Key Points: A herb known as valerian increases the quality and quantity of sleep, according to research. It can also ease the symptoms of insomnia. Natural supplements such as jujube and GABA can help people fall asleep and stay asleep too.
Valerian is what’s known as an anxiolytic—it has calming, relaxing, anti-anxiety properties. Valerian, which is actually the root of the valerian plant that is used medicinally, boosts the levels of calming neurotransmitters in the brain, including GABA, a neurochemical that is critical for healthy sleep. (I’ve written in-depth about how GABA affects sleep.) Valerian also lowers blood pressure and heart rate. By increasing calming chemicals in the brain and lowering physiological arousal, valerian functions as a natural sedative, enhancing sleep drive.
Research shows that valerian can help people fall asleep more quickly, improve the quality of sleep, and increase amounts of nightly sleep. Valerian can also help ease the symptoms of insomnia, which are:
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Trouble staying asleep
- Waking very early
- Waking feeling unrefreshed
A review of research studies found that valerian has about an 80 percent effectiveness rate in improving sleep quality.
Valerian is often paired with another natural herb: hops. Yes, hops is the grain found in beer, and the combination of hops and valerian has been shown to be particularly effective in promoting relaxation and sleep. Hops itself can increase GABA levels in the brain, and also delivers sedating effects by lowering body temperature.
Other Natural Sleep Supplements: Jujube and GABA
Additional supplements have anxiolytic and sedative effects and can naturally boost sleep drive as well. Two I want to highlight are:
Jujube — a plant that has fruit and seeds used to make supplements — has sedative and anxiolytic properties that may increase sleep drive. Two phytochemicals in jujube, saponins and flavonoids, trigger changes to neurotransmitters, including GABA and serotonin, which can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Jujube also contains a flavonoid compound, spinosin, which appears to trigger sleepiness through its effects on serotonin. The same saponin and flavonoid compounds that work to relax and promote sleep also appear to provide jujube’s anti-anxiety effects.
GABA, or Gamma-Aminobutyric acid, is an amino acid produced naturally in the brain. GABA is the body’s most important inhibitory neurotransmitter—it lowers the activity of neural cells in the brain and central nervous system, having the effect of moving the brain and the body into a lower gear. By inhibiting neural activity, GABA enables the body and mind to relax and fall asleep and sleep soundly throughout the night. Low GABA activity is linked to insomnia and disrupted sleep. Regular readers will know I talk about GABA a lot in relation to sleep—it’s essential to the body’s overall mental and physical homeostasis, including for sleep. GABA is available in supplement form.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM
The Sleep Doctor™
