Lemon balm experiences

OP
R

ReSTART

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Messages
544
@Lokzo I heard it goes good with chamomile tea, is it pro-choline or pro-serotonin?
 
P

Peatness

Guest
Anybody try lemon balm?
I used Lemon Balm a few years ago, it's a wonderful sleep aid. Unfortunately, I had to stop using it when I read of its effects on thyroid hormones: Depending on your thyroid status this could be a good thing or not so good.

Melissa officinalis


Also known as lemon balm or bee balm, this member of the Lamiaceae family is a commonly used medicinal herb. As with most mints, its aerial parts are used medicinally. Lemon balm inhibits TSH receptor binding, which causes decreased production of T3 and T4 in the thyroid gland.1 It decreases circulating TSH levels2 but increases levels of circulating T3 and T4.3 This is due to the negative feedback loop in which increased circulation of free T3 and T4 goes to the pituitary and causes decreased production of TSH.

Melissa officinalis increases the level of thyroid hormones probably through increasing albumin synthesis, decreasing fat levels, and eventually decreasing leptin hormone levels. This extract also reduces TSH level probably due to the negative feedback of thyroid hormones.”4 In other words, albumin is one of the proteins that transport thyroid hormone through the bloodstream. “Fats and thyroid levels have an inverse and significant relation. Since M. officinalis extract can reduce blood lipid levels, it is most likely that at least part of this effect is exerted by increasing thyroid hormone.”3 Leptin is secreted from fat cells and binds to receptors in the hypothalamus. “Its main physiological role is decreasing weight via reducing appetite for food and increasing the production of energy from body fat reserves.”4 When the fat level is decreased, there is less fat to produce leptin, so the leptin levels would “eventually” decrease.
 

Jennifer

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2014
Messages
4,635
Location
USA
For a similar sedative quality as lemon balm, I prefer chamomile. For me, chamomile is as sedative as natural progesterone (Progest-E)—I get extremely sleepy and need to lie down within 15 minutes of consuming it (as a tea or glycerite). For a less pronounced effect, I make a balm with it (chamomile and vanilla beans macerated in a base of coconut oil) that I sometimes apply to my skin in the evening after a magnesium salt bath if I’ve had a particularly stressful day.
 

Jennifer

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2014
Messages
4,635
Location
USA
No, @ReSTART. My diet alone optimized my sleep, and I find chamomile is enough to knock me out during times of extreme stress.
 

akgrrrl

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
1,714
Location
Alaska
Extremely strong therapeutic grade Melissa oil at YoungLiving.com very expensive. The distilled ester is 100x more powerful than the plant. Use another oil on the feet bottoms first, then rub in 2 drops of melissa with fingertips . Inhale deeply from the bottle. Ingestion not recommended. 20 minutes for arrival into millions of cells. Melissa registers 134,300 on the ORAC scale ( for comparison carrots 210, red grapes 739, blueberries 2,400)
And whose key constituents are geranial, neral beta-caryophyllene. This makes its action hypotensive, anti inflammatory, and calming. Traditional and historical uses were for anything emotional, or neural, also fertility.melissa was the main ingredient in Carmelute water, distilled and marketed in France by Carmelute monks since 1611.
 

thesmileyone

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2022
Messages
8
Location
UK
I love lemon balm but I have problems where I have anxiety (constant fight/flight) + high cortisol but also hypothyroid.
Lemon balm is brilliant, especially CYRACOS patented extract. 300mg gives a nice relaxing dose, 600mg is actually stimulating, there's a U curve to the dosage.
It just turns off my anxiety especially when stacked with magnolia bark, or l-theanine.

BUT it is also a hypothyroid promoting herb. I took it daily for a month and had the best month with regards to anxiety or lacktherof, but also gained fat weight whilst keeping my diet the same. I've found this for pretty much any natural anxiolytic, and I'm really loathe to get big pharma anxiolytics, which tend to be amphetamine based, though with the right one I would actually lose weight too via appetite supression.

My anxiety is so bad I can't leave the house without going to the toilet, at which point the fight/flight dumps anything inside me in the form of diahhrea, which then requires a bidet or shower.
I was fine until discovering meditation. Never had anxiety until then.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom