بادرنجبویہ · Melissa officinalis, balm mint
Mixed evidence
Mild, pleasant, and better studied than most kitchen herbs — though studies are small.
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A lemon-scented mint-family herb used in Unani medicine as badranjboya and drunk as tea across the region.
Small trials report reduced anxiety and improved sleep and mood, including in stressed adults and in people with heart palpitations. The studies are small and short and several are industry-linked. It is a reasonable, low-risk thing to try; it is not a treatment for an anxiety disorder.
Trials commonly used 300 to 600 mg of extract daily.
Recorded because a person who has decided to try something will find a number somewhere, and a forum's number is worse than a trial's. It is not a recommendation, and the right amount for you depends on things only a doctor who knows your history can weigh.
Generally very safe. Can be sedating at higher doses. May affect thyroid function, so care if you have thyroid disease or take thyroxine. Not enough data in pregnancy.
Sold by pansaris as badranjboya, often within Unani calming blends and cheaper as a loose herb than as capsules.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist about everything else you take, prescription and herbal both. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a liver, kidney, heart or thyroid condition, ask first. And if what brought you here is that you have been feeling low or frightened for weeks, that deserves more than a supplement — ask us anything, anonymously, or talk to us on WhatsApp.