More Restful Sleep by Sipping Passion Flower Tea?

What could be more frustrating than tossing and turning in an unsuccessful attempt to get a few hours of restful sleep? The more you look at the clock, the more anxious you become - as sleep eludes you. Before giving up and asking your doctor for sleeping pills, try sipping a cup of passion flower tea instead. According to a new study, insomnia relief could be as close as a cup of passion flower.

Health Benefits of Passion Flower Tea: More Restful Sleep?

Researchers tested the power of passion flower tea on 41 young and middle-aged volunteers with insomnia. The participants drank a cup of passion flower tea containing 2 grams of the dried flower or a cup of parsley tea, as a control, each night for one week. During this time, they kept a sleep diary record. Some of the participants also underwent polysomnography testing to measure any physiological changes that took place when they were sleeping.

The results? The passion fruit tea drinkers had more restful sleep - and an improvement in sleep quality of around 5%.Good news for people who can't sleep but want to avoid sleeping pills

Other Health Benefits of Passion Flower Tea

Passion flower has long been hailed as a natural remedy for anxiety, but it's effectiveness at treating anxiety has never been formally researched. It's also used as an anti-spasmodic. For this reason, sipping passion flower tea at bedtime may be particularly therapeutic for people who can't sleep because of stress.

Side Effects of Passion Flower Tea

Passion flower tea appears to be safe in reasonable quantities. Because it affects the central nervous system, it can cause excessive sleepiness when used with other medications that cause drowsiness. There are isolated cases of people having heart palpitations, vomiting, dizziness, muscle weakness or confusion after using passion flower preparations - but this is rare.

Passion Flower for More Restful Sleep: The Bottom Line?

Passion flower appears to be a safe alternative to sleep medications for people seeking more restful sleep. Keep in mind that this is only one small study, but a warm cup of passion flower tea may be worth a try if you're tossing and turning at night.

References:

Nutraingredients.USA.com. "Passion Flower May Boost Sleep Quality"

WebMd. "Passion Flower"