Lemon Balm

Melissa officinalis

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Anxiety symptoms¹ Depressive symptoms¹ Sleep quality² Cold sores³ Mild mental stress⁴ Bloating and flatulence⁴	Hypersensitivity to lemon balm⁴ Pregnancy or nursing⁵ Alcohol or sedatives⁶

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a mint-family herb whose calming effect, attributed partly to rosmarinic acid acting on the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) pathway, drives most use. Users are typically adults with mild anxiety or depressive symptoms and poor sleep, with cognition in older adults and topical cold-sore care as further uses. The European Medicines Agency's herbal committee lists traditional use for mild mental stress, sleep, and bloating⁴.

A trial in older adults without dementia found no overall cognitive difference from placebo⁷. In a 2026 secondary analysis of a small open-label study of a phospholipid-formulated extract, salivary cortisol fell progressively; no placebo-controlled trial has tested this. Sampled product labels are mostly liquid extracts; see Form comparison.

Health Canada lists drowsiness as a known reaction, and many labels advise against combining it with alcohol or sedating products⁶. Health Canada labels also ask for a practitioner's advice before use in pregnancy or breastfeeding⁶.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

59 sources, 45 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources