Valerian is a herb, sometimes brewed as a tea, that is commonly used for its Anxiety reducing and sedative actions. It is anecdotally seen as one of the more potent sedative teas, but research does not tend to back this up.
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Valerian is short for the herb Valeriana officinalis. It is used as a sleep aid and treatment for insomnia.
It shows positive effects in treating insomnia in some human trials, but results are quite unpredictable.
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Valeriana officinalis
Valerian is a mild sedative
Valeria should not be used in the AM as it inhibits many stimulatory reactions that one would need to cognitively function at a normal level.
Examine.com Medical DisclaimerA standard dose of valeria is 300-600mg per day, most commonly taken in high doses at night.
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The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (excluding animal/petri-dish studies) to tell you what effect Valerian has in your body, and how strong these effects are.
| Grade | Level of Evidence |
|---|---|
| A | Robust research conducted with repeated double blind clinical trials |
| B | Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled |
| C | Single double blind study or multiple cohort studies |
| D | Uncontrolled or observational studies only |
| Level of Evidence | Effect | Change | Magnitude of Effect Size | Scientific Consensus | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | Sleep Quality | 100% See study | At least according to an overall meta-analysis on the topic, valerian does not appear to be much greater than placebo for aiding sleep in otherwise healthy persons. This... show |
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Valerian exerts most of its effects via binding to GABA(A) receptors in the brain via its constituent valerenic acid.[1] Its effects in this manner seem to be dose dependent.[2]
Valerian seems to act partially as an agonist to the GABA receptor and partially as a positive modulator of the GABA(A) receptor.[2] Potentially, this could mean synergism with Valerian and any GABA(A) agonist, including GABA itself.
There may also be interactions with the adenosine system of the brain, as evidenced by superloading valerian for use as an anti-convulsant in rats (which was partially negated with introduction of an adenosine antagonist).[3]
Valerian root has traditionally been used to treat anxiety, and may act as an axioltyic via its constituent valerenic acid and the GABA(A)-ergic system of the brain.[4][5] Although promising, evidence is not overly available for the efficacy of valerian in treatment of anxiety disorders however.[6]
A 2010 meta-study concluded that Valerian root was barely effective for subjective treatment of insomnia relative to placebo, and concluded that there was a lack of empircal measures in the literature and current empirical measure were limited and fairly weak in positive effect.[7] It makes note of past reviews that, accordingly, do not include a meta-analysis yet a systemic review suggests that Valerian is ineffective at treating insomnia (when assessing rigorous clinical interventions),[8] one that notes a statistically significant improvement in subjective sleep-quality with a 1.8 Risk Ratio and a CI of 1.2-2.9,[9] and a third sytemic review (second meta-analysis) that concludes that the literature (as of 2000) was too inconclusive and inconsistent to draw conclusions via meta-analysis.[10] The aforementioned Meta-Analysis[7] compiled studies in the latter three as well as three more trials, two standard randomized trials[11][12] and a novel web-based trial[13] with a cumulative sample of 480 persons concluded that, out of all 18 included studies (42 total assessed) that were 'quality' (assessed by Jadad score[14]) that met inclusion criteria (n=1,317) noted that the mean reduction in sleep latency was 0.7m, but with a mean average of -3.91 to 4.83 minute reduction, suggesting a poor and inconsistent reduction in time to fall asleep.[7] Sleep quality tended to not be significantly affected, with a negative trend persisting when assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and when the positive studies were assessed in isolation the RR of improved sleep was oscillated between 1.32 and 1.58, suggesting that beneficial improvements in sleep quality remain minor; the only benefit in this study was dichotomous, when 'improvement of sleep' was not measured empirically but assessed by a 'Yes' or 'No' question.[7] No significant publication bias was noted with the 42 studies, and noted that among these studies that 40% showed minimal statistical rigor (Jadad score less than 3).[7]
The aforementioned meta-analysis noted that benefit tended to be found mostly in older studies, which is also where the included studies on wholly healthy persons were included.[15][16] It was noted that these studies failed to mention the aromatic nature of Valerian, and thus their blinding procedures may have been subpar.[7]
Since publication of this meta-analysis, two more systemic reviews have been conducted on the topic of sleep aids[17][18] and these do not overturn the relative lack of effect of Valerian.
Results on Valerian and Insomnia are somewhat mixed, but most recent and best evidence either suggests that Valerian is low in potency or not significantly different than placebo
One study reported that the most common side effect (16% of a sample of 19) was 'vivid dreams' induced by 600mg Valerian extract.[19]
The most commonly reported side effects of Valerian supplementation are gastrointestinal (nausea, diarrhea, pyrosis, epigastralgia) and neurological (headaches, nervousness, drowsiness), although only diarrhea differed from placebo.[7]
(Common misspellings for Valerian include valerian root, valrian, valerin)
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