Herbs for sleep may be just what you need to sleep better tonight. Try these gentle herbs for sleep and enjoy sweet dreams!

Are you one of the millions of Americans who have trouble sleeping? Our often stressful, overscheduled, plugged-in lives can make getting quality sleep pretty challenging. In addition to tackling the things making it hard for you to sleep, some easy herbal infusions can dramatically improve your ability to get a good night’s rest.

Consider cleaning up your sleep routine and trying some sleep-promoting herbs to reap the benefits of a better night’s sleep. You’ll feel so much better when you’ve gotten a good rest!

But be forewarned: Herbs for sleep can’t undo bad sleep habits!

Herbal remedies won’t be enough to overcome serious things sabotaging your sleep, so do what you can to address sources of stress and sleep-preventing elements of your diet like caffeine and alcohol. A gentle herbal tea will have a tough time overcoming chronic stress and an 8-cup-a-day coffee habit!

You don’t have to give up tea and coffee completely, but try to keep your caffeine intake below 400mg and stop consuming it within 6 hours of bedtime. (Here’s a handy chart listing the amount of caffeine in common beverages. Note that how you brew your coffee affects its caffeine content as well — espresso, for instance, has roughly half the caffeine of drip.)

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If you have trouble sleeping, you may want to be more aggressive about cutting back on caffeine. Choose less caffeinated brews like black or green tea, and consider cutting your caffeinated coffee with decaf. Even at a coffee shop, you can ask them to fill your cup with half decaf, half caf, so you can still enjoy your coffee but lessen its impact on your sleep.

One thing it’s important to understand is the half-life of caffeine. It can take 6 hours to for your body to process half that caffeine. If you overdo it, even early in the day, you’ll still have a good deal of caffeine circulating in your system — and keeping you alert — when you try to sleep. If you’re sensitive to caffeine or have a lot of trouble with sleep, you may want to switch to non-caffeinated beverages sometime around midday.

Note that while alcohol may make you sleepy, it can interfere with quality sleep over the course of the night. Best to avoid it if you’re trying to resolve sleep problems.

If stress is part of the problem, consider some of these easy techniques for reducing cortisol near bedtime.

Nutritional deficiencies can also have a big impact on your sleep, so make sure you’re getting enough of critical nutrients like B-6, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. This post on foods that help you sleep can help you feed yourself what’s needed to support good sleep.

Be especially attentive to your magnesium intake, as magnesium deficiency can significantly disrupt sleep. Bath salts are an especially effective way to get magnesium, as a warm soak in the tub also helps relax your muscles and prepare you for sleep.

Another thing that can mess with your sleep is too much light exposure near bedtime, especially the blue light emitted by electronics. If you must have some screen time before bed, install an app that blocks the blue light, like the free app f.lux. Some electronics also have settings called things like “nighttime” that you can turn on to block blue light. Some people have also reported great success with blue light-blocking glasses.

Still not sleeping well? Try these herbs for sleep

If you’ve addressed everything that might be interfering with your shuteye and still find yourself having trouble getting quality sleep, consider adding some herbal infusions to your nighttime routine. Alone or in combination, they can help you relax and sleep better.

It’s best to mix things up a bit, so you can experiment with which flavors you prefer and what helps you get the best rest. Start with a few of the milder herbs and see how you do.

Many of these herbs are traditional remedies for insomnia, though they haven’t all undergone scientific study yet. A number of them have been studied for their effects on other things that can affect sleep, like promoting relaxation and alleviating anxiety. Some also help with digestive issues and pain relief, which can interfere with restful sleep.

You’ll get the most out of your herbs by letting them steep awhile. If you’re pressed for time, allow at least 10 minutes, but if you think of it early in the day, brew a pot and leave it for several hours to create an infusion that extracts more of their beneficial compounds.

A number of these herbs are mild relaxants, and many have a mellow flavor that make a good base and can mask the flavor of the more powerful-tasting herbs. Try one or blend them together. (Recipes below.)

Herbs for Sleep: Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is one my absolute favorite herbs for sleep and has made a huge difference in my ability to get quality sleep. It’s easy to grow, too, so it’s a frugal choice, and it’s also pretty cheap to buy in bulk. (Here’s what I use when my home-grown supply runs out. One giant bag saw me through two long winters.)

If you don’t want to bother blending tea, lemon balm all by itself makes a delicious and effective nighttime tea.

Read more about why lemon balm is a great choice for promoting sound sleep.

Herbs for Sleep: Oatstraw

Oatstraw is considered a soothing to the nerves, so if stress is your problem, a nice cup of oatstraw tea may be just the ticket. It’s very mild in flavor, and is also very inexpensive. You can combine it with lemon balm or other herbs of your choice.

Herbs for Sleep: Catnip

In addition to its intoxicating effects on felines, catnip has sleep-inducing power in humans. It has a very strong flavor, though, so I normally throw in a few fresh tips with a big pot of lemon balm leaves, or a little bit of dried with a full pot of dried lemon balm.

Herbs for Sleep: Scullcap

I don’t love scullcap’s flavor, but it’s considered a potent soporific (sleep-inducing) herb, in addition to having other beneficial properties. When I use it on occasion, I keep the amounts of scullcap I’ll add to a sleep tea mix pretty small, maybe a half-teaspoon in a whole 4-cup pot, to keep the flavor from overpowering better-tasting herbs. 

Herbs for Sleep: Passionflower

I find the flavor of passionflower kind of musty and overwhelming, so I keep it to a minimum in my mixes as well. However, it’s thought to be especially effective for promoting sleep (as well as reducing anxiety, inflammation, and hot flashes), so it’s a good one to keep around for your sleep blends.

Herbs for Sleep: Nettle

While nettle isn’t specifically for helping with sleep, because it may help reduce pain and the severity of your allergies, it’s worth considering adding to your blend if those issues are affecting your sleep. I drink it plain throughout the day and add it to nighttime blends for flavor and pain relief. See more on this tasty tea here.

Herbs for Sleep: Chamomile

Chamomile is a gentle and tasty addition to any teapot. It’s well known for supporting relaxation, and it also has useful anti-inflammatory properties, which may help alleviate digestive issues and pain. Note that chamomile is in the aster family, so if you have a ragweed allergy, best to steer clear.

Herbs for Sleep: Valerian

I almost left this one off, as I’ve found it gives me unpleasantly vivid dreams, but it’s one lots of herbalists and integrative medicine practictioners recommend often. It may be more potent than some of the herbs above, so perhaps save it for when you feel especially stressed and unable to settle down for sleep. You’ll find it in a lot of pre-made sleep teas.

Homemade Herbal Tea Blends to Support Better Sleep

Time- and mess-saving tip: If you’re interested in blending your own tea, you’ll save nuisance and mess on the counter by combining your herbs in a jar and shaking well rather than scooping from 3 or 4 bags every night.

I generally stick with lemon balm, as I like the flavor and it works well for me, but I will occasionally add a little passionflower or scullcap if I’m using dried herbs. When I’m using fresh, I gather a big bowl of lemon balm sprigs from the garden and add just a few catnip tips and some leaves from the yarrow plant (an anti-inflammatory, good for those of us who have pain issues disturbing our sleep). I sometimes add a few leaves from wild violets, which reportedly also help with pain and sleep as well.


Below are some blends to try. Don’t worry too much about exact amounts. Your tea can have a little more or a little less of different herbs until you get the blend you like best. It can be stronger or weaker as you prefer, though I’d recommend making things concentrated enough that you can drink just a cup or two a 2-3 hours before bedtime. You don’t want to drink so much that your sleep gets interrupted by trips to the bathroom!

If you want to make big batches of sleep tea blend, use the ratios as general guidelines for how much of each herb you scoop into the jar, but don’t fret over the precise amounts.

Most teas recommend 1-2 tsp of dry tea to 8 oz of water, but I tend to make mine stronger. Feel free to use less tea if you find it too powerful.

Lemon Balm Sweet Dreams Blend

2-3 tbl lemon balm
1 tbl nettle
½ tsp passionflower

Combine in a large tea pot or French press with 4 cups of boiled filtered water. (Here’s why I recommended filtering your water.)

Allow to steep at least 10 minutes, and up to 24 hours, before straining. Drink 1-2 cups 2-3 hours before bedtime.

Relaxing Oatstraw Blend

2 tbl oatstraw
1 tbl nettle
½ tsp scullcap
½ tsp passionflower

Combine in a large tea pot or French press with 4 cups of boiled filtered water.

Allow to steep at least 10 minutes, and up to 24 hours, before straining. Drink 1-2 cups 2-3 hours before bedtime.

Don’t want to DIY?

Here are some tasty pre-made tea blends I’ve enjoyed when I’ve traveled or get in too late to make an infusion. Clipper’s delicious Snore and Peace has worked best for me, but we’re all different, so experiment to find what’s the right fit for you. When possible, longer steep times are a good idea for these as well.

Pin to save these herbs for sleep for later!

 

Photo credits: StockSnap, arifarca, StockSnap, dungthuvunguyen, rebeck96, NeuPaddy, congerdesign, StockSnap

Disclaimer: I’m a health enthusiast, not a medical professional. Content on this website is intended for informational purposes only and is not meant to provide personalized medical advice. Please consult them for more information and a licensed professional for personalized recommendations.