 mg a day of a lemon balm extract formulated with phospholipids (two 200 mg tablets, 30 minutes before bed) for 2 weeks, and a placebo for 2 weeks, with a washout between. The Insomnia Severity Index averaged 6.8 on the extract and 9.7 on placebo, a difference of 2.9 points (p = 0.003). The authors report about 15% more slow-wave sleep and 10% less REM sleep, and 87% of participants reporting better sleep on the extract against 30% on placebo. Sleep stages came from a consumer smartwatch, not a sleep laboratory. Anxiety did not change significantly. The lead author is scientific director of Pharmextracta, which makes the product, and two others are its consultants (Di Pierro et al., 2024).
Taavoni and colleagues, 2013. 100 women aged 50 to 60 with sleep disorders around menopause took valerian and lemon balm or a placebo. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores were lower in the group that took the herbs. Because it is a combination, the trial cannot say what lemon balm did on its own (Taavoni et al., 2013).
Haybar and colleagues, 2018. 80 people with chronic stable angina took 3 g a day of lemon balm or placebo for 8 weeks. The lemon balm group had lower scores for depression, anxiety, stress and total sleep disturbance (P < 0.05). It is a large dose in one group of heart patients (Haybar et al., 2018).
Shirazi and colleagues, 2021. 60 postmenopausal women with sleep disturbance took a combination of lemon balm and fennel (500 mg a day), an antidepressant or a placebo for 8 weeks. The result reported is a menopause quality-of-life questionnaire, which improved more with lemon balm and fennel. That is not a direct sleep measure (Shirazi et al., 2021).
Gutiérrez-Romero and colleagues, 2024. In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, adults with impaired sleep took a combination of L-theanine, lemon balm, valerian and saffron for 6 weeks. Sleep efficiency, total sleep time and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index did not improve more than with placebo. Salivary cortisol stayed unchanged in both groups. The trial was funded by Team Foods Colombia, and the paper says the sponsor was not involved in the conduct, the analysis or the decision to publish (Gutiérrez-Romero et al., 2024).

What the Reviews Say

A 2025 scoping review of 51 randomized trials of over-the-counter products for insomnia in adults listed “lemon balm and fennel” among the products showing benefits compared with prescription medication alone. It called the findings for such products “promising, but inconclusive” (Salame et al., 2025).
A 2026 integrative review says the most consistent clinical signals are for anxiety and stress and for sleep-related outcomes in controlled trials, including aromatherapy studies, while evidence for other uses is mixed or unconfirmed. It says comparability across studies is limited by differences in plant parts, extraction procedures and chemical standardization (Cîmpeanu et al., 2026).
A 2021 meta-analysis of randomized trials of lemon balm for anxiety and depression, not for sleep, found lower anxiety scores (standardized mean difference -0.98, 95% CI -1.63 to -0.33) and lower depression scores (-0.47, 95% CI -0.73 to -0.21) than placebo, without serious side effects. Its authors call the heterogeneity high and the results to be read with caution (Ghazizadeh et al., 2021).
A 2024 review says lemon balm “holds promise as a calming agent” that can elicit “sleep-quality enhancement,” and that further randomized trials are needed. It was funded by Givaudan France Naturals, and two of its authors were employed there (Mathews et al., 2024).

Who Ran the Research

The 2024 phytosome trial: its lead author is scientific director of Pharmextracta, and two others are consultants to it. The product is a Pharmextracta supplement containing an extract made by Indena.
The 2024 review that describes lemon balm as promising was funded by Givaudan France Naturals.
The 2024 combination trial with no benefit was funded by Team Foods Colombia, whose research staff are among the authors.
We did not check funding and conflicts for the trials from 2013, 2018 and 2021, or the reviews of 2021, 2025 and 2026.

Funding does not invalidate a study. It is why we say who paid, and why a result that comes only from the seller of the product counts for less than one that has been repeated by others.

Doses and Forms

400 mg a day of a phospholipid-formulated extract, at bedtime, for 2 weeks in the phytosome trial.
500 mg a day of lemon balm with fennel for 8 weeks in the menopause trial.
3 g a day for 8 weeks in the angina trial.
80 mg to 5,000 mg a day across the human trials in the 2024 review, as capsules, tablets and tea, for up to 8 weeks.
No established dose, and forms are not interchangeable. The 2026 review says effects are preparation-dependent, and a 2018 trial’s results cannot be assumed for a different extract.

Safety

NIH’s Drugs and Lactation Database says that, as a drug, lemon balm is generally well tolerated in adults, with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness and wheezing reported occasionally. It says lemon balm is generally recognized as safe as a food flavoring by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It also says there are no data on the safety and efficacy of lemon balm alone in nursing mothers or infants (LactMed).
The same source notes that manufacturers do not need to prove the safety and effectiveness of dietary supplements before they are marketed, that labeled and actual ingredients often differ, and that results for one product may not apply to another.
The 2024 review says the human trials it covered were well tolerated at up to 5,000 mg a day for up to 8 weeks, and that effects at higher doses or beyond 56 days are unclear.
The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says dietary supplements may interact with your medications or pose risks if you have certain medical problems or are going to have surgery, and that many have not been tested in pregnant women, nursing mothers or children. It advises anyone who has side effects to stop taking the supplement and contact a healthcare provider (NCCIH, last updated January 2019).

What We Do Not Know

Whether lemon balm alone helps sleep. The trials are small, in specific groups, and several are combinations.
Whether the best result holds up in trials run by people who do not sell the product.
Which preparation and dose work, if any do.
Whether it helps people with clinical insomnia. The phytosome trial enrolled adults with unrefreshing sleep, and the ones that used a sleep score studied menopausal women and heart patients.
Long-term safety. The trials lasted 2 to 8 weeks.

Questions

Does lemon balm help you sleep?

The evidence is small and mixed. One phytosome trial from authors tied to the maker found an improvement in insomnia scores, some trials of combinations found improvements in specific groups, and a placebo-controlled trial of a combination found none. A 2025 scoping review calls the findings for over-the-counter products promising but inconclusive.

Does lemon balm reduce cortisol?

The evidence conflicts, and none of it tests waking at 3 a.m. We go through the studies in our guide on cortisol and sleep.

How much lemon balm should I take?

We cannot give a dose. The trials used amounts from 400 mg to 3 g a day of different preparations. Ask a healthcare provider, especially if you take medication.

Is lemon balm safe?

NIH’s lactation database calls it generally well tolerated in adults, and the trials were short. Long-term safety is not established, and supplements are not reviewed by the FDA for safety or effectiveness before sale.

Sources Cited in This Guide

Di Pierro F, Sisti D, Rocchi M, et al. “Effects of Melissa officinalis Phytosome on Sleep Quality: Results of a Prospective, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, and Cross-Over Study.” Nutrients. 2024. Read September 19, 2026 (full text). PMID 39683592
Taavoni S, Nazem Ekbatani N, Haghani H. “Valerian/lemon balm use for sleep disorders during menopause.” Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2013. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract). PMID 24199972
Haybar H, Javid AZ, Haghighizadeh MH, et al. “The effects of Melissa officinalis supplementation on depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep disorder in patients with chronic stable angina.” Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2018. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract). PMID 29908682
Shirazi M, Jalalian MN, Abed M, et al. “The Effectiveness of Melissa Officinalis L. versus Citalopram on Quality of Life of Menopausal Women with Sleep Disorder: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial.” Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet. 2021. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract). PMID 33465795
Gutiérrez-Romero SA, Torres-Narváez ES, Zamora-Gómez AC, et al. “Effect of a nutraceutical combination on sleep quality among people with impaired sleep: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.” Sci Rep. 2024. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract and conflict statement). PMID 38580720
Salame A, Mathew S, Bhanu C, et al. “Over-the-counter products for insomnia in adults: A scoping review of randomised controlled trials.” Sleep Med. 2025. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract). PMID 40054227
Cîmpeanu IA, Boru C, Dehelean CA, et al. “Melissa officinalis L. (Lemon Balm): An Integrative Review of Phytochemistry and Evidence from Preclinical Research to Clinical Studies.” Plants (Basel). 2026. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract). PMID 41754356
Ghazizadeh J, Sadigh-Eteghad S, Marx W, et al. “The effects of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) on depression and anxiety in clinical trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” Phytother Res. 2021. Read September 19, 2026 (abstract). PMID 34449930
Mathews IM, et al. “Clinical Efficacy and Tolerability of Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis L.) in Psychological Well-Being: A Review.” Nutrients. 2024. PMID 39458539
National Library of Medicine. “Lemon Balm.” Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed). Read September 19, 2026. NBK501841
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH. “Using Dietary Supplements Wisely.” Last updated January 2019. Read September 19, 2026. NCCIH

This guide is for information and is not medical advice. Talk to a healthcare provider about medication, pregnancy, medical conditions and persistent sleep problems.