herb · for insomnia
Valerian
Keeps your brain’s own calming signal around longer, which helps you drop off and stay asleep.
Say that in clinical terms
Inhibits GABA reuptake and acts as adenosine receptor agonist, promoting sleep onset and maintenance.
How strong is the research?
A review of 37 studies found valerian is safe, but the most rigorous trials showed no real improvement in sleep.
5 papers read, 3 supporting, 1 against.
Who was studied: Adults with sleep complaints pooled from 16 varied trials — a reasonable match.
How much to take
before bed
400–900 mg
Take 30-60 minutes before sleep. Effects improve over 2-4 weeks.
Before you take it
- CNS depressant potentiation: additive sedation with benzodiazepines, barbiturates, opioids, antihistamines, and alcohol; NIH ODS specifically notes additive effect with kava and melatonin.
- Avoid during pregnancy and lactation — safety not established in either population.
- Not established safe in children under 3 years — insufficient data.
- Potential in vitro inhibition of CYP3A4; clinical significance at typical oral doses in humans is unconfirmed but cannot be excluded for drugs with narrow therapeutic windows.
- Abrupt discontinuation after prolonged daily use: rare case reports of withdrawal-like symptoms (tachycardia, agitation, rebound insomnia); evidence is limited to isolated case reports.
- Rare case reports of hepatotoxicity involving multi-herb combination products containing valerian; causal attribution to valerian alone has not been established in any report.
- Morning grogginess reported in at least one clinical study at the 900 mg dose.
- No NIH ODS Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) established — valerian is an herbal supplement, not a micronutrient; the UL framework does not apply.
What we make of it
Our identifier has a typo in the year, but the underlying analysis is real — 1,093 people across 16 studies.
The detail
The identifier we recorded has the wrong year in it. The paper itself is genuine, pooling 16 studies and 1,093 people.