Valerian
mg/day extract
Valeriana officinalis root extract at a few hundred milligrams, sometimes twice a day. It is the named root, not a multi-herb sleep mix.
Trials use a concentrated root extract for a few weeks and usually score sleep with a questionnaire or a wrist monitor. A multivitamin or a blend that stacks several sleep herbs is a different product.
Also called Valeriana officinalis, valerian root.
Connected relationships
Randomized trial · Contested
Valerian→Sleep duration and regularity
Higher Valerian increases Sleep duration and regularity.
Taavoni 2011 found that 530 mg of valerian extract twice a day for four weeks raised the share of postmenopausal women whose Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index improved to 30 percent versus 4 percent on placebo (n=100). Chandra Shekhar 2024 found a similar PSQI and actigraphy direction in 72 completers. Donath 2000's sixteen-person polysomnography was thinner.
Sources
- S Taavoni et al. (2011). Effect of valerian on sleep quality in postmenopausal women: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.
- H Chandra Shekhar et al. (2024). Standardized Extract of Valeriana officinalis Improves Overall Sleep Quality in Human Subjects with Sleep Complaints: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Clinical Study.
- F Donath et al. (2000). Critical evaluation of the effect of valerian extract on sleep structure and sleep quality.