There are not a lot of things I love more than sleep, but sweets are most definitely one of them and that is why I was so excited when I looked up into an overcast sky and saw, betwixt the parting clouds, a message in the stars… “make a natural sleep aid in gummy form”
So I did and it was a SMASHING success!
In this post I will talk about the top seven herbs for sleep and how to stuff them all into a yummy, adorable gummy! It’s easier than you might think!
Table of Contents
The 7 Best Herbs For Sleep
Valerian
Valerian has been appropriately referred to as ‘natures Valium’ and is one of the most potent sedaters in herbal medicine. One of the ways Valerian works is by prolonging the life of GABA which helps calm the nervous system and brain. It also contains chemicals that have been shown to slow activity in the part of our brains responsible for stress, fear and intense emotions. There have also been some studies done on the use of Valerian for treating OCD where the subjects taking the herb showed significant improvement without the nasty side effects of the synthetic drug alternatives!
Lemon Balm
Lemon Balm is a sweet and slightly minty smelling herb that has been used throughout history as a sleep aid and to calm the nerves. Today, many studies have shown that Lemon Balm, especially in combination with Valerian, decreases stress, eases anxiety and promotes better sleep. Lemon balm is considered a nervine and an adaptogen and helps bring balance to your body and brain!
ST. Johns Wort
St. Johns Wort Has been used for centuries as a sleep aid and a mood booster. Modern science has shown that St. Johns Wort actually stimulates GABA receptors and increases serotonin reuptake. These two actions help combat insomnia and depression.
Hops
Hops is a fascinating flower with so many incredible health benefits. It has many amazing, high quality scientific studies to support what herbalists have been observing in patients for thousands of years! In this study, a combination of Hops, Passion flower and Valerian were compared to the prescription sleep medication, Ambien. The researchers found the herbal treatment to be just as effective as the prescription medication but without the harmful side effects!
Hops have also been used to treat anxiety and depression and its effects on mood disorders have been heavily studied today. In this study, daily supplementation with Hops was found to greatly reduce feelings of stress, anxiety and depression as well as lower Cortisol levels.
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a wonderful adaptogenic herb that is loaded with Triethylene Glycol, a compound that promotes sleep and calms the body. Some very interesting studies have been done showing that taking Ashwagandha daily can shorten the time it takes you to fall asleep as well as increase your time in deeper restorative sleep. Taking 120 mg of Ashwagandha a day has also been shown to decrease cortisol levels by up to 30%!
Chamomile
There is a reason why Chamomile has been so popular from ancient Egyptian times to today. Chamomile is so many herbalists favorite remedy for anxiety because it is very effective but also a very gentle nervine that can be given to children. There are tons of amazing studies on how Chamomile can ease anxiety and sedate the body. Because it is a flower, I like to use it in our Sleep Tea Blend.
Passion flower
Passion flower is a beautiful flower from the Passion fruit tree that, among many other things, can increase GABA in your brain! It has been used as a sedative, an anxiolytic, a pain killer and a hormone balancer. This flower really is a powerful herb for all three causes of poor sleep. In this study, participants were given passion flower tea every day for seven days and showed significant increase in their sleep quality compared to the control group!
How to make Sleep gummies
For this recipe, I decided to go the simpler route and brew my herbs into a tea. If you would like a stronger gummy, you can tincture each of these herbs for three months and use the tincture and juice as the base for this recipe but I wanted something that could be done a little quicker. Here is my guid to making tinctures.
It’s very important to make a strong enough tea but not heat the herbs so much that it destroys some of their medicinal properties. To do this, I brought the water to a boil, added the monk fruit and stirred until dissolved and then took the pot off the heat before adding the herbs.
I had these left over tea bags I had made from my Anti Anxiety Sleep Tea post and you could use tea bags if you don’t want to have to mess with straining everything out but I ended up just dumping the herbs in. I feel like you can extract more goodness out of the plants if you have them free floating in the water and then can press them to squeeze out any remaining liquid.
After placing the herbs(and a couple blueberries for color) in the water, I covered the pot and let it sit for three hours before straining the herbs and giving them a good squeeze.
I then opened each of the twelve gelatin packets into my measuring cup and poured just enough of the tea over it to hydrate it slightly. This step will make dissolving the gelatin much easier.
Next I brought the pot of tea up in temperature (but did not bring to a boil!) and added the hydrated gelatin. It dissolved very easily after about a minute of stirring.
At this stage you can taste test to see if it is sweet enough or if you want to add any flavorings like lemon juice or citric acid.
To pour the mixture into your silicon molds, it helps to have the liquid pretty warm and to use a small vessel with a spout. My beaker worked perfectly for this! Often you will get foam on top of the liquid and you don’t want to pour that into your molds so make sure you scrape the bubbles off with a spoon! 🙂
After letting the gummies sit in the fridge for about a half hour, its time for the fun part, popping them all out!
This was super easy because you can press the back of the silicone molds and they will pop right out! How cute are these!?
I keep the gummies stored in the fridge and they last a long time! Ive have one batch in the fridge for two months and they are still great but use your own judgement 🙂
What you will need
A sauce pan or pot
A wooden Spoon
Monk fruit or other sweetener
Beaker or small vessel for pouring
Jar for storage
The Recipe
3 cups water
12 tablespoons gelatin powder
1/4 cup monk fruit/ to taste
Blue berries for color(optional)
Instructions
In a sauce pan, bring three cups of water to a boil
Turn off heat and 1/4 cup of monk fruit to water and stir until dissolved
Add herbs to liquid and cover pot
Let sit for three hours
Strain out herbs and squeeze any liquid of of them
Put 12 tablespoons of gelatin powder in a separate bowl and sprinkle tea over it just enough to hydrate the powder slightly
Bring tea up in temperature without boiling it and put the hydrated gelatin mixture in and stir until smooth and dissolved
Pour liquid into beaker or another small vessel with a spout fill silicone molds. (make sure you remove bubbles or foam before pouring)
Let the silicone mold sit in the fridge for at least a half hour before popping them out and placing them in a jar!
Vwala!
Conclusion
These gummies were so much fun to make and I am so excited to experiment with other gummy recipes! I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience and maybe try making some yourself! <3
Are you having trouble sleeping and are looking for some answers? Check out my post on common sleep problems and how to remedy them!
