NR-020 Ingredient Atlas entry · Herb

Lemon balm

Melissa officinalis, from the mint family

A lemon-scented herb from the mint family, long drunk as a tea and studied mostly for sleep, stress and mood. Here is every study in people we could find, sorted from each study's summary.

  • Part used: leaf
  • Doses vary by form
  • Usually 4 to 12 weeks
Version 1.0Updated 19 Oct 2026
Bright green, toothed lemon balm leaves growing close together
Lemon balm leaves. Photo by Broly0, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The research map

From every paper to the studies that matter

Most research on lemon balm is in the lab or about the plant itself, its oil and how it is grown. Only a small share tests it in people, and that is what this page is about.

  1. 925 papers mention lemon balm. Every record in PubMed, all years
  2. 87 are about people. The rest: 340 lab and animal studies, 104 reviews, 394 on chemistry, farming and more
  3. 48 give lemon balm on its own. 30 more test it inside a blend
  4. 38 are randomised against a placebo. The strongest kind of study

Bar lengths use a square-root scale so the small numbers stay visible.

At a glance

How much research there is

  • 48 studies giving lemon balm to people
  • 38 of them randomised against a placebo
  • 2,996 people taking part, where studies say
  • 30 systematic reviews pooling the trials

Studies in people, by year published

Lemon balm on its own. Most of these studies are from the last ten years.

Randomised, placebo-controlled Other designs
What was measured

What the studies looked at

Each study can measure several things. Choose a topic to see its studies in the list below.

Studies in people with a diagnosed condition are counted here and listed with their population. We describe what they measured, not what they might treat. Most studies also report safety; see below.

Doses and extracts

What was tested, and how much

Lemon balm is tested as dried leaf, as tea and as extracts made in different ways, so the same number of milligrams can mean very different amounts of the plant. Most studies gave it every day for several weeks, and a few gave one dose shortly before testing.

Daily amount, one dot per study

Summary read22 studies don't give a daily amount in their summary and aren't shown.

Studies per extract

  • Other named11
  • Not named37

Named extracts are the maker's brand. "Not named" means the study didn't say.

Every study

All studies in people

Filter the list, then open a study on PubMed. Each row comes from the study's published summary. A few studies used the oil on the skin or as a scent rather than by mouth.

Study Who took part People Extract and daily dose Length
Mathews 2026RCT, placeboHealthy young adults with moderate stress106Zensera, 300 mg–
Rondanelli 2026Single-arm or open-labelAdults with poor sleep and emotional distress32Melissa phospholipids (MOP), 400 mg3 weeks
Mazzola 2026Single-arm or open-labelAdults with poor sleep and emotional distress12Melissa phospholipids (MOP), 400 mg3 weeks
Dehnayebi 2025RCT, placeboAdults with stage 1 hypertension105Not named4 weeks
Pasyar 2025RCT, placeboHaemodialysis patients68Not named4 weeks
Iwahashi 2025RCT, placeboHealthy women, face cream20MOLEOn the skin8 weeks
Ehsani 2024RCT, placeboCancer patients with chemotherapy neuropathy80Not named, 1,000 mg13 weeks
Di Pierro 2024Crossover, placeboAdults with sleep complaints–Melissa officinalis Phytosome (MOP)–
Noguchi-Shinohara 2023RCT, placeboOlder adults with subjective or mild cognitive impairment323Not named, 500 mg96 weeks
Bano 2023RCT, placeboAdults with emotional distress or poor sleep100Relissa, 400 mg3 weeks
Safari 2023RCT, placeboType 2 diabetes patients with depression60Not named, 700 mg12 weeks
Kim 2023RCT, placeboAdults with fatty liver disease (NAFLD)57ALS-L1023, 1,800 mg24 weeks
Yargholi 2021RCT, placeboAdults with mild to moderate psoriasis100Not named–
Veiskaramian 2021RCT, placeboAcute coronary syndrome patients72Not named–
Kheirkhah 2021RCT, active or other controlAdults with premature ventricular contractions60Not named, 4,000 mg12 weeks
Shekarriz 2021Crossover, placeboAdults with essential hypertension49Not named, 400 mg4 weeks
Araj-Khodaei 2020RCT, active or other controlAdults with mild to moderate depression45Not named, 2,000 mg8 weeks
Bakhtiari 2020Single-arm or open-labelAdult smokers24Not named4 weeks
Noguchi-Shinohara 2020RCT, placeboPatients with mild Alzheimer's dementia23Not named, 500 mg24 weeks
Naderi Dastjerdi 2019RCT, active or other controlWomen with postpartum after-pains110Not named, 1,580 mg0 weeks
Asadi 2019RCT, placeboAdults with type 2 diabetes62Not named, 700 mg12 weeks
Tavares-Silva 2019Crossover, placeboChildren with possible sleep bruxism52Homeopathic MO 12c4 weeks
Watson 2019Crossover, placeboNursing home residents with agitation49Not named2 weeks
Nayebi 2019RCT, placeboDyslipidaemic adults with type 2 diabetes37Not named, 1,000 mg13 weeks
Heydari 2018RCT, placeboAdolescent girls with premenstrual syndrome100Not named, 1,200 mg13 weeks
Mirabi 2018RCT, placeboFemale students with dysmenorrhea90Not named–
Darvish-Mofrad-Kashani 2018RCT, placeboWomen with low sexual desire89Not named, 1,000 mg4 weeks
Haybar 2018RCT, placeboPatients with chronic stable angina80Not named, 3,000 mg8 weeks
Javid 2018RCT, placeboPatients with chronic stable angina80Not named, 3,000 mg8 weeks
Asadi 2018RCT, placeboAdults with type 2 diabetes70Not named, 700 mg12 weeks
Mirabi 2017RCT, placeboFemale students with period pain110Not named, 990 mg0 weeks
Jandaghi 2016RCT, placeboAdults with borderline hyperlipidaemia58Not named, 3,000 mg9 weeks
Bortoletto 2016RCT, placeboChildren with sleep bruxism24Not named4 weeks
Akbarzadeh 2015RCT, placeboHigh school girls with PMS100Not named, 1,200 mg12 weeks
Alijaniha 2015RCT, placeboAdults with benign heart palpitations71Not named, 1,000 mg2 weeks
Noguchi-Shinohara 2015PharmacokineticHealthy adults11Not named, 500 mg–
Scholey 2014Crossover, placeboHealthy young adults–Not named–
Beikert 2013RCT, placeboHealthy adults, UV skin redness test40Not namedOn the skin0 weeks
Burns 2011RCT, placeboCare home residents with Alzheimer's agitation114Not named12 weeks
Zeraatpishe 2011Single-arm or open-labelRadiology staff exposed to low-dose radiation55Not named, 3,000 mg4 weeks
Cases 2011Single-arm or open-labelVolunteers with mild to moderate anxiety and poor sleep20Cyracos2 weeks
Kennedy 2004Crossover, placeboHealthy volunteers under lab stress18Not named–
Akhondzadeh 2003RCT, placeboPatients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's42Not named17 weeks
Kennedy 2003Crossover, placeboHealthy young adults20Not named–
Ballard 2002RCT, placeboCare home residents with severe dementia and agitation72Not namedOn the skin4 weeks
Kennedy 2002Crossover, placeboHealthy young adults20Pharmaton–
Koytchev 1999RCT, placeboAdults with recurrent cold sores66Lo-701On the skin1 weeks
Wölbling 1994OtherPatients with herpes simplex–Not namedOn the skin–
Safety

What's known about safety

  • In trials

    No serious side effects were reported in reviews of trials on mood and on heart and blood measures, and EU herbal guidance lists no known side effects. The longest trial gave an extract every day for 96 weeks.

    Ghazizadeh 2021, mood trials; Heshmati 2020, 7 trials; Mathews 2024 review; Noguchi-Shinohara 2023, 323 older adults; EMA herbal monograph 2013

  • In the UK

    Lemon balm leaf is a long-used herbal tea, and the EU novel food catalogue has no entry for it. Leaf extract capsules are also registered in the UK as traditional herbal medicines (THR). We found no official UK upper limit for supplements.

    MHRA list of THRs granted, Oct 2025; EU Novel Food Status Catalogue; FSA novel foods guidance; searched Oct 2026

  • Check first

    EU herbal guidance advises against it in pregnancy, breastfeeding and under 12, for lack of data. It may cause drowsiness, more so with alcohol or sleep medicines, and lab and animal studies suggest it may act on the hormone that drives the thyroid. Speak to a pharmacist or doctor first if any of these apply to you.

    EMA herbal monograph and assessment report on melissa leaf, 2013

How we built this

Where these studies come from

We list every published study of lemon balm in people. This first version is built from each study's summary; full-paper checks come next.

  1. We search

    PubMed, the world's main library of medical research, for every paper on L-theanine.

  2. We keep studies in people

    Lab and animal work is counted but left out of the list, because it doesn't tell you what happens in people.

  3. We note the basics

    Who took part, how many, how much and for how long, from each study's published summary. A second check corrects what the first read gets wrong.

  4. We read them in full

    Results appear once we've read the whole paper and checked every number. The date at the top shows when this entry was last updated.

Download the study list

Every study in people as a spreadsheet, 48 rows, free to reuse with a link back.

Download the CSV

Versions

Each update to the data gets a new version number, so you can tell what changed and when.

See every version

1.0 · 19 Oct 2026. First release. Every published study giving lemon balm on its own to people is listed from its summary. None is read in full yet.

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