Chamomile
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From: Western Europe, Western Asia, India
Form: Extract
Food source: Plant
Benefits of Chamomile
- Calm
- Sleep
What is Chamomile?
Chamomile is a group of daisy-like plants that can be found growing wild throughout Southern England and other parts of Europe. You’ve probably had it in teas, where it is used as a flavouring agent, but these Chamomile-infused drinks and the plant itself have also been used as a natural remedy for inducing sleep for centuries.
Chamomile contains ‘apigenin’, a compound that is believed to induce sleepiness when it binds to the GABA receptors in your brain. It can then have a calming effect, exhibiting a hypnotic quality. In addition to helping one get to sleep, Chamomile has been associated with better quality sleep and studies suggest that it can be effective in alleviating sleep quality problems as well as reducing the number of times that you wake up during the night.
These calming effects mean that Chamomile has also been associated with treatment of anxiety and stress. Studies suggest that it might help to relieve the symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and may also help to reduce anxiety in potentially stressful, high-pressure situations.
