Herbal Preparations to Overcome Insomnia
An excellent herbal tea to induce sleepiness is camomile. Long recognized by traditional herbalism as a harmless sedative, camomile was tested by Lawrence Gould, M.D., and colleagues, who reported their findings in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in 1974. Actually, the purpose of their test was to see if camomile tea had any ill effects on cardiac patients who had undergone ventricular catheterization as part of their treatment.
The tests showed that drinking camomile tea had no significant cardiac effects. But there was a positive reaction of a different kind: “A striking hypnotic [sleep-inducing] action of the tea was noted in 10 of 12 patients,” the medical team reported. “It is most unusual for patients undergoing cardiac catheterizations to fall asleep. The anxiety produced by this procedure as well as the pain associated with cardiac catheterizations all but preclude sleep. Thus,” their report continues, “the fact that 10 out of 12 patients fell into a deep slumber shortly after drinking camomile tea is all the more striking.”
It seems that if someone can fall asleep right after undergoing a painful medical procedure, the more garden-variety traumas of everyday life ought to be easy work for a nice warm cup of camomile tea.
Other herbs valued for overcoming insomnia are hops, passionflower, catnip, basil, violets (the leaves) and lemon verbena.
Kordel, in his excellent book Natural Folk Remedies, relates that he found this recipe for a nightcap in Spain: Dissolve two tablespoons of honey in a glass of buttermilk and stir in the juice of one lemon, mixing well. This might be good for people who have lactose intolerance and cannot ordinarily drink milk without making their bowels rumble, as fermented milk is more easily digested.
Tags: insomnia