Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
Melissa officinalis leaf extract standardised for rosmarinic acid — Cyracos® 600 mg/day or Relissa™ phospholipid-carrier extract 200 mg twice daily
Moderate
Some good studies, not many repeats
The anxiety and mood meta-analysis is positive across several RCTs, but the sleep evidence rests on one large single-centre trial with an implausibly large PSQI effect, one herbal-combination trial and one open-label pilot.
Across several studies, anxiety fell by a large margin and low mood by a moderate one, though the studies varied a lot in how they were run.
Meta-analysis (RCTs, Phytotherapy Research 2021): anxiety SMD −0.98 (95% CI −1.63 to −0.33) and depression SMD −0.47 (95% CI −0.73 to −0.21), with high heterogeneity.
Rosmarinic acid inhibits GABA transaminase, raising synaptic GABA, and the extract shows nicotinic and muscarinic receptor binding — an anxiolytic-calming profile rather than direct sleep induction.
People with everyday emotional distress and stress-linked poor sleep, not clinical insomnia; the acute-setting benefit is where the meta-analysis is strongest.
What to buy
- ✓Melissa officinalis leaf extract standardised for rosmarinic acid — Cyracos® 600 mg/day or Relissa™ phospholipid-carrier extract 200 mg twice daily
- ✓400–600 mg/day of standardised extract, split into two doses
- ✓Third-party tested (USP, NSF, Informed Sport)
- ✕Proprietary blends that hide the dose per ingredient
- ✕Unstandardised extracts with no active-compound percentage
- · No contraindications identified and no adverse reactions in most clinical trials.
- · Safety in pregnancy and lactation is unstudied — avoid.
- · In vitro data show lemon balm binds TSH receptors; a theoretical caution in Graves' disease, never confirmed in humans.
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Plain leaf, single ingredient, three thousand ratings. Start here if you want to test lemon balm without a sleep blend confounding the result.
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A tincture lets you split the 600 mg daily dose into two takes, which is how the anxiety trials dosed it.
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A concentrated 10:1 extract rather than ground leaf — closer to the standardised material used in trials, and the best-rated concentrate here.
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See all on AmazonEvery result, next to the line that means no effect
Each diamond is a study's best estimate. The thin line shows how sure the study was: the shorter the line, the more certain the result.
- Anxiety (standardised)SMD · Meta-analysis 2021, Phytother Res−0.98−1.63 … −0.33
- Depression (standardised)SMD · Meta-analysis 2021, Phytother Res−0.47−0.73 … −0.21
- PSQI global vs placebopoints · RCT 2023, n=100, 400 mg, 3 wks, p<0.001 (single trial, treat with caution)−5.40[not given]
- Insomnia Severity Indexpoints · RCT 2018, n=45, Melissa + Nepeta combination, p=0.008−5.40[not given]
Each unit gets its own scale, so numbers are never mixed on one line. When a study gave no range, we leave it blank instead of inventing one.
4 studies over 12 years
The studies
- 1.The effects of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) on depression and anxiety in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysisPhytotherapy Research · 2021 · meta-analysis
Anxiety SMD −0.98 (95% CI −1.63 to −0.33, p=0.003) and depression SMD −0.47 (95% CI −0.73 to −0.21, p=0.0005) versus placebo, with no serious side effects but high heterogeneity.
- 2.The possible 'calming effect' of subchronic supplementation of a standardised phospholipid carrier-based Melissa officinalis L. extract in healthy adults with emotional distress and poor sleep conditionsFrontiers in Pharmacology · 2023 · rct · n = 100
400 mg/day for 3 weeks: PSQI fell 10.9→3.5 versus 8.6→6.6 on placebo and DASS-42 stress fell 26.3→8.2 versus 26.1→20.0 (all p<0.001). Effect sizes are large enough to warrant independent replication.
- 3.Effects of herbal combination (Melissa officinalis L. and Nepeta menthoides Boiss. & Buhse) on insomnia severity, anxiety and depression in insomniacs: randomized placebo controlled trialIntegrative Medicine Research · 2018 · rct · n = 45
1000 mg Melissa plus 400 mg Nepeta daily for 4 weeks: ISI 16.69→11.30 (p=0.008), BAI anxiety 17.52→11.17 (p=0.005). The combination design means the Melissa contribution cannot be isolated.
- 4.Pilot trial of Melissa officinalis L. leaf extract in the treatment of volunteers suffering from mild-to-moderate anxiety disorders and sleep disturbancesMediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism · 2011 · pilot · n = 20
Cyracos 600 mg/day for 15 days, open-label with no placebo arm: anxiety symptoms −18%, insomnia −42% (both p<0.01), 85% full insomnia remission. Uncontrolled, so expectancy effects are unbounded.
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