With today’s hectic and increasingly busy lifestyles it’s easy to feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything that needs to be done, done.

Individuals that genuinely feel like they are caught in a continual grind of always trying to get caught up often find that it is increasingly difficult to find time solely for themselves. This lack of “free time” often manifests itself in the inability to regularly exercise, inconsistent dietary habits, and a feeling of being mentally overwhelmed.

In instances like this many individuals reach for herbal remedies for stress relief, believing that they’ll be safer than (and just as effective as) pharmaceutical medications prescribed for the same symptoms. But exactly how safe are herbal remedies?

In addition, how much evidence has been gathered proving the efficacy of each of the herbal remedies? And finally, do some herbal remedies tend to be more effective when compared to others herbal remedies when it comes to short-term and long-term stress relief?

Feeling Stressed Out? Are Herbal Remedies Right for You?

Herbal remedies and homeopathic approaches to physical and mental health and wellness have been around for literally centuries. In fact, many of the medicinal approaches used today are derivatives of practices that have been used for hundreds of years.

However, there is a division between modern Western medicine and the more natural homeopathic and herbal approach. For this reason, you will need to perform the research necessary to determine which side of the fence you fall on or if you find value in both approaches and wish to blend them together.

Below is a report published by a pharmacy professor from Creighton University related to the efficacy and safety of several herbal remedies that are intended to reduce stress.

Herbal Remedies for Stress Differ in Safety and Efficacy

According to Thomas Lenz, a pharmacy professor at Nebraska’s Creighton University, the body of evidence indicating the overall efficacy of herbal remedies is slim at best. In fact, Lenz says that very little hard science exists proving the long-term effectiveness of any herbal remedies. This is because herbal remedies only treat the short-term symptoms of stress, and don’t address the underlying causes.

Not only that, but Lenz says that many herbal remedies may be unsafe despite their “natural-sounding” title. Lenz stresses the fact that the term “herbal” should not be equated with safety, and that some herbal remedies could be dangerous by themselves or in combination with other medications. As such, he advises all individuals to talk to their doctors before taking any herbal remedies in order to avoid harmful drug interactions.

Lenz did admit that certain herbal remedies, such as lemon balm, appear to be both safe and effective, at least for short-term use. Dr. Ashwin Mehta of the Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami agreed that some herbal remedies are far more useful than others, especially in combination with other forms of stress-relief therapy.

Reviewing Common Herbal Supplements

A number of herbal remedies are commonly suggested as a means of reducing stress levels, including St. John’s wort, passionflower, valerian root, kava and lemon balm. Unfortunately, study findings regarding most of these have been mixed at best:

Lemon balm

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, has been shown to create a sense of calmness and improved mood in many imbibers. According to one study, ingesting 1,600 mg of lemon balm could result in a calmer, more centered state for as long as six hours. According to Lenz, lemon balm is one of the rare herbal supplements that has been deemed both safe and effective by most of the scientific community. Recommended.

Kava

Kava is a herbal supplement derived from the South Pacific-native kava plant root. Numerous studies have shown that ingesting dried kava results in reduced levels of anxiety. Unfortunately, those same studies have shown that kava can greatly increase your chance of liver failure. Not recommended.

St. John’s wort

St. John’s wort is commonly advertised as a safe treatment for social anxiety disorder. One study showed that this herbal remedy could slightly lower anxiety symptoms when taken for two weeks, though Lenz said the results were inconclusive and that the methods used were questionable. Studies regarding the long-term safety of St. John’s wort have been similarly inconclusive. Not recommended, requires additional clinical study.

Valerian root

Valerian root has been used for centuries as a way of treating sleep disorders and lowering anxiety. In one scientific study, researchers found that combining St. John’s wort with valerian root resulted in significantly lowered anxiety levels among subjects who imbibed the mixture for two weeks. In fact, the combination was even more effective for lowering anxiety than the pharmaceutical diazepam. Unfortunately, other studies indicate that valerian root isn’t effective at all when it comes to treating anxiety.

As for safety, it’s currently believed that valerian root is safe for most individuals so long as it’s taken for less than one month in low doses. In higher doses and for longer durations, it may result in blurred vision and even heart rhythm disruptions. Only recommended as a short-term, low-dosage regimen.

Passionflower

Passionflower has been shown to effectively lower anxiety levels in mice. However, Lenz said that just a single study regarding the herbal remedy has been done on humans. The study, which is now 10 years old, indicated that ingesting 45 drops of a liquid form of passionflower each day could be just as effective in treating general anxiety disorder as oxazepam, a prescription pharmaceutical.

The study was small, however, and Lenz says that it’s not yet known whether passionflower is safe for long-term or short-term usage. Not recommended, requires additional clinical study.

Herbal Remedies for Stress: The Bottom Line

Although certain herbal remedies are indeed safe and effective when it comes to treating stress in the short term, they do little on a long-term basis because they don’t resolve what’s actually causing your stress, which could range from family issues to an overwhelming workload. As such, lifestyle changes are the only way to truly relieve stress on a more permanent basis.

Since quitting your job and ignoring family responsibilities aren’t viable options, it’s best to relieve stress in completely health-positive manners, such as through exercise. Certain forms of exercise, such as yoga, tai chi and Pilates, are specifically designed to lower stress levels and calm and center the mind while providing physical activity.

Other useful stress-relief tools include controlled breathing and meditation, as well as more traditional forms of relaxation such as watching a movie with family or cozying up with a good book.