How to Use Passion Flower For Sleep
Tired of lying in bed, staring at the ceiling while the clock ticks closer to your morning alarm? It might be time to consider using passion flower for sleep. This herb has active compounds that help quiet an overactive mind and make it easier to transition to bed after a long day at work or before a stressful event the following morning.
We’ll cover everything you need to know below, including how it works, tips on taking passion flower to sleep better, and other ingredients that pair nicely with it. The best thing you can do for your sleep, though, is add Snoozy’s Bedtime Buddy sleep gummies to your regimen. Find out what makes these so powerful below!
Key Takeaways
- Passion flower has been relied on for centuries to help with both sleep and anxiety.
- It works by modulating GABA activity, calming the nervous system without causing direct sedation.
- Most studies use either 200-500mg of extract or 1-2 cups of tea before bed.
- Take passion flower 30-60 minutes before bed with complementary sleep ingredients like reishi, chamomile, valerian root, L-theanine, and lemon balm.
What is Passion Flower?
Passion flower could refer to as many as 500 different species of flowering vines. The one most people are interested in as far as sleep goes, though, is Passiflora incarnata. It’s native to the southeastern United States, Central America, and South America.
It’s been used in traditional herbal medicine forever. It was originally named by Spanish missionaries in the 1500s after they saw the flower’s structure. However, indigenous people had been using passion flower long before Europeans showed up.
The leaves, stems, and flowers are most beneficial from a medicinal point of view. Not the fruit you find at your local grocery store. Most people use passion flower either as an herbal tea, a liquid tincture, or capsules. These days, though, you can get it in gummies as part of a more well-rounded formula for sleep.
Is Passion Flower Good For Sleep?
So what is it about passion flower for sleep that is so powerful? It has real evidence showing support for sleep, especially if you find yourself stuck awake in a negative thought loop that makes falling asleep impossible.
The European Medicines Agency recognizes it as a traditional herbal medicine for mild nervous tension and sleep disturbance.1 A lot of the backing for it today comes from a 2011 study, which showed that a group of people who used passion flower tea reported measurably better sleep quality scores. The scientists concluded, “The results suggest that the consumption of a low dose of Passiflora incarnata, in the form of tea, yields short-term subjective sleep benefits for healthy adults with mild fluctuations in sleep quality.”2
What was really cool is how fast the sleep support came - in just one week! Very few sleep aids other than melatonin work that quickly. It’s important to set expectations with passion flower for sleep, though. It’s not going to replace medication for severe insomnia. And it may not be all that dramatic on its own. But whether it’s a racing mind preventing you from settling in or trouble shifting out of go-mode, passion flower may be just what you need.
How to Use Passion Flower For Sleep
There are a handful of things you need to get right to really make the most of passion flower for sleep. The most important are dosage, timing, and the other ingredients you pair with passion flower.
Dosage
How much passion flower to use for sleep depends on the form you’re taking it in. There are three main ways to add passion flower to your wind-down ritual:
- Extract: 200-500mg of passionflower is most common. This is the form used in capsules and gummies
- Tea: 1-2 cups brewed from 1-2g of dried herb. Let it steep for 10-15 minutes.
- Tincture: Follow whatever guideline the specific product recommends, but it’s typically 1-2mL.
One thing you should know about using passion flower for sleep is that it’s less about nailing a specific dosage and more about consistently getting your dosage in.
Timing
You don’t want to take your passion flower too early and be sleepy bepasfore you’ve finished everything on your to-do list for the evening. But taking it too late means staring at the ceiling waiting for it to work.
We recommend taking passion flower 30-60 minutes before you want to be asleep. Your metabolism will dictate whether you fall on the shorter or longer end of that range. You’ll probably find a “sweet spot” after using passion flower for sleep for a few nights.
Pairings
Passion flower is just one piece of the sleep puzzle. It can be really powerful in helping quiet a racing mind and putting you in a better mindset for sleep to come naturally. But these are some of the other ingredients we recommend trying alongside it:
- Valerian root: This also modulates GABA, making it a powerful one-two punch alongside passion flower.
- L-theanine: A well-known amino acid with really calming effects.
- Chamomile: Gently calms the body and mind as its apigenin content binds to benzodiazepine-site receptors.
- Reishi: A powerful adaptogen that can improve your resiliency to stress, so you stay at a better baseline all day long.
- Lemon balm: Another GABA-friendly herb from the mint family that has been combined with passion flower for centuries in traditional European medicine.
Blended formulas featuring multiple sleep-supporting ingredients will almost always outperform passion flower on its own. That’s why Bedtime Buddy by Snoozy is the #1 choice.
Are There Any Side Effects of Passion Flower Extract For Sleep?
The best part of using passion flower for sleep is how gentle it is. There aren’t any adverse side effects you need to worry about. People say it makes them drowsy, but that’s obviously the whole point when using it for sleep. Some have said certain forms can cause digestive discomfort as well, but this is likely more the result of the form than the ingredient itself.3
Here are a few situations where you should be careful in using passion flower as part of your nighttime ritual:
- Don’t combine it with prescription sedatives, benzodiazepines, or other CNS depressants without clearing it with your doctor first.
- Some species of passion flower have been associated with uterine stimulation, so you may want to avoid using it while pregnant.
- Stop taking passion flower at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery, as it may interact with anesthesia.
Other than that, the ingredient has a very strong safety profile - both the European Medicines Agency and the NIH classify passion flower as generally well-tolerated.1,3 So, why not give it a shot?
Start Sleeping Better With Snoozy
Snoozy brings together passion flower, valerian root, reishi, L-theanine, lemon balm, and chamomile in a single gummy to address sleep challenges from every possible angle. You’ll sleep more soundly and wake up refreshed, ready for whatever the day may bring. Order now!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you take passionflower every night?
Yes. It’s safe to use long-term without any real risk of dependency or side effects.
How to use passion flower for sleep?
Find the right form. Snoozy’s Bedtime Buddy takes all the guesswork out of dosing and brewing tea. Just take one gummy before bed and enjoy your best sleep in a long time.
Which is better for sleep, chamomile or passion flower?
They both have their place, which is why each is a part of the Bedtime Buddy formula we came up with here at Snoozy. You don’t have to choose between chamomile and passion flower for sleep!
Related Resources
Chamomile extract for sleep | When to take L-theanine for sleep | Reishi sleep benefits
References
- European Medicines Agency. "Passiflora incarnata L., herba." Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC). EMA
- Ngan A, Conduit R. "A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Investigation of the Effects of Passiflora incarnata (Passionflower) Herbal Tea on Subjective Sleep Quality." Phytother Res. 2011;25(8):1153-1159. PubMed
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. "Passionflower." NCCIH
