What is The Best Essential Oil for Sleeping?
Does this mean that lavender is the best essential oil for sleep? Before we jump to premature conclusions, let’s keep these facts in mind from the 2014 review of the literature I mentioned above:
•Lavender is the most frequently studied essential oil in research trials.
•One of the few other oils evaluated for sedative purposes is Baccharis uncinella, which is used by the Laklaño Indians in Santa Catarina, Brazil. (8)
•Lavender and Baccharis uncinella are not the only essential oils for sleep. Though, until we have more research at our disposal, we’re limited to reading anecdotal testimonials online about other oils.
•“No adverse effects” were uncovered by the University of Minnesota when they evaluated 15 studies (11 of which were randomized controlled trials) that examined hypnotic effects of essential oil inhalation in the scientific literature to date.
With that said, tucked away in the collection of lavender-sleep studies are golden nuggets suggesting that other oils can also have a profound effect on sleep quality
In 2013, for example, the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine published an article that evaluated the effects that aromatherapy had on anxiety, sleep quality and vital signs within an intensive care unit (ICU) patient population. (9) The researchers blended lavender, roman chamomile, and neroli with a 6 : 2 : 0.5 ratio and discovered that this aromatherapy (AT) strategy “significantly” lowered anxiety and improved sleep quality compared with conventional nursing intervention. Interestingly, blood pressure was also lower in the AT group.
This should give hope to people with cardiovascular disease-related insomnia as the connection between the two is well-established in the literature. (10)
More recently, the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine published a systematic review reporting that these oils are also superbly effective at helping people's insomnia: (11)
•Angelica archangelica rad. (angelica)
•Cananga odorata (ylang ylang)
•Chamaemelum nobile (Roman chamomile)
•Citrus aurantium var. amara (neroli bigarade)
•Cistus ladaniferus (labdanum)
•Citrus bergamia (bergamot)
•C. limon (lemon)
•Citrus reticulata (mandarin)
•Citrus sinensis (sweet orange)
•Cuminum cyminum (cumin)
•Juniperus communis fruct. (juniper berry)
•Lavandula angustifolia (lavender)
•Litsea cubeba (may chang)
•Melissa officinalis (lemon balm)
•Myrtus communis (myrtle)
•Ocimum basilicum (basil)
•Origanum majorana (sweet marjoram)
•Ravensara aromatica (ravensara)
•Thymus vulgaris ct. geraniol, ct. linalool (sweet thyme)
•Valeriana officinalis (valerian)
A Note About Anxiety
It is important to point out that anxiety is not only a primary cause of sleep disorders, it's also a side effect. Meaning, that anxiety can cause sleep deprivation and sleep deprivation can cause anxiety, thus creating a vicious cycle that is challenging to stop. (12)
The research about anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) essential oils is much more robust than sleep studies and we see that the systematic reviews of the literature suggests that these essential oils for sleep are the most potent in managing anxiety: (13)